With the rise in adoption of mobility and widespread availability of internet, e-learning solutions have been in demand. They offer convenience of learning at one’s own pace, tracking assignments and progress, viewing lessons again (via recorded videos), and stay organized with various task management tools. Moreover, the streaming functionality allows real time interaction with the tutor, even if it is a group session. Digital learning systems are evolving at a rapid pace and bringing out more value added features for an interactive learning experience.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the global education system where most schools, colleges and institutions have been closed as a preventive safety measure against the spread of the coronavirus. As of 30 September 2020, approximately 1.077 billion learners are currently affected due to school closures in response to the pandemic. It was in response to these closures that UNICEF recommended the use of distance learning programs and elearning courses where teachers may connect with learners and provide education in a productive environment. This move definitely brought about an increase in the participation of learners in online education, and also witnessed the rise of digital learning solutions across domains.
Platforms such as Zoom capitalized on the growing need for online education, and sought business growth in an avenue that was growing at a considerable pace. Following suit, several companies and individuals have started developing their own learning management system with varying features to provide the best digital learning experience. Delivering all value added features may require higher investment and with the limitations in budget for some entrepreneurs, they are going ahead with MVPs to test the market and then grow the product. However, the increasing competition in the digital learning space might lead to a saturation wherein only the big players may get the lion’s share, leaving others grasping for a lifeline just to stay in the game.
As 2020 is nearing its conclusion, let’s take a look at the elearning trends that will prevail in 2021.
Mobile Learning Will Lead The Race
91% of global internet users access the internet on their mobile devices. The increasing shift to the mobile platform has generated a need for all solutions to be developed specifically for mobile. When it comes to elearning solutions, students from different stages and age groups actually prefer using applications on their mobile rather than sitting in front of a computer and accessing it on the web. Although certain features are better managed on a web view, the mobile interface is continuously evolving to provide better learning experience.
Increased Adoption of Microlearning
Microlearning is an effective, quick learning strategy that often utilizes multimedia like videos, games, and interactive content. Such contents usually take around 2-13 minutes to consume and are targeted on highly specific topics. This eliminates the need for a person to undertake entire courses which have to be managed in a sequential manner and often take weeks to complete. This learning strategy is highly utilized by companies like Coca Cola, who have designed apps and games to provide microlearning opportunities to employees.
While microlearning is still witnessing optimization in terms of content preparation, content delivery, and user consumption, it is an important evolution that will witness increased demand in the coming months. It is also very useful in upskilling which will find immense usage amongst professionals.
Improved Content Delivery Mechanisms
Content delivery needs continuous upgrades and optimization in order to ensure a rich user experience. Most learning management systems have already adopted the latest emerging technologies to enhance content delivery. Some of the key aspects of content delivery mechanisms in the modern learning environment include social learning, mobile learning, virtual reality, interactive video, and AI. The primary reason for evaluating and optimizing content delivery mechanisms is to keep with the changing content consumption patterns. For example, people prefer learning through videos rather than going through text based content. This will require text based content to be recreated in a video format, preferably with a person explaining it.
Greater Demand for Asynchronous Learning
Asynchronous learning refers to any educational medium where the learner can choose to learn at his/her own pace. With digital learning systems, students have the option to learn at their own pace which allows them to understand and retain concepts better. In a traditional classroom environment, every student has to learn at the pace led by the instructor which is generally considered as a normal outcome for all the attending students. But this does not always ensure that everyone is on the same page and pace. Every person has his/her own learning curve and asynchronous learning empowers them to manage their programs as per their learning capacity.
Additionally, asynchronous learning mechanism is highly useful for working professionals who may not be able to dedicate a lot of time for educational courses or upskill training. Affordability, flexibility, and self-pacing are the key elements to delivering an asynchronous learning environment.
Integration of Interactive Media
The best outcome of the developments in interactive media is the increased user engagement with the content being presented digitally. In a world in which in-person experiences may not be on the table, immersive tech can provide a life-like learning experience through a headset that either overlays reality (AR) or creates an entirely virtual one (VR). Not only does this help to visualize the content in a better manner (especially in the case of subjects where visual representation plays a key role in effective communication of concepts), but also ensures consistent user engagement and focus.
Another key aspect of interactive media is that it brings in the element of accountability and reinforcement. The future of elearning (and most importantly, digital learning) is the use of multimedia in innovative ways to capture the attention of the learners and provide a better learning experience that will help them in understanding and retaining the content.
Integration of Artificial Intelligence Tools
Artificial intelligence has unlocked a lot of potential opportunities for bringing about customization without the need for manual intervention. It is like having a human counterpart assisting you all the way while interacting with technology. Imagine having the system configure a learning plan based on your daily interaction, study patterns, and interests? Wouldn’t that get you hooked onto the learning platform, even if it was just for the experience?
With AI to help you produce content in a timely fashion and can generate more in-depth courses with less work. From a solution provider’s perspective, artificial intelligence can give valuable insights into analytics based on real time interaction and changing user patterns. This will eliminate the need to work with static data sets that does not reflect the true nature of user interactions in a dynamic technology platform.
Need for Learner Experience Platforms
A learner experience platform is unlike the generic learning management systems. In an LXP, users can leverage the open platform for curating educational content and making it available for everyone. it’s a great way to encourage interaction and a user community for the content. One of the key reasons behind the increased adoption of this system is its ability to cohesively integrate and accumulate learning which might also disrupt the conventional limits of education.
In terms of a more realistic approach to education, such content curation would really benefit students and learners who prefer having an element of experienced based information along with the descriptive explanations. It helps them to understand the concept from a real world perspective and also enables them to view it from the context of a practical implementation.
Improved Security
As more learning management systems continue to integrate with educational institutions, the need for maintaining data security is gaining the highest priority. All learning solutions require students to sign up with their details and also provide information pertaining to their educational or professional undertakings. Such information needs to be kept confidential as any breach in the security could result in a massive leak of users’ personal data.
Additionally, the integration of video streaming and chatting modules will require better security measures to ensure that such communication remains within the system and isn’t openly accessible to others. The security required for such educational systems would have to implement a 360 degree approach for protecting data across all mechanisms, namely, video communication, text communication, profile details, file sharing, and user verification.
User Identity Verification
As learning management systems continue making their presence in the global education market, a considerable number of users still make use of video communication platforms like Google Meet, Zoom, or Skype for managing the online learning sessions. Zoom has seen massive adoption amidst school students and teachers where they are required to join via video conference call and attend the lecture online. However, the internet is flooded with cases where students play pranks during the class by changing their profile names, profile images, and allow unapproved members to join and disrupt the session.
Going forward, all learning management systems will require a user identify verification and enforcement mechanism wherein the system will be able to enforce verified users to interact in the online environment without being able to make changes that can falsify or mask the identity of the individual. In the current scenario, this feature adoption would help instructors to manage the sessions in a better and more organized manner.
Advanced Data Analytics
The major advantage of all digital systems is their ability to track data and interactions at a granular level. Not only does it help in understanding the effectiveness of the system in delivery educational content, but also helps in gaining the required statistics to market the platform and reach greater target users in across geographies. With the use of analytics, it is possible to refine the content, make optimizations based on language preferences and interests, and also make changes to the delivery mechanism to ensure higher engagement.
Get Consultation for Learning Management Systems
As more businesses are getting their own learning management systems to capture opportunities in the growing online learning space, ensuring the creation of the right platform holds immense significance. Advantal Technologies has always been at the frontier of technology trends and works closely with entrepreneurs and innovators to develop the best solutions with the right technology mix for meeting the demands of today and tomorrow.
Get in touch with our experts for a free consultation on your next big elearning platform idea. We can help you understand and create a high quality and robust learning management system that is scalable for sustaining and matching the pace of your business’s growth.