Ever wondered what life would be like without our nifty little electronic devices? We sleep with smart phones within reach, exercise with smartwatches, spend half our lives glued to gaming consoles, and take notes on electronic notepads.
Since the dot com boom (that seems like an eternity ago, doesn’t it?), technology has been growing at an unprecedented speed. It seems like we wake up to the news of some new innovation or the other every day.
Education systems around the world have embraced these changes. Since 1998, e-learning has become an integral part of Learning and Development (L&D). E-learning has quickly grown into one of the fastest-growing markets in the world; since 2000, it has grown by 900%.
In India, the e-learning market has the highest growth rate – 52%, and this upward trend is expected to continue.
Thanks to technology, the e-learning world has had some revolutionary developments on a regular basis. Let’s take a look at the impact they could have on education in the coming years.
- Learn While You Have Fun
There’s simply no denying it; games are way more fun than boring lectures.
Many organisations are moving towards the gamification of their T&D (Training and Development) sessions. Employees enjoy themselves playing these games, even as they acquire knowledge through them. Using this technique, organisations can motivate their employees by incorporating leaderboards, points, and level progressions into their training process.
Along with their current distance learning programmes, organisations can now adopt gamification as a core L&D methodology.
A similar process can also be included in school curriculums, where frequent tests can be conducted through interactive online quizzes. Students level up every time they score 90% or so in a test; this gamification makes for a more involved and engaging learning process.
- Clouds Are Where It’s At!
Everything is on ‘the cloud,’ and education is no exception. A cloud-based system is a win-win situation for the students as well as the teachers.
Students can access books, notes, and other educational material on the go, while teachers can track a student’s progress in real time.
Cloud-based systems are cost efficient, high on security, and easily upgradable. These features make it a fitting addition to the education system.
- It’s All Gone Mobile
It’s 2016, and you can learn at home, on the bus, and even in bed. Mobile phones are ubiquitous in the true sense of the word. Because of their enormous potential as a learning tool, m-learning now has a strong foothold in the e-learning market, and is poised to become a USD 37.8 million industry by 2020.
Cutting edge organisations are including m-learning as an important part of their L&D process. As developers customise learning programs to fit on those tiny screens, m-learning becomes bigger by the day.
- Enter The Matrix
No, students won’t be stopping bullets with Neo anytime soon.
However, virtual reality is entering the e-learning arena as well. Augmented reality gadgets like the Oculus Rift and Google Glass provide a platform to learn in a simulated environment, Matrix-style.
These 4 innovations are some key examples of technology and learning embracing each other to take e-learning to new heights.
These are merely the tip of the iceberg though. Change really is the only constant, and new developments in technology are radically changing the education system even as you read this: the future looks good for the e-learning world!