Over the past two decades, how we teach and learn has been significantly impacted by technology and the internet. Access to online courses and digital content has exploded. Institutions of every size and type are now experimenting with various ways to teach and learn on the internet.
As students’ expectations around technology-enabled learning rise, they are seeking flexible alternatives to traditional on-campus learning models. This means that the demand for online learning will continue to increase. According to reports, the online tutoring market in the APAC region is predicted to exhibit higher growth rate by 2025.
The LMS market in Asia is booming.
With the emerging tech disruptions in the online learning industry in Asia, the Learning Management System (LMS) market is also booming. According to a report by Market Research, the APAC region is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the coming years, with the highest CAGR of over 19.75% during the years 2019-2027. Several countries in the region have adopted LMS solutions owing to the growing edtech industry and ever-increasing mobile usage and internet penetration. Key industry stakeholders have realised the significance of effective integration between connected devices in the eLearning process.
This tech disruption is not limited to academics, but corporate organisations have also started employing the LMS for employee training, skill development drives and succession planning. LMS is also helpful as an onboarding tool for new hires.
While the LMS market, along with the edtech industry, continues to grow across Asia, the online learning market is expected to witness more innovations and trends in the coming years.
Let us look at some of the online learning trends to look out for in 2020:
Virtual reality (VR)
With VR technology becoming more accessible and affordable, innovative post-secondary institutions are now turning to VR, integrated with mobile learning to create digital learning scenes for immersive learning opportunities and to enhance students’ understanding of complicated subject matter.
Online tutoring
The global tutoring market is growing at 13.7% CAGR, and Asia is emerging as one of the most lucrative markets for online education. Advancements in technologies, including the incorporation of artificial intelligence, are now making it increasingly possible for students to seek and receive virtual tutoring assistance at the point of need. Providing lecturers using professional development in technology is essentially the first step before upgrading to a higher functioning LMS. While online tutoring helps students learn from anywhere anytime in an organised manner, it is also helpful in the corporate world. Online training can help save on the cost of running development programmes while managing to provide useful data to monitor the progress, track adoption levels, and more.
Mobile learning
Students are increasingly accessing online learning on mobile devices. Increasing computing power and rich features on these devices make for a dynamic and holistic learning experience. Broad availability of mobile devices globally also facilitates the delivery of learning experiences to nations and individuals that typically would be denied the benefit of post-secondary education.
Gamification
Games empower learners, enrich learning experiences and boost learner engagement in the course material. According to Taamkru, a leading edtech startup based in Thailand that serves the online learning market with gamification across the region in countries like Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam, kids using the app for over a 15-day period see an average improvement of around 26.8% in their scores.
Video-based learning
Lecturers can now deliver video-based classes and content. Students find video-based learning more engaging, and can learn at their own pace. Video analytics help lecturers better understand how students are interacting with the content.
The foremost driving factors of the global online learning market is the surge in the adult population with the requirement for education, growing awareness about online training and promising support from the government. Furthermore, the growing investments in eLearning are the other foremost factor which exerts positive influence in the market growth. Therefore, soon, it is anticipated that the market of online tutoring will increase across the globe more positively over the recent few years with the high amount of investment by the existing players of this market and international investors for attaining the high return on investment.
This post was contributed by Nick Hutton, Regional Director of Asia, D2L
About Nick Hutton
Nick has been living and working in Asia for the past 29 years. Originally from the UK, he started his working life in Asia with Apple Computer. Following Apple, Nick moved into the telco industry, working for a number of global telco vendors across Asia Pacific. In 2008 he became CEO of a fully online Business School in Singapore, Universitas 21 Global, partnering with 21 of the world’s leading research-intensive universities. Nick is currently a Regional Director at D2L which created Brightspace, the learning platform that is recognised globally as the #1 LMS Technology for Next-Gen Online Teaching and Learning.