As well as any other industry directly connected with modern technologies, the tech market is quickly growing and constantly evolving. Being influenced by numerous external factors, including social transformations, economic situations, and tech updates, the segment of eLearning software development is experiencing severe changes. While some years ago, the essential devices used for learning were laptops, today, the focus of the market has been shifted to mobile solutions. And that’s only one of all the existing examples. Some of them are analyzed in this article and e-learning trends that we will observe in 2022.
eLearning market overview
In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, all the industries and business segments experienced probably one of the most severe transformations in recent history. It’s hardly possible to name even one sphere of our life that hasn’t felt any (direct or indirect) impact of the lockdowns and restrictive measures introduced by the governments in different countries to prevent the virus from spreading. Though in 2021, we could notice significant mitigations of the previously submitted steps, many aspects of social life will never become the same as they used to be earlier. And education is one of them.
With the continuously growing trend of working and studying from home or using the mixed model when part of the classes are organized online and the second part - offline, at schools and universities, we shouldn’t underestimate the role of eLearning solutions.
In 2020, the E-Learning market volume reached $250 billion, demonstrating a good growth from $144 billion in 2019. The forecasts for the future are even more optimistic.
Online learning trends to take into account in 2022
But what current trends in online learning are believed to rock the market and boost its growth? That’s exactly what we are going to explain further.
Mobile Learning
As we’ve already mentioned above, today, we can see that learners widely use smartphones and tablets to work with different content types. It is comfortable to have the possibility to learn from everywhere. And it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about a sunny beach overseas or a comfy sofa in your room. The main benefit that mobile learning solutions offer is a chance to step away from your desk and continue learning new things or revising the materials you’ve already studied.
The rate of smartphone penetration is amazingly high today. In some countries, such as the US, for example, it is over 80% already. It means that the importance of mobile-friendly learning software shouldn't be ignored, especially when it comes to apps for corporate learning.
It is forecasted that by the end of 2021, the market share of the mobile elearning segment will reach $38 billion. So, if you are considering launching a learning platform for your staff or clients, we recommend thinking about building its mobile version as well (or maybe you should even focus on it as your essential product).
Microlearning
Among other eLearning trends, we should name microlearning one of the most highly-engaged formats of delivering education today. However, as you can understand from its name, this approach presupposes breaking down all the materials into small units or short-term activities.
This method’s range of multimedia formats is extensive (from simple texts and images to tests, quizzes, and games). The main requirement for them is their size/length.
Why has this approach found its place among future education technology trends? The answer is quite simple. With the hectic lifestyle that many of us have today, we do not always have time to study a full-scale unit or take a huge test. And it is much easier to find time for small formats.
Game-based Learning
If you think that games are only for children, probably you haven’t communicated with a sufficient number of adults. Many fresh studies show that gamification helps significantly increase learners’ motivation and engagement regardless of their age.
This trend is not a new one. We’ve already mentioned it in our article about the trends in edtech in 2021, but it is here to stay.
It will be a good idea to enrich with gamification elements school apps and elearning software of other types. Just a couple of ideas for you, what features can be added:
- leaderboards
- points
- collectibles
- badges/certificates
- contests and “battles” with other learners
Video-based Learning
These days we can observe how video is becoming a standard format for learning. Videos can be highly engaging and capturing. They allow us to present complicated information efficiently and comprehensively, making the entire learning process more efficient.
Using this format, you also can deliver rather significant volumes of info within shorter periods. As a result, learners can spend less time studying the provided materials than when the same information is presented in a written form.
Moreover, short films can be reused in different programs and learning units and are suitable for material revision.
AI and High Personalization
With the increasing quality of learning programs available today, the expectations and demands of learners are growing as well. That’s why another position that we should include in our list of the eLearning technology trends is the use of AI and ML tools aimed at ensuring high content personalization.
But AI-based tools can be helpful for students who can get programs specifically tailored for their needs and demands and professors. With the help of AI features, they can get a clearer picture of their student’s progress, interests, learning styles, abilities. Such features can also offer recommendations on how teachers can change their programs and methods to make the learning process more flexible and adaptive to students’ needs.
Moreover, AI-powered chatbots can help reduce the volumes of work for your support team and ensure the increased quality of user Data and Learning Analytics.
Modern learning management systems (LMS) deal with vast volumes of user data. But gathering and storing some info is only one part of the entire work that is done. It is crucial to sort, filter, and analyze this data to track the educational process, detect issues, discover patterns, and find solutions.
Such analytics tools can also help estimate the value of the provided learning content for users.
Adaptive Learning
This trend is based on the understanding that there can’t be any one-size-fits-all approaches in learning as all people are different. This educational method presupposes offering unique learning experiences that can address the special needs of each individual.
In elearning, these goals are achieved thanks to applying AI tools and various computer algorithms that help monitor the interaction with a learner and better analyze their interests.
Social Interaction
Communication features have become an integral element of many elearning solutions. For example, some tech platforms are integrated with major social networks. It allows students to chat with others, collaborate on joint projects, or discuss the learning process. They also can publish related materials on their pages, comment on the posts of their group mates, repost them, and react to them. These additional formats of interaction help increase engagement and find new ways of working with educational materials of different forms.
Our experts will carefully analyze your idea and offer you the options of how to build it in full accordance with the latest trends in software development. Tell us about your future product!
Wrapping Up
Today the market of learning solutions is expanding as quickly as never before. The same can be said about the demand for high-quality platforms and apps for different groups of learners. That’s why new software products are positively welcomed. However, mind the competition! If you want to win the hearts of your audience, make sure that your solution not only corresponds to the up-to-date industry standards but also meets the expectation of learners in the aspects related to its functionality and content value.
Among all the online learning trends for 2022, we can highlight one that can be viewed as the real king of the mountain on this list. That's the personalization of the learning process. Make each learner feel special and try to satisfy all their personal, educational needs. And if you manage to do that, your solution has extremely high chances to succeed.If you require any assistance in software development at Geomotiv, we are always ready to help you. Just contact us via our online form.