With every New Year, learning and development trends change for the better. 2019 has not been any different and according to Forbes, the e-Learning industry has impacted the world economy positively. Many people have given their predictions about the growth of the industry, but they all revolve around two topics, artificial technology and m-learning.
In this article, we look at the global trends that will change e-Learning in 2019 and beyond.
Increased E-Learning And L&D Recruitment
In the past couple of years, organisations have increased their recruitment activity for learning and development as well as e-Learning professionals. This comes after several years of budget cuts that affected the recruitment of professionals or consultants that will drive the corporate learning agenda.
Corporates and business are increasingly getting more concerned about skill shortages and retention. E-learning offers them the avenue for equipping with timely information. As such, e-Learning and L&D professionals are delegated the responsibility of providing the necessary training to meet the demands of the industry.
Remote Invigilation and Online Proctoring
As e-Learning continues to be a compliance-based industry, along with many corporates that are looking to test their training procedures to allow for geographic freedom through the e-Learning’s nature to allow for mobile learning. Most learning management systems (LMS) are already integrating remote invigilation and online proctoring among other learning solutions.
Technology has increased the uptakes of these solutions, for instance, headsets are starting to have in-built cameras that allow for a 360-degree field of vision. This allows the invigilators to monitor the environment that candidates are placed in during test. The headsets are then returned after all candidates are completed with the rest. This, along with other technologies are being used to build trust in the validity of e-Learning tests.
System Integration
Corporates will have it easier if all their systems were integrated and working together. For e-Learning, it means that they should integrate their learning management system (LMS) to the human resource information system (HRIS), customer relationship management (CRM), as well as talent and invigilation management platforms.
This will allow for the seamless flow of information across different departments as well as between organisations. Corporates that are able to establish this ecology of integrated systems will be able to tap into new opportunities of learning, and in addition, generate big data to improve skill retention.
Learning Experience Platforms
In 2019, e-Learning has shifted from being a mere company procedure where it is mandatory for the staff to undertake the courses, to a new way of keeping employees engaged and active. These platforms allow the staff to be in control of their professional and personal developments, easing the overseeing role of L&D and HR departments.
This has led to the global trends of progressive companies investing in sourcing and creating content for their e-Learning libraries. Many of these learning experience platforms use AI driven engines that recommend courses and training according to the professions and skill sets of individual employees, so as to keep them engaged and on-board.
E-Learning for Social Good
Other than having cost-saving benefits, e-Learning has contributed greatly to the development of CSR agendas around the world. A few e-Learning companies are creating and sharing e-Learning content aimed at helping companies define and implement their CSR agendas.
This includes reduction of their carbon footprint through efficient transport of learners and trainers, or in the reduction of waste from printed learning materials. Corporates are now collaborating up with these content producers to create simple yet effective programs for their staff.
E-Learning for Marketing, Sales, and Customer Retention
Sales, marketing, and customer retention remain one of the fundamental business practices today. Unfortunately, e-Learning has been underused to increase skills in this area. Most businesses and organisations fail due to lack of stakeholder buy-in and poor communication.
While most corporates are keen to integrate more advance technologies and systems, the intended user must be taught why it is beneficial for them to use them despite the initial learning phase. Otherwise, new solutions will be left unused while the employees continue to grapple with the pains of their existing workloads.
This is why it is becoming increasingly popular for software developers to include an e-Learning component as part of their sales, marketing, and customer retention strategies.
More Visual Content
According to Forbes, as much 80% of the content we consume will be in video format. Social media networking sites and video sharing sites such as YouTube and TikTok have been the biggest influencers of this culture.
This means that e-Learning must also shift from the conventional instructional mode of learning to interactive video. For starters, you could use various tools to create e-Learning content that is more engaging and interactive to prompt response from the viewer as well as increase the completion rate.
In addition, the drop in the cost of accessing the internet via smartphones and other mobile devices has made it easy for employees to continue their course from anywhere in the world.
Conclusion
E-Learning has come a long way, and the global trends that matter in 2019 are those that make learning engaging and fun through the provision of learning opportunities that help them to grow and to solve everyday problems in the workplace.
The above trends are sure to bring a shift in the e-Learning industry to make it cool and refreshing. Contact us today, and our support team will assist you in knowing more about our services.