4 min 2020 was a breakthrough year for online education showing exponential growth. All of its core areas turned out to be in demand: from additional classes for children to professional retraining courses for adults. New learning tools, digitalization, flexibility and accessibility – all this has become key to bringing education to a fundamentally new level.
Both investors and analysts agree that the dynamic growth of EdTech is a long-term trend. For many, online courses have become an entertainment of sorts during their stay at home. Some had to use them to replace locked down schools and universities. Having tried online learning, people around the world discovered its great benefits. They have proven to be so attractive and diverse that the future of education hardly seems possible without EdTech.
Sure, the gap between online and offline training segments is still too large. Most professions are still too difficult to learn on the internet, even with VR and AR solutions all over the place. Experts believe that blended learning – programs that combine the two learning solutions – will solve the problem.
Right to Knowledge
It no longer matters what city or country you are from. It doesn’t matter how old you are, who your parents are, and how much you earn. The online environment enables us to learn and forge a successful career regardless of geography or social status.
Today, the children’s online learning market is growing fastest in developing countries (India, China, Southeast Asia). With a low level of public schools in these regions, online learning has become a great chance for parents to give their children the best education.
EdTech has encouraged traditional education to upgrade worldwide. No matter how painful it is for universities to adapt to remote learning, they have overcome their inertia, integrated digital technology and adapted to the new market.
Right to Choose
A wide selection of offers is another benefit of online education. The soaring industry has boosted new startups.
Stiff competition forces companies to continuously improve the quality of services and keep their prices attractive to clients. This enables users to customize their learning using their own criteria.
Life-Long Learning
The idea of life-long learning isn’t new. Improving professional qualifications has been relevant since their very beginnings.
But in recent decades, constantly learning new things has become an absolute must for all experts. EdTech has encouraged many new learning enthusiasts.
Firstly, with online education, you can study anywhere at any age. Secondly, the variety and efficiency of courses can make learning really interesting and encourage motivation.
Availability
Online English language courses are on average half the cost of in-person tutor classes.
Advanced Technology
Digital technology is one of the key advantages of online over traditional learning formats. The use of AR and VR has great prospects. Artificial intelligence and Big Data will customize programs to meet the students’ specific requirements.
The system integrated by Novakid Online English School for Children is a great example. Classes are held on a specialized platform. It can collect data on students’ progress after every lesson.
This hits two goals at once. First, you can improve the curriculum on the go. It takes a few years to update traditional school textbooks. And such updates often turn out to be biased or reflect the author’s personal opinion. Novakid’s curriculum can be adjusted at any time. And, thanks to the technology, all changes will be highly accurate.
On the other hand, AI and Big Data allow the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of each student and achieve maximum personalization of the curriculum. Traditional five- or even ten-grade assessment systems will never give assessment of a student’s progress as accurately as parametric analysis.
“We have grown seven times over the past year, and I believe this is amazing progress. Parents and children have appreciated the benefits of online learning and continue learning with Novakid and referring us to other parents. I believe advanced technology in education will motivate people to gain knowledge. They will learn to explore new knowledge and gain new skills rather than being pushed to do so. And this is exactly the kind of education that has every chance to stay with us from early childhood and for life,” said Maxim Azaroff, the founder of Novakid Online English School for Children.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected all spheres of the economy and public life. New learning tools, digitalization, flexibility and accessibility – all this has become the key to bringing education to a fundamentally new level, which will be going up as technology progresses.
