E-learning trends in 2021: Perspective to reimagine and rethink

E-learning trends in 2021: Perspective to reimagine and rethink

 The COVID pandemic has brought about a remarkable shift in the attitude of people towards online education. Edtech has become part of mainstream education and this shift is here to stay.  

While 2020 was the year in which online learning became an integral part of our lives, 2021 will witness further development of tech-driven activities in the edtech industry aimed at fostering inclusivity and making an impact. It has been predicted that the e-learning market will grow to $1.6 billion with around 9.6 million users by the end of 2021 and the same will be fuelled by a phenomenal rise in the numbers of paid users. 

This is likely to give rise to some interesting trends. 

Bridging the gap 

Both the government and private bodies have worked towards including students across India via digital education with a combined effort during the pandemic. These efforts will continue as we move to bridge the gap between urban and rural student's access to online education by enhancing the infrastructure in rural areas. These activities comprise setting up solar panels, electricity, potable drinking water, making laptops, and smartphones available to use, and so on. 

Virtual classrooms 

The convenience of virtual classrooms will continue to be available to learners, empowering learners to create a classroom-like environment in the safety of their homes and teachers by allowing them to make academic decisions and analyze student responses from anywhere. Virtual learning also allows for the use of personalized, adaptive learning and teaching based on the proficiency and caliber of students.   

Smartphones first

By 2022, India will have a smartphone base of 820 million and the same will change the outlook of the edtech industry as well. During the pre-COVID era, e-learning lessons were designed with desktops in mind which were then adapted to smartphones. This has now seen a paradigm shift, with smartphones now becoming the universal medium for learning. Many courses, especially after K12 are providing a quality mobile experience. A rich mobile experience has also become crucial for employee training and upskilling courses. Superior technology is already being used to ensure uninterrupted video views on smartphones especially in areas with low internet coverage so that studies are not hampered. 

Peer-to-peer learning

Virtual classrooms and digital technology have allowed students to work together in an environment that challenged them to be more creative in reaching out to each other. This has led to the development of soft skills, persuasion, and interaction abilities. Peer-to-peer learning also provided opportunities for content to be generated collectively and shared for collaborative learning. This is likely to transform student learning permanently while having a lasting effect on teaching methodology as well.  

Augmented Reality (AR) Apps

Augmented Reality (AR) Apps that can be accessed on smartphones are already revolutionizing the way people are learning. Applications that can help teachers explain a topic enhancing the real-world environment with text, sound effects, graphics, and multimedia allows students to understand and remain engaged till the end of the lesson. It makes education more accessible and can replace textbooks, manuals, physical models, and so on and will enable efficient training even in remote areas. 2021 will witness the use of interactive, gamified AR learning which can use all levels of education starting from playgroups and all levels of schooling to skill-based learning by adults. 

Conclusion

While the COVID pandemic has been beneficial to the edtech sector in general, 2021 and beyond will witness the emergence of more players and the adoption of the latest technologies for the benefit of learners in India and abroad.  With increasing internet penetration in India covering all Tier II and III towns and rural areas, India will also witness more adaptability for online education in primary and secondary education, test preparation sector for competitive examinations, higher education, and skill development.  

Ganesh Raju, Founder & CEO- Ken42