According to UNESCO nearly 1.5 billion children and youth are out of school post the COVID-19 outbreak across 165 countries. With most offices having moved to work-from-home options and the ever-increasing unemployment rates, the online learning rate is going to grow exponentially among the working class too. With the COVID-19 threat still looming, there is still uncertainty regarding when schools and offices will reopen at full capacity again. The obvious inference from this is that E-learning platforms are going to see a sharp increase in their utility and user base in the near future.
E-learning platforms have been around for many decades, but haven’t been able to create the kind of ‘transformational’ impact that has long been promised. With the Coronavirus ‘black swan’ event, all of these remote learning platforms have gotten a sudden push into the mainstream, even in places where people could not envision such options earlier due to poor infrastructure and other socio-economic issues.
The size of the E-learning market had already been pegged to cross USD 240 Billion by 2023, and now this projection is going to go up further. It is no wonder then, that in the coming days we will see newer companies entering the remote learning race utilizing emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing & Augmented and Virtual Reality to compete with established market leaders.
Emerging technologies that are set to take e-learning solutions to the next level
Artificial Intelligence
According to Forbes, “Artificial intelligence can act as a virtual tutor and answer questions on the fly”.
Artificial Intelligence-powered E-learning platforms will be equipped to identify and assess learners’ levels of understanding and suggest customized paths of learning. Content analytics powered by AI makes personalized and learner-centered approaches possible – these would be based on the learner’s intellectual level, from kindergarten through higher education to even corporate training. Developing these solutions is no longer a daunting task with the advent of AIaaS or “AI as a Service” – now these solutions are easy to implement and come with enticing benefits.
Augmented Reality (AR)
AR solutions bring more engagement, excitement, and innovation to e-learning platforms making content more consumable, enjoyable, and valuable. Augmented Reality techniques will be widely utilized to increase engagement for learners through activities, rather than the traditional read and write learning methodology. Augmented reality can also be used to offer customized learning options to suit differently-abled students with special needs to learn better, as AR includes gesture, voice recognition, and image rendering experiences.
Virtual and Remote Laboratories
Laboratories are some of the best places to learn – they allow students to acquire knowledge, experiment with different methods of arriving at answers, and experience real equipment, inculcating active learning and the development of skills based on solving challenges. Simulating labs virtually makes it possible for the users to stay connected through the internet to a remote physical system, and conduct web-based technical experiments. Students can extend their depth of knowledge in areas of control systems, programming, database, various other web-based applications, tools, and technologies.
Virtual labs are also extremely beneficial to run experiments that are normally too expensive, unsafe to run, or unavailable. They also allow students to repeat an experiment multiple times, giving them the opportunity to see how changed parameters and settings affect the outcome without wasting resources.
The Internet of Things
The number of devices that will be a part of the Internet of Things (IoT) by 2025 will be around 75 billion in number. The rise in IoT is going to further improve the e-learning experience. Already we see how mobile learning allows learners to access E-learning courses with absolute freedom of time and place. In the future, we are going to see more content in the form of images and videos. 24X7 access to the internet across a number of wearables will make teachers redesign assessment from “remembering and writing down”, to “evaluate and elucidate concepts on the go”.
If you’re thinking of using these technologies to your advantage to build or improve your E-learning systems and solutions, reach out to the expert technology consultants at Sarabi Tech. Sarabi has built spectacular EduTech platforms for organizations across the globe – with our years of experience and know-how in the latest technologies such as AI and AR/VR, Experion is certain to deliver the best solution with minimum time investment.
