Top E-learning Trends That Deserve Your Attention in 2018

Emerging trends in e-learning have recently experienced significant growth in popularity. Being extensively used in the education sector, e-learning solutions have turned into valuable assets. Many people prefer this way of learning to discover new things, refresh their knowledge or hone their skills.

Statistics show that people spend on average 7.4 hours daily glued to computers. The demand for content, including learning content, makes the amount of educational solutions providers increase dramatically. Hence, the e-learning market becomes highly competitive, and the providers have to frequently deliver regular updates and the latest versions of applications. The systems they offer ensure that e-learning is autonomous, practice-oriented, and enables mastering valuable knowledge in a relatively short time. Both lifelong learners and professionals are looking for cost-effective and time-saving electronic solutions to broaden their horizons.

E-learning has already found its place in the educational area. This year, a number of interesting e-learning technology trends are going to arise. The majority of them are worth being further discussed in detail.

Mobile learning

E-learning mobile apps

Smartphones have completely changed the concept of education. Nowadays, e-learning services vendors profit enormously from delivering mobile learning solutions. It is estimated that about 80% of users access the Internet via mobile devices, and the market’s revenue has surpassed $341 billion. Mobile learners enjoy the following advantages:

• Educational content can be studied virtually (“on the go”) with no necessity to schedule exact time for a lesson.
• It is a social way of learning. The mLearners community is large enough to help its members clarify disputable matters and provoke constructive discussions.
• Learners can access information at any time and navigate back through the course if needed.
• The content of a mobile course is delivered in a condensed form and can be studied in a short time.

Video content

E-learning video content

Today, there is a tendency towards using video content instead of the textual one. For instance, people spend about 40 min per session watching YouTube. Custom e-learning software development providers well started to actively use video content for educational purposes. It happens due to a number of reasons. Firstly, reading is tiresome, unless the material is backed up by visual content. Secondly, videos demonstrate the necessary skills that are impossible to learn by reading a piece of textual information. Lastly, the use of visual format increases learners’ engagement and aids them in memorization of the new material.

Gamification

Gamification in e-learning

A great number of learners face lack of motivation from time to time. However, the learning process has become more student-targeted. There are many e-learning solutions that boost motivation. A buzzword “gamification” has gradually crept into the educational area thanks to the large popularity of various games, and the total number of gamers in the world has already reached 1.8 billion. By using game-like elements, the developers grasp learners’ attention and increase their engagement. By applying gamification approach, software developers are able to turn complex content into a simple one, incorporate some fun into the learning process and strengthen learners’ motivation.

Collaborative and social learning

E-learning and social learning

Students are actively engaged in sharing their academic success via social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Also, there are special web-based learning platforms where learners can interact with each other. Such collaborative approach contributes to the development of learners’ skills, facilitates sharing additional learning resources and increases motivation by emphasizing rivalry.

Learning networks such as Docsity, StudyBlue, Lynda and more are designed to connect learners around the world and provide them with interactive ways of studying. These platforms also allow to directly interact with experts and enable online tutorials. For users’ convenience, e-learning platforms have multi-language interfaces.

Personalized and adaptive learning

Personalized e-learning

Every year an increasing number of learners choose adaptive courses. Relevant software solutions carry benefits both for teachers and students as they proved to be effective in solving students’ learning difficulties and improving their academic results.

Personalization in e-learning provides many advantages. The adaptive e-learning process is based on the selection of content delivered to particular learners. Next, the adaptive approach presupposes the most convenient way and sequence of delivering content to a particular student.

Before learners are taken to the next level, their performance and time they spent on completing tasks are evaluated. Finally, personal feedback and individual teacher-student interaction makes e-learning appealing to a greater number of learners.

Conclusion

To draw the line, e-learning software solutions vendors aim strategically at making e-learning mobile, customized and largely available by creating learner-friendly platforms. Meeting modern learners’ requirements, the aforementioned five tendencies become a real milestone in the field of education.