Keep an eye out for these anticipated eLearning trends

Today’s learning landscape is volatile and has grown by leaps and bounds.

These advancements not only bring in a holistic approach to learning and self-development. It also makes life easier and the quest for knowledge something to look forward to.

Do you remember that time you’d dread taking a textbook and literally having to swallow it, to pass with a good grade at your exam? The good news is that we’ve come far from the age-old trend of memorizing and surmounting the next hurdle, to making learning and self-development almost a natural process.

To say the least, learning is at your fingertips and can be self-acquired at times without the help of a lecturer or teacher.

Being updated with the latest trends, will be of immense use to assess where we stand on par with ‘what’s new.'  Here we go, brace yourself for some anticipated eLearning trends coming your way soon.

Wearable devices

These give students the opportunity of exploring subject matter in depth and with a better simulation for absorbing and retaining vital content. Devices such as Google Glasses, Oculus Rift, and the Apple Watch are among the many other wearable devices that can promote a whole new learning experience.

Cloud-based systems

Most universities and colleges are moving to platforms that are virtual and can host in-house material on cloud systems. This is not only the case in the eLearning industry but almost in every other sector. Even though people have being somewhat hesitant about distant learning and virtual hosting, there seems to be a growing interest and secured trust in such platforms. Most learning management systems are now cloud based and can be used to manage courses, share course material, monitor attendance and record student assessments and results.

Gamification

Gaming is captivating and can be the preferred thing to do than studying. Imagine gaming as a substitute for studying with an equal benefit or something more?

Applying game-design thinking to non-game applications is known as gamification. This experience can foster attributes such as goal setting and achievement, interactivity, improved concentration and would help to retain longer attention spans.

This is fast becoming the preferred substitute to learning among other trends.  When gaming is used to with an added dimension of instructions and teaching methods, this can be the ultimate form to keep your students enthralled right through to the end.

Mobile learning

Organizations are trying their level best to get to us in proximity and to have them accessed at our fingertips. In the form of a little-organized folder, there is nothing more convenient and compact like an ‘app’.  Mobile learning is one of the most interactive forms of eLearning in this regard. Given that it has good subject matter, user-friendly navigation and good interaction and good access to resources such as YouTube,  users can reaffirm knowledge through interactive knowledge gaining and assessments.

Social learning and collaborative learning

As the name depicts social learning also known as collaborative learning is when students exchange knowledge while interacting with other students and lecturers. This takes the form of online forums, chats and other forms of instant messaging. This can bring about advantages such as immediate clarification, building on ideas, suggestions and opinions and new avenues for better comprehension.  This eliminates the need to sit in a physical classroom and ushers convenience for convenient access from anywhere in the world - of course given that you have a steady Wi-Fi or an internet connection.

Made-to-fit learning

Each one of us has a unique and distinct learning style.  Not all of us are visual learners, neither are we all tactile learners.  Recognizing this need educationalists have come up with ways and means to make tailor-made content relevant to each student's learning capacity with a style to fit their need.  The classroom bound learning experience has been revolutionised and is no longer a one-size-fits-all learning experience. The two most important aspects shaping this trend are no doubt social media and data analytics.

                Social media serves as a platform for students to voice out their ideas, concerns, preferences and feedback from learning events, adding a dynamic dimension to make the learning experience effective and prompt.

Data analytics on the other end will provide insight into how, when and why learners prefer the particular learning style and will enable facilitators to supplement a rounded learning experience to be molded around the students requirement.

Auto generated course content

Although auto generated knowledge is yet to get off the ground, it is gradually spreading its wings and will soon take over knowledge bases, making a stark improvement and complementing concepts of artificial intelligence.  This would be open our eyes to a whole new platform of virtual learning and robust interaction.

Now that the options have been laid out, the choice is yours to see how you can reap the benefits of the latest trends and technology out there.  Having analysed all these trends it can be concluded that they revolve around the concept of tailorable, interactive and engaging learning. The world is in a constant rush to be better than yesterday and as always it is a case of being on par and updated with the rest. 

Benjamin Franklin once said; Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

Created: May 25th, 2016