2015 has been a good year as far as the global online education industry is concerned. Aided by the rise of mobile digital mediums such as smartphones, tablets, phabletsetc, the online education industry witnessed a massive growth. With the market segment expected to reach $19 billion by the year 2018, online education has emerged as one of the most promising business opportunity areas across the globe.
Developing economies such as India in particular have been amongst the most prominent players to witness this growth story. Estimated to be worth nearly $3 billion at present, the e-learning opportunity for the Indian market at present, as well as its massive potential future scope, has led several individual educators, institutes as well as renowned universities to add the digital medium to their repertoire of educational services.
Moreover, India’s online education market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.4 percent till the year 2018; this number is nearly double the CAGR of the global average. As such, the industry offers a huge incentive for both online educators as well as service providers to tap into the digital ecosystem. But what makes e-learning so relevant in the Indian context?
To understand this, a few facts and figures need to be taken into account. At present, vocational skills are required for nearly 90 percent of the employment opportunities in India; however, a vast majority of the schools and colleges only impart bookish knowledge, with little to no relevant practical insights being gained by the students. The 68th round of the National Sample Survey has predicted a fresh influx of an estimated 10.4 crore fresh workers into the professional workspace by 2022. This number is in addition to the 29.8 crore unskilled workers that would require skills training in that time.
Even going by the most conservative estimates required to empower every individual with the right skills, this undertaking would cost nearly INR 530,000 crore if pursued by the traditional medium of physical classrooms. Considering the fact that nearly 3/4th of the country’s population lives on less than $2 per day at purchasing power parity rate, the cost of quality education, vocational or
otherwise, remains out of reach for an overwhelming majority of the population. This stands in stark contrast to the projected shortage of skilled workers the country will face in the near future; reports indicate that by 2022, India will be short of nearly 2,50,000 skilled workers across various industry segments.
Now consider a few other figures. India already stands third in the number of smartphone users across the globe as well as the number of internet users in the world, despite the fact that barely 20 percent of the country’s population today has adopted digital technology in their mainstream life. Individuals belonging to 18-35 years demographic, amongst the early adopters of the digital platform in the country, make up for more than 57 percent of its current population; this number is set to cross the 60 percent mark by the year 2018.
Combining the above two seemingly disparate studies, e-learning is the only logical conclusion that transcends the traditional barriers of sustainability, affordability and accessibility. By taking out the infrastructural and real-estate requirements out of the equation, digital learning platforms have cut down on nearly 90 percent of the cost of education which is borne by the learners at present. The anytime, anywhere access to educative content allows learners and educators to interact across geographies. Moreover, it empowers the educators with an effective channel to monetise their offerings and grant students access to a much more engaging, interactive learning experience.
These benefits have been playing a vital role in the Government promoting e-learning to the various parts of the country. Both Central and State Governments have several skills development programmes that help in imparting relevant skill sets to the country’s unskilled workforce. Not only this, but they also provide certification for specific proficiencies, thereby skilling and documenting the Indian workforce and empowering its drive for securing better employment opportunities. The Digital India campaign launched in 2015 was a testimony to the advantage online education can provide over traditional classrooms.
Having had a groundbreaking year, certain trends and technologies can be expected to dominate the online education industry in the coming year. Next-generation cloud-based educational solutions are going to rule the roost and fast replace the older Learning Management Systems (LMS) technologies. Moreover, with big data and the Internet of Things continuing to play an integral role, data analytic tools are also going to be extremely relevant in helping online educators and educational service providers in determining what courses or learning modules to design keeping in mind the current trends, latest developments and learner requirements.
The coming year will also see a more technological approach towards flipped learning. Flipped learning is a variety of blended learning in which the classroom and home learning experience switch places; students can access learning content online at home while the ‘homework’ is an interactive, collaborative effort which requires teachers and students to discuss questions and solve answers in the classroom.
Mobile learning will see a boost in its usage as well with the adoption of smartphones fast becoming the norm. As a result, more mobile learning platforms and apps will be developed for offering a much higher level of advanced learning experience and outcomes. Agnostic learning will also gain prevalence in 2016, with developers, edtech creators and educational service providers moulding their native applications to provide holistic educative solutions across several platforms and devices. Personalised education solutions such as project-based learning, maker education and game-based learning that allow learners and educators to identify and implement the best mix of digital learning tools will also gain prominence, as will self-paced learning solutions that will allow learners to access educational content as per their convenience.
By the look of things, educational technology has impacted the field of online education to a great extent and will continue to do so for years to come. Educators and educational service providers will look to make the most of mobile and cloud-based technology and continue metamorphosing the industry. Clearly, the upward growth is likely to continue with more and more users fast warming up to technology’s many benefits in this dynamic e-learning ecosystem.
This guest article is authored by Harman Singh, Founder and CEO, WizIQ. Singh is a recognized online edupreneur and visionary e-learning innovator, continuing his contribution in education sector for past 13 years. He founded WizIQ in 2007 with aims to connect teachers online.
Source: IndianMediaBook - Media
