What are today’s online education trends?

In the past three years, online education has seen a steady growth, and is projected to continue growing as students look for a way to get their education on their own terms. Students live their lives differently today, being constantly on the go and consuming media differently than their parents ever did.

What are the trends today in online education? Media startup company Tech Cocktail put together what they think are this year’s four top projected learning trends for online universities.

The first is ‘learning on the go,’ as students want to be able to study for tests or read material on their smartphone or tablet whenever they please. Being able to see results instantly and multitask is important to today’s students, and will be even more important as smartphone adoption increases.

Next is ‘learning at the speed of need,’ which is allowing students to learn material in short bursts in order to process the information efficiently. It is also helpful to be able to access all the information a student would need right from their phone, making a quick pre-test study session easier than ever.

Third is a term called ‘gamification,’ which has popped up in other areas as a way to encourage people to make an effort to learn. By having an achievement-based learning system, students will want to spend hours studying for their next exam, without ever having to read a textbook. Apps that encourage learning in a video game style are proving to be very effective.

The final trend is videos, an already popular medium for transmitting information to students that will only continue to grow in use. By using techniques being pioneered in the online video space, such as shorter length videos that are more direct, educators can engage students more effectively.

Sources:
http://tech.co/online-education-trends-2014-04
http://www.trident.edu/degrees