Continuing education through online courses
The global education market is enormous. It is today estimated to be worth 60,000 billion SEK annually and 100,000 billion SEK in ten years. Corporate training accounts for 6% of this, and “lifelong learning” adds another 8%, totaling 1,400 billion SEK annually. What proportion of this is then internet-based education through LMS, eLearning, or online courses?
The total eLearning market currently generates 550 billion SEK, which is less than one percent of the total market. Isn’t that strange in times of viruses and environmental concerns?
Classroom teaching and distance learning
Today, we see that internet-based web courses are increasing in both interest and revenue, but it’s far from being considered a challenger to the traditional classroom. A significant part of this is, of course, that education in primary and secondary schools (K-12) is governed by regulatory frameworks that do not allow significant deviations that web courses might represent.
It has become more of a rule than an exception for universities to offer both online courses as part of their regular programs and also Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which are free courses available on the internet.
Dropouts a significant issue
A problem with online courses is that many students drop out before completing the course or, for that matter, the entire program. Approximately 50% of all participants in online education programs drop out before obtaining their degree. This poses a challenge for educational institutions that receive their funding once students have successfully completed their studies. Moreover, dropouts contribute to a decline in the school’s performance metrics as there is no differentiation between students in traditional classrooms and those in online courses when these metrics are calculated.
Download the guide: “3 Steps to Structure Your E-Learning Course into Micro-Courses”
Many factors for a successful online course
Succeeding with your online courses involves several different aspects, not least of which is that the content must be of good quality. It seems that most schools and other educators believe that it’s enough to set up a camera in the classroom, then play it back online and call it an online course.
Similarly, there are several Learning Management Systems (LMS) that also fail to meet users’ and students’ requirements for content and functionality.
To succeed with their online education programs, schools, companies, and other educators must approach this form of education with greater enthusiasm and ensure they have the necessary knowledge to manage this type of learning.
LMS is not the complete solution
I see many companies that buy an LMS system and then believe that the employee training is done. But when we get involved, it’s often a melting pot of failures and shattered hopes. An LMS system that isn’t used and only contains a few outdated courses that no one needs anymore.
To establish training through online courses, a preparedness and resources are needed that can manage both the LMS system and, above all, handle content production, keeping that material updated, and consistently adding new content based on the company’s and employees’ needs.
Patrik Löfvin
NXT Learning
