Contents
During the pandemic, online education has been talked about especially actively. For two years, info-products have captured the Internet space, and every second one has revealed the gift of teaching. A natural question arises: how long will we study online and will we return to offline again?
A revolution in the world of online education was provoked by the coronavirus pandemic. Traditional institutions were not ready for the transition to remote work, and the EdTech sphere easily replaced classical institutions.
If we analyze the data of educational platforms, we can see that over the past two years their attendance has increased by an average of 8 times. And if the initial growth was due to severe restrictions and isolation, now other factors influence the interest in distance learning. Which?
It’s available to everyone
Not everyone can afford a good higher education. The farther a potential applicant lives from a major city, the less opportunities he has for obtaining really high-quality knowledge. This is influenced by many factors: a lack of teachers, poor learning conditions, an outdated curriculum. Online schools allow you to get not only point skills, but also deal with an entire profession from scratch. The main thing is to have access to the Internet and the desire to learn. You can study without losing your current job and even while on maternity leave.
In addition, online education costs on average two times cheaper than a year of study at any university in the country. Prices on different platforms vary, most offer an installment option. At the same time, the online course is available for several years, often as a gift the student receives bonuses in the form of additional materials.
A format that fits you
Information overload has affected the way it is perceived. Now all of us, regardless of age, are the owners of clip thinking. This means that we best concentrate on the subject briefly and to the point. It is for this reason that many have found it difficult to read books. Social networks “killed” our concentration skill, and with it, the traditional one and a half hour lectures.
Distance schools, in turn, offer short lessons, the time of which is not tied to a clear schedule. According to EdMarket Research, the most popular online class formats are:
video lessons with the accompaniment of a teacher;
pre-recorded lectures and subsequent verification of homework by the curator;
a practice format where a person immediately applies the acquired skills.
In this case, the applicant can always stop the lesson and return to it later.
State support
The presence of online schools in the information field does not cancel the existence of traditional institutions, but in the context of the pandemic, the latter have switched to a hybrid format of work. However, schools still cannot rebuild quickly, students report interruptions in the system.
In this regard, on January 1, 2021, the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation adopted the Regulations on licensing educational activities. This document makes it possible to obtain a license to conduct educational activities for existing online schools with a well-functioning system of work.
Communication that fits the times
Of course, the question of socialization and exchange of experience arises. There is indeed a growing demand among applicants for the formation of a community within which people can exchange knowledge. Therefore, distance learning is saturated with communication with teachers and mentors, general conferences, teamwork, workshops and practices.
For people who go to advanced training or retraining courses, mentors organize communication with employers and professional networking. Increasingly, programs include psychological support and coaching, which helps to overcome communication barriers.
Pain points
According to a 2015 study, the average percentage of those who completed massive open online courses was approximately 15%. During the pandemic, the percentage of applicants who completed the course has increased, but it is not even equal to half of those enrolled.
This suggests that in the middle of the path, the student’s motivation falls. For this reason, finding engagement tools will be top priorities in 2022.
EdTech is not just an education industry, it is a technology industry of the future that will change the process of obtaining knowledge. Now this area is going through a period of formation, but in order to consolidate the successes, we have a lot of work to do — in the field of Tech. Because creating a platform with courses is quite easy, but introducing new technologies into it and capturing the attention of a student is much more difficult.
Conclusions
The era of education has just begun and, apparently, is not going to end. The experience of traditional institutions has shown the need to constantly change course formats, adapting to the needs of students, and make education as personalized as possible. Listener interests change, and the market changes with them. This means that the demand for online education will fall only if the market does not respond to the consumer’s request in time.