eLearning, a growing sector

Although the eLearning sector has been growing steadily in recent years, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic most of the training took place in the classroom, face to face.

During the lockdown the traditional training has seen a setback, unlike eLearning which, in the post-coronavirus phase, according to a survey by Grant Thornton, could develop exponentially.

The research argues that technological innovation has led to a rapid expansion of the types of training available online and signals the rise of mobile platforms, gamification, 3D environments, social learning, data analysis and artificial intelligence. User Experience (UX) technology is helping to expand online training beyond current standards and will be increasingly used to acquire soft skills.

Less than 10% of respondents said they do not currently receive online training, while about one-fifth of respondents receive training entirely online. Approximately one-fifth of training programs for IT systems, desktop applications or customer service training is now mostly online, if not entirely online. In addition, growth in content is driven by demand for training programs to acquire softer skills and shorter training courses.

A major hurdle that eLearning has seen previously (in addition to clarity of ROI, proposed experiences and program effectiveness) has been end-user management. According to Grant Thornton, with changing laws and the use of work from home and the need for social distancing, this could change. The authors conclude that training will face a crisis that will lead to greater use of digital or mixed formats and encourage opportunities for collaboration with traditional training centers for e-learning providers.

The majority of respondents were optimistic about the long-term prospects for the sector, arguing that "the employment problems expected in the coming months will require training at all levels to ensure that companies adapt to the "new normality" and that this training will be mixed or entirely online".

The areas where greater development of supply and demand is expected are health, safety, leadership and development, sales and negotiation.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator