#elearning trends

eLearning is not going anywhere anytime soon. Dusty blackboards, oversaturated photocopies, and smudged overhead projectors are things of the past now.  eLearning has taken over the education scene. For those unfamiliar with it, eLearning is the learning process that uses electronic means to help create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment. This kind of learning utilizes interactive whiteboards, online classes, etc.

Most Popular e-Learning Trends

Online learning has rapidly become the dominant means to pass on knowledge to students. So, here are the latest e-learning trends that are the future of education.

1. Video Learning

Usually, there are three types of learners:

Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic.

For example, the ones who excel best in education when faced with videos are visual learners. Those who learn through vocals are auditory learners, and those who require practical demonstration to succeed are called kinesthetic learners. 

2. Social Learning

Social learning takes on the essential components of human interaction and group dynamics and then applies them to modern technology. With the advent of social learning in the electronic space (i.e., online forums, class-wide chat rooms, and file-sharing platforms), collaboration has become more efficient, productive, and seamless. It is one of the essential strategies in online learning for learners to achieve more success.

3. Adaptive Learning

The style of education, where different resources, projects, activities, and assignments are tailed according to each learner’s needs, is referred to as adaptive learning. 

The implementation of adaptive learning in the context of eLearning is usually performed by established algorithms and assessments rather than the potential arbitrary judgments of educators themselves.

4. Artificial Intelligence

It’s not risky to say that artificial intelligence (AI) has left its initial reputation of being the evil impetus behind it. AI has experienced at-home integration worldwide with Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant on Android, and your simple text-based chatbots.

Beyond these simple smartphone commands, AI has also found its footing in the context of eLearning.

5. Microlearning

Regardless of their age, many students are daunted by large, multi-phase projects. But, on the contrary, these students and other collaborative classrooms everywhere have found much greater success by breaking up lessons, learning materials, and projects into manageable chunks. 

Online learners and instructors are yet to reap the benefits of microlearning. However, one such platform utilizing these modes of learning is SimpliTaught. It offers interactive video lectures from several educators worldwide and covers your key concepts.

6. Game-Based Learning

Whether you are a five-year-old or in your fifties, learning is always more intriguing when it’s fun. Game-based learning or gamification is the facet of online learning that attempts to make education more fun and digestible.

Given its undeniable benefits, both digital and traditional classrooms will continue implementing game-based solutions in classrooms for the foreseeable future. Moreover, gamification is ideal for the somewhat impersonal nature of eLearning.

7. Augmented & Virtual Reality

An explorable interface, graphic overlays, and 360-degree visuals are just a few augmented and virtual reality applications. As a result, the pre-existing notion of teachers scribbling on the blackboard is outdated, and now educators are exploring new and up-to-date ways to enhance learning. One such trend is augmented and virtual reality in online classrooms.

The augmented and virtual reality applications allow eLearning practitioners to fully immerse their students into the subject, whether mathematics, accounting, science, history, or literature.

8. Mobile Learning

Although currently, mobile learning is not strictly a part of traditional eLearning, its evolution (also called mLearning) is definitely an appropriate trend to watch out for.

Just recently, the concept of doing almost anything on your phone was a pipe dream. But now, about everything has become a possibility, and everyone loves the opportunity to do things while on the go. With benefits, there are also some challenges to online learning that learners must overcome.

9. Learning Management Systems

Previously, employers and managers commonly implemented content management systems to create collaborative environments and workplaces and help produce and store digital content.

This very concept has expanded into the realm of eLearning. Learning management systems (LMS) is an excellent choice that assists instructors and other online learning practitioners in developing, documenting, and administering the courses and curriculum that is created.

10. Learning & Development

LMS isn’t only about lesson planning, management, and implementation, but it aids teachers and other behind-the-scenes figures in collecting actionable data and other analytic factors. Hence, the practitioners will be able to properly evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson or an overall course. Not only this, it plays a critical role in Learning and Development. Also, it helps educators to increase learners' engagement in online classes. L&D (learning and development) is commonly applied in industrial contexts because it correlates individual performance with overall organizational goals. However, it can also be used in the context of eLearning.

Final Thoughts!