In some ways, the eLearning market had no choice but to grow exponentially over the last two years. The pandemic made it clear that regardless of how long people would have to live trying to minimize contact with others, it’s a good idea to delegate anything online when you can. The promising $243 billion market projection from Statista certainly hints so.
And as the attitude towards eLearning is changing, so is the realization that it’s not confined within online video classes and Learning Management systems anymore. Businesses need to prepare their employees through far more complex technology and tools. If you’re a business owner or someone in the eLearning industry in charge of preparing course content for businesses, you need to be intimately aware of the ever-evolving trends.
Let’s look at the eLearning trends that are sure to stand out in 2022.
1 . Artificial Intelligence
Significant strides have been made in the development of Artificial Intelligence. If put simply, it’s an autonomous system meant to mimic the way the human mind works. Not to mention Artificial Intelligence relies on machine learning, detecting patterns, and creating algorithms to guess what the user will need before the user does.
This will be good for learners. The subject could be tailored to their understanding while they get immediate feedback which they can use to improvise and adapt. They don’t have to wait for an instructor to tell them what they didn’t understand correctly.
AI will help identify the user’s strengths and weaknesses. Even during live webinars, AI could provide tips.
2. Gamification
Learning does not have to be this serious a task where everyone sticks to their work. Instead, it can be a fun, engaging event with a competitive spirit that fosters positivity, not negativity.
Gamification aims to make learners more enthusiastic about learning. Additionally, it results in a surge in productivity as learners become desperate to prove themselves.
It’s a pretty simple concept.
You create a course with obstacles, levels, and rewards— how it happens in games. Except, overcoming these obstacles will test your knowledge, and the levels decide how far along you are.
The rewards come in points or badges, sometimes with effect in the real world, such as vouchers. Just how unlocking achievement in games makes you feel good, courses have the same effect. And if you can set up a World Cup-style competition amongst the learners, even better.
Gamification blends in well with the concept of Artificial Intelligence. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have been flourishing in the online education world. If you have the right technology, you can use simulation to form a game event where everyone can collaborate and interact while learning. Virtual Reality is an experience where people feel like the instructor in their house. Augmented Reality, built in the digital world, makes for an immersive experience that’s hard to forget for learners.
3. Microlearning
Microlearning is the concept of reducing concepts to their basic matter, only retaining what’s essential, and slicing out anything that doesn’t need to stick.
Now, what you do with microlearning is up to you. It can be the primary mode through which a training program gets delivered to the learner. It can be the overview before the actual training. Or it can be added as a seminar or workshop after the training, to ensure trainees retain what’s important.
Microlearning can be shaped and formatted in different ways. It can be quizzes, videos, activities, or part of the gamification journey.
4. Mobile-First Education
If you are in the eLearning industry and making courses for learners, you must develop a user-friendly mobile platform. There’s no negotiating or neglecting this one.
Many people may be willing to go without a laptop or a tablet, but they don’t miss out on using a phone. When they seek out education, they mostly use their smartphones. So what happens when they come to the course you are offering and find out you haven’t made a place for them? They go where someone has.
Therefore, you should make your course in a way that is easy to access on mobile platforms and supports content in that format. If you look at numerous language learning apps, you will see how expertly they have combined gamification with mobile-first learning.
5. Off-the-Shelf Courses
eLearning trends mostly emerge from customer demands. Learners have most definitely expressed appreciation for Catalog courses or off-the-shelf courses. These are ready-made courses on any topic with videos, written scripts, and assignments. In most cases, these assignments are something learners complete for themselves, not necessarily meant to be checked by an instructor.
The topics for catalog courses are usually common ones— soft skills, safety instructions, general knowledge, etc. The topic coverage is broad, and the learners can access it in their own time. Sometimes, certificates are available for completing these topics, with tests at the end.
Off-The-Shelf courses are a library of books in digital format. It allows you to reach out to people who need these skills but don’t necessarily have the time or energy to do physical classes. These courses are also very convenient if you don’t have a team of instructional designers but still need to provide training to employees.
Final Thoughts
These trends aren’t simply emerging for 2022 but will shape the future of eLearning in general. So whether you are an organization preparing modules for your trainees or an education imparting platform, you need to dip your toes in these trends.
If you want to learn more about each of these trends and about Instructional Design for ELearning in general, sign up for my complete Instructional Design for ELearning program here.
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