We know that everyone has been going through tough times and trying to get over the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments and Organisations on the global level are rethinking and planning to define new strategies to run businesses, training their employees to face the obstacles and challenges which are posed by the environmental and industrial disturbances and business variability.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has introduced unprecedented obstacles that have forced organizations to search for alternatives to continue the work like remote working or work from home or virtual training sessions. Earlier only remote users or those who were spread across different geographies were entitled to get enrollment for remote training sessions or remote workspace. In the last year working from home has become a normal trend globally due to the pandemic situation. Also, various survey reports have declared that working from home has played a major role in employees’ personal life as well the professional work culture, their productivity has improved to several notches.
Working from home is the new normal now and several surveys have shown that working from home has helped people improve their overall productivity by several notches. Though the current trend is induced by the COVID pandemic, this is going to be a big trend in the future. Gradually, the organizations are able to witness the numerous advantages of working remotely, and in many cases enterprises are considering work from home as a permanent solution for their business requirements instead of a survival strategy. In this article, we will discuss the e-Learning trends which can be beneficial in 2021.
Table of Contents
Artificial Intelligence
As per many surveys and analytical reports it’s been observed that Artificial Intelligence continues to develop and will be a top trend for a longer period. It’s a not surprising fact that many big players are taking part in and helping people across the globe in getting help and access to AI-enabled content. It has been proved that Artificial Intelligence is an essential part of developing any sort of new technology and content. The developers are more focused on AI for developing codes and programs to automate the existing functions and routine tasks of the organizations that were considered to be completed only by human hands in the recent past. AI enables the users to focus more on tasks that require high-order brain efforts and skills, for example, process-based automation. In the Digital learning paradigm, AI is going to play a massive role in 2021 and beyond. It will support personalized learning experiences, data interpretation, and report generation for the selected courses and in making better recommendations.
Personalized Learning
The term Personalized learning means offering the educational and activities based learning content based on end-user’s requirements and choice based on their performance. By using personalized learning, we can design personalized and highly customized learning content for the end users, wherein the learning path could be based on some pre-assessment and previous performance of the learner.
We strongly believe that personalized learning will be in the top trends in 2021. It will be highly effective if we combine it with artificial intelligence, analytical engines, and various other smart tools. It will certainly become the best bet for the e- Learning app Development firms and continue to create waves in the e-learning space.
Learning Analytics
It is an amalgamation of traditional quantitative methods wiand modern Big Data assisted learning, which can revolutionize learning like never before. Different organizations like Governments, Universities, Open online course institutions, and startup ventures are collecting and analyzing the usage data of users and learners and devising innovative methods of learning.
However, this data remains untapped until and unless we develop the adequate tools or instruments to capture the requirements of the learners and offer them the customized content as per their needs. Learning analytics assists us to figure out the key indicators of a student’s performance and helps them understand the area of concerns and improvement, so that appropriate action can be initiated. Learning Analytics is going to play a vital role in 2021 and beyond, as most of the learning is now going to be digital.
Learning Experience Platforms
It is also known as LXPs, and in recent years it has gained such a stature that enterprises are utilizing it to provide a personalized learning environment, the employees are also getting benefitted from it and utilizing the knowledge in achieving personal goals as well as the organizational objectives. Majorly, we see the aim of implementing LXP at any of the organizations is to provide a platform to the employees and learners where they can easily exchange the subject matter expertise with others in an efficient and cost effective way.
LXP is growing at a fast pace and it’s an effective contender to the traditional LMS which is an administrative-driven platform, rather than a learner-driven platform.
Adaptive Learning
Adaptive learning is a method through which we can personalize the learning using several logical and mathematical algorithms, assessments based on confidence, and alignment of competency-based pieces of training. With the help of adaptive learning, employees and learners can get highly dynamic learning content, and they can choose appropriate content as per their preferred learning path.
Learners would have the liberty to learn the content as per their ability and they can complete it at their own pace. Especially for employees, who are engaged in their usual tasks, they can utilize adaptive learning to enhance their learning. Adaptive learning makes sure the learners receive the appropriate knowledge provided in the right amount and time intervals. Adaptive Learning will be in top trends in the year 2021 and far off.
Microlearning Platforms
Microlearning platforms have touched new heights and created massive attraction amongst the learners and will keep on moving on the progress path in the current and upcoming years. It was developed as a reliable tool for the learners to access the knowledge sources. We have several microlearning programs available which help the learners grasp various subjects easily and efficiently.
People use it for assessment purposes at the core and some enterprises are utilizing it for gamification for making the learning easy. The more focus is on performance and this sort of solution is helping the organization to develop e- learning apps with the best mobile app development company and earn their revenues and recommendations.
Example: Tesseract Learning has introduced a robust microlearning platform. which is called kredo. This tool is capable enough to develop, design, and publish the microlearning content very easily and quickly. The administrator can easily track the performance of the learners on its dashboard by using several inbuilt analytical functions. KREDO assists learning organizations to impart a ceaseless learning worldview for a wide range of learning methods, including post and pre-formal virtual classrooms or advanced and digital learning meetings.
Gamification and Game-Based Learning
Gamification is a significant procedure that helps the enterprises to keep their focus on learning and development, and ensure these organizations can develop right learning content with ease. Gamification highlights like unlockable accomplishments give representatives/employees instant output/feedback to take it positively and do something productive. You can likewise allot identification marks or badges to the content, similar to evaluations and assessments.
Gamification ensure that learner gets a feeling on an in-charge of the learning, which helps learner to gain some innovative knowledge by feeling accountable for the entire preparing, bringing about executing the assignments easily, and accordingly playing out the best at what they know.” Gamification will keep on assisting enterprises and learning content developers to make engaging,immersive, knowledgeable and memorable learning experiences.
Virtual Classroom Training
Virtual classroom training has gained a massive popularity in recent years, and it is going to retain that traction in the future as well. However, for most of the organizations, it is not that easy to migrate to the virtual training platform so easily. Many remained fearful from the start about its feasibility and were distrustful of its potential as well.
However, the COVID pandemic has given them an opportunity to test this method as they had no other option left. Contrary to their assumptions, they found the functioning of virtual classrooms quite admirably, as opposed to the existing and traditional methods. Virtual classroom training requires a different set of skills and approach. The virtual training sessions can’t be excessively long, the technology must work for the people connected from the remote locations.
Many people don’t feel comfortable using the webcams while working from home and so many other challenges. Virtual training is more dynamic and flexible when we compare it with the traditional classroom classes, as it offers many innovative features like live interactions, user surveys, chat, polls. With virtual training, you can oversee tests continuously, gather input quickly, and lead meetings for groups spread across different geographical locations. Virtual classroom training is certainly a big e-learning trend in 2021 and in the upcoming future.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality has emerged as a mainstream method of carrying out an assortment of training. It doesn’t matter if we have to conduct a survey of insurance claims in a risky environment or grasping a risky and highly expensive expertise like flying an airplane, Virtual Reality is the preparation mode to incline toward. Rather than conducting various kinds of drills, organizations can assist their employees to acquire openness to ideas, for example, they can help their employees to learn how to react in crisis situations such as fire, earthquake, or flood via a VR-based module.
Virtual Reality need not be carried out utilizing 3D as it were. It very well may be carried out and still be successful with its exceptional 360-degree photos and video capabilities. Utilizing a proper blend of photos or potentially recordings and amalgamate them with logical instructions, the VR can be a highly interactive and valuable learning experience.
With the high-tech tools and emerging technology, it is quite easy to develop VR content, and it is cost effective too. VR has been gaining immense popularity and you can easily find VR assisted tools and components almost everywhere. Due to its unimaginable possibilities and utility for all sorts of business cases, VR will keep on trending in 2021 and in the coming years.
Catalog Courses
You may wonder why catalog courses are required? And how are Catalog courses even a trend? Considering your concerne, we would like to say that Catalog courses have seen a massive revamp in the learning industry. With more enterprises option for digital transformation, the interest and demand for catalog courses have only seen an upward trend.
Numerous new players are venturing into the catalog courses business to grasp the catalog course business pie. The biggest advantage of catalog courses is that they can be developed rapidly and could be published easily at multiple platforms. Catalog courses allow learners to enhance their knowledge and master new new abilities quicker as courses are accessible promptly.
Continuous Learning Journeys
The continuous learning journey is a moderately new idea wherein there is an implicit arrangement that individuals need to adapt persistently to hold the learning communicated during a formal training session. It is essential to take note that individuals will in general neglect or lose the information they have learned during a formal training session.
Sometimes it could take a few weeks or a month to forget that know;edge, and this concept is known as the Forgetting Curve. The forgetting curve shows how rapidly we fail to remember data over the long haul when there is no attempt to hold it.
A continuous learning journey could be executed at the moment when a learner joins an organization, and he gets the information about a specific product or service. At a later stage the employee only needs to learn the changes for that specific product or the service, instead of learning it from scratch. Microlearning platforms like Kredo are assisting organizations to implement the Continuous learning journey easily and that also ensures that it remains a big trend in 2021.
Video-Based Learning
Video-based learning is certainly one of the most used and popular techniques to impart important content to the learners. Video based learning works well under several circumstances where an organization may intend to make their employees aware about their work, policies, and future vision. It also helps organizations to comprehend essential parts of its work to the employees and other stakeholders.
Video-based learning modules can be self-running and intuitive, which makes it the best bet for institutional learning. Be it a launch of a new product or service, or a change management, key address of senior leadership, executive message at the time of need, the video-based learning always fulfills the due requirements of the organization. Video-based e-learning methods are going to be in high demand in 2021 and beyond.
Social And Collaborative Learning
Social learning has progressively acquired the attention of organizations and gained much traction among the learners as well. If we couple it with Collaborative learning, then it becomes a wonderful learning solution for the organization looking for a robust but flexible learning method.
Collaborative learning, as the name itself suggests is a collection of methods that ensures a collaboration among the employees at the workplace. It could be discussion forums, chat sessions, meetings, and learning circles, which enables an employee to gain knowledge with the help of his/her co-workers. The social and collaborative learning techniques are practical, cost effective, flexible and effective if we compare it with the traditional learning techniques.
This learning technique is quite transparent and open, and it allows the learners to overcome their fears to learn a new subject or concept. Social and collaborative learning is here to stay, and it has proved its worth to the organizations, and that’s why they are opting for this method rapidly.
Smarter Content Curation
Most of the firms are very much aware that the internet and their own knowledge bases do have a massive content and information repository. They are also aware that learners are mostly interested in the relevant information about the subject they want to learn, instead of searching and looking for something in the entire content store. For this, firms are utilizing content curation methods.
The Smarter content curation method certainly helps a learner to find the desired learning content from a huge content repository with ease. With time, this Content curation method will attin more sophistication and turn into the best possible method to enhance the learner engagement.
e-Learning Trends – Final thoughts
We feel these are the most popular e-learning trends of 2021. It could be an e-learning trend or learning content trends, but one thing is for sure that these trends are going to set the benchmark in the learning space and enhance the ways of learning for the learners and organizations.
Usually the organizations and learners benefit from these interventions and modalities. By adapting and utilizing these me-learning methods, the learners will certainly enhance their knowledge, on the other hand the organizations will save their resources as far as training is concerned, provided if these tools and methodologies are implemented effectively.
These trends are going to help organizations to make progress in their continuous quest for becoming more adaptive and agile learning organizations.