‘Online learning’ – which is also called ‘elearning’ – involves people signing up for a course over the Internet and performing all of their learning activities, such as watching lecture videos, interacting in the forums and submitting assignments online. This is as opposed to correspondence learning where people study using hard copy material which has been sent to them; however, they still don’t go to a physical location to be taught.
This industry has exploded – and continues to do so. Since 2000, the elearning industry grew 900%. One of the reasons has to be the efficiency of this medium of learning. Statistics show that if a student learns through elearning, they increase retention rates by between 25 and 60%. This is as opposed to face-to-face learning which only increases retention rates by 8 to 10%.
The benefits of online learning
Without a doubt, there are enormous benefits for students when it comes to online learning. For example, because they do not have to go into a college physically, and all their learning material is online, the student does not have to pay over as much money for their course as they would have had to do with face-to-face learning. Also, education institutions can scale back on their fees quite substantially because they don’t have to pay the expenses associated with face-to-face learning.
Another massive benefit of online learning is that it’s incredibly flexible. This means that students are still able to hold down a 9 to 5 job while still gaining the skills that they need in order to progress in their careers. They are able to learn in an environment which is conducive to their learning and are also able to learn when it’s convenient for them. All they require is a secure Internet connection as well as a smart device or laptop.
Because online students don’t need to travel to a specific place to follow their course, online learning is fantastic for people who don’t have transportation or can’t drive. Alternatively, online learning makes it possible for students to learn from professors and other learned people in other countries because they won’t have to visit that country and incur all the additional expenses related to this travel.
Why online learning is the way of the future
With the four Industrial Revolutions that the world’s economy has changed exponentially. From being an economy that is based on tangible products such as manufacturing, it is now powered by Big Data in addition to the Internet of Things.
We are becoming more reliant on the intangible and people are doing more with less. Think about it: when last did you draw cash at the ATM to pay for something? Now, the standard is to pay with your card or even your phone that has your bank cards programmed in.
People’s mindsets are shifting online, and they are becoming more comfortable with processing these types of transactions over the Internet. This means that they are becoming more comfortable with the idea of online learning as it fits into their lifestyle while, at the same time, improving it.
Learn Online With Future Self Academy
The online learning industry has indeed grown exponentially over the last number of years. Well-known bricks and mortar institutions are taking their courseware online. But are ‘traditional subjects’ – such as marketing, accounting and business – the only ‘worthwhile’ subjects to learn?
What we, at Future Self Academy, have done is to tap into the collective wealth of knowledge that exists among best-selling authors. We’ve taken their books and, using our team of online learning experts, have developed courses based on these books to enrich the learning experience of the individual and to make it even easier for them to retain the knowledge contained in the course.
Are you interested in learning more? If so, then check our list of courses to see what we have on offer.
