The dawn of the year 2020 witnessed an unprecedented crisis hitherto never seen before. With no country sparred, the spread of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID 19 and its accelerated impact is such that it consumed millions of lives, brought businesses to a standstill, and as a result widescale unemployment and job cutting the world over. Everyday life had been affected due to lockdown after lockdowns, travel restrictions, ban on shopping and more importantly universities, college, schools and technical institutions were closed indefinitely until normalcy was restored. Though there has been no respite since the outbreak of the pandemic, there have been sporadic relaxations in the restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
Though the education sector was one of the most affected sectors during the pandemic, as it killed the joy of traditional learning, the edu industry was able to survive the crisis only when everything moved online. The e-learning or online learning methodology turned out to be the most positive aspect that has come out of the pandemic wherein modern communication tools and Learning Management Software (LMS), Online Proctoring Software and cloud-based online exam solutions ensure there is learning continuity, and that learning never stops at any point, despite another COVID strain waiting to disrupt things.
The study that first confirmed that kids are not prone to COVID infection was later debunked and taken back by the health authorities when the pandemic started infecting school students. Consequently, globally, more than 1.2 billion children were forced to study from home and systematically shunned from access to schools. This is where online learning platforms played a pivotal role in propagating remote learning on various digital tools. Also, mere observation will tell you that its growth is tremendous without any signs of relapse. But that’s essentially the power of online learning methodologies. Thanks to the development of innovative edu technologies driving the online learning paradigm.
Here are some quick stats on online learning this year that will just blow you away. The global e-learning industry since it first emerged on the scene grew by 900% all over the world, the global recessions notwithstanding. It is estimated that the online learning market will touch the $325 billion mark by 2025. This billion-dollar industry, already into three figures, is experiencing an upward trend by 30% in growing markets including the Philippines, India, Thailand and China. The period between 2020 and 2025 will see a giant leap of 200% increase in its growth rate. The Asian market, by far the largest market for the online learning industry, will witness an annual increase of 20% in revenues. Mobile e-learning, as of 2020, has surged by $38 billion, and, as projected, its growth hit the $6 billion mark between 2017 and 2022. The Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) area is thriving under conducive conditions with the increased adoption of gamification. Edutainment, a combination of two concepts, Education and Entertainment, was projected to grow by $300 million in revenue in the year 2020.
Here are some more stats: Microlearning, a compressed model of e-learning, formed 60.7% of learning in 2018. The percentage of number of users engaged in e-learning has grown by 60% because of its distinct comfort factor just at the click of a button. There is also a growing trend among organizations and enterprises alike in adopting online learning replacing traditional learning streams by almost 80 per cent. About 50% of institutional students have been found to use different e-learning platforms. It has been proved by various studies that e-learning improves retention rate compared to traditional learning, and thereby lesser time to absorb learning by 40% to 60% for students and employees. Many companies are transforming their learning mode to e-learning. Not surprisingly, about 42% of the institutions have seen increased revenue through significant cost-cutting measures like scaled-down marketing budget & travel costs and onsite mix.
In Europe, an average e-learning company comprises 25 employees registering revenue of £3 million pounds. The European Higher Education Area which consists of 48 countries adopts online learning to increase the quality of traditional learning, and not substitute it. As discussed earlier in the article, online learning increases the learning retention rate by between 25% and 60%. In contrast, one-on-one tutoring is proved to have a retention rate of only between 8% and 10%. The reason is online tutoring gives the learners the option to revisit their lessons, and therefore they exert greater control over what they learn and retain later. Do you know that 28% of companies prefer carrying out compliance training via e-training? Last but not the least, reliable studies have pointed out that employee engagement can increase by 18% if corporations take the online learning route.
Pandemic and after
Following the official declaration of the COVID-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), schools were shut for an indefinite period until further relaxation. Online learning obviously became the new ‘norm’. Around 70% of the students globally were hit by the sudden closure. China, South Korea and Italy were the first to get affected by the Coronavirus, putting schools in these regions into homeschooling mode. The US, India, UK, China and South Korea are the major investors in e-learning technologies. The higher learning institutions, particularly in post-graduate courses, formed the majority of participants in the online mode. India’s largest learning platform proved bigger than all other Edu tech platforms combined.
For the numbers, nearly 70% of students ticked receiving the latest updates on COVID-19 in a timely manner. Another observation during the pandemic period was the widening gulf between the staff and students. Needless to say, most schools ceased to function physically, and students could no longer involve in traditional face-to-face learning with their staff. Schools and institutions that already have had a date with online learning platforms found the transformation from traditional to online mode a simple transition. As per College Crisis Initiative, an initiative of the US-based Davidson College, over 1200 schools and colleges in more than 50 states were severely hit by the Coronavirus. About 44% of schools and
institutions in the US were able to fully adapt to e-learning platforms and digital tools. Online learning nevertheless became the predominant learning mode. A hybrid learning model was adopted by 21% of colleges, yet still 27% of colleges and institutions preferred face-to-face or personalized learning modes. The study also reported that no less than 20% of pupils faced problems accessing and using online learning tools and platforms. The best learning platform in India,
The above mentioned numbers are staggering which just shows the rapid upward trend of online education globally. A few countries and institutions were quick to latch on to the opportunities of e-learning, while some others followed suit just to slow down the pandemic effects on learning. Online learning generally requires the right infrastructure and implementation methods to create the perfect learning experience and engagement levels. India has been home to some of the largest online learning platform in India, being a major market worldwide for online learning, and has emerged as the biggest adopter of e-learning during the pandemic so far. It has also produced some of the largest online learning platform in India, with the personalised learning experience, raising the bar higher. Disruptive technologies like AR/VR, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Robotics, 3D Printing and IoT are all set to replace conventional learning in no time—the longer the pandemic, the sooner this disruption will eventually manifest as reality.
Riding on the success wave of the largest online learning platform in India, e-learning will travel the distance this year. India’s largest learning platform became the fourth most valued Indian startup. Learning platforms in India deliver quality learning experiences and programs enabling contextual and visual learning possible. If you’re an educator or academician, finding the best learning platform in India for your school, college or institution is now faster and easier.
