10 Software Trends in the online training industry

Online training continues on its upward trend as more people seek out virtual learning opportunities despite schools, training centers, and other learning facilities opening up. As a result, institutions continue to look towards e-learning technologies and software solutions to catch up with the changing times.

Online learning is not going anywhere. The worldwide e-learning market is set to become $325 billion by 2025. Different software trends seem to indicate that the online training industry will only continue providing more opportunities to learners and instructors alike.

Why Online training matters?  

So why should educators and students start looking towards online training more?

The first reason is that it seems to work very well when reaching learning objectives. Students retain 25% to 60% more information when learning online. The average retention for classroom-based learning is 8% to 10%.

Online training is also a great way to streamline and expand educator reach. Where a training company might have had geographical limits not more than a decade ago, those boundaries have now been blurred by the power of edtech (education technology).

It’s only a matter of time until technology enables us to reach even the farthest corners of the earth and teach all kinds of skills from various practices and industries.

Some software and technology trends continue to shape online training as we know it. Being aware of these trends will help you understand how to stay ahead of the e-learning industry curve if you’re an educator.

If you’re a learner, being aware of these trends helps as well, as it will prepare you for continuous training and development.

So here are 10 software trends that will shape online training in the foreseeable future.

1) Improving accountability structures  

For the longest time, the perceived challenge with online learning was keeping an accountability structure. Information dissemination isn’t a problem for online educators, but how do you make sure that students retain information? More importantly, do they implement them?

For instance, a financial education company might be able to show principles of smart investing. But accountability is necessary to ensure that its students actually start investing. Creating cohort-based learning structures seems to be the answer to this issue. And learning management systems are creating community boards, chatrooms, and progress trackers to help build better accountability.

2) Artificial intelligence-empowered learning  

Online training platforms have started to tap into the power of artificial intelligence to automate many of the administrative processes that bug educators and educational institutes down. Some of those automations include:

• Adding students to respective online portals;

• Following up on payments;

• Sending progress reports;

• Reminding learners of deliverables like tests or homework;

• Data and analytics reporting;

• Certificate creation and sending;

• Gate-keeping webinar attendance;

• Booting out rule violators;

• And many more.

3) Blockchain in education  

Blockchain and web 3.0 are changing the landscape of industries as we know them. And it’s not just decentralized finance that’s moving forward. Online training is starting to adopt blockchain as a way to improve experiences too. One firm application of blockchain in elearning is using the technology to create a student identification system that will help them keep records and progress reports.

In recent times, training companies have also started leveraging non-fungible token popularity to promote online courses. Some companies offer an NFT as a bonus when they sign up for their classes or even use them as a virtual ticket to webinars, online trainings, and virtual cohorts.

4) Gamification  

Gamification is also turning into one of the most important features of LMS software. This helps make the learning experience more interactive and improves content retention. Using gamified tests and quizzes in their LMS software helps build healthy competition among learners. Setting up challenges inside an LMS helps build a strong desire in students and learners to fulfill a course or training curriculum, boosting completion rates. Rewards also help in that process as well.

5) On-demand learning still growing  

Online learning in the on-demand sector continues to grow still as course marketplaces steadily and open-source LMS platforms empower more educators across the field. More marketing practitioners, business experts, wellness coaches, fitness coaches, and other field and industry experts are selling courses online than ever before.

Training platforms like TrainerCentral gives you a central solution to create and sell courses.

6) Payment gateways empowering elearning  

The best online learning platforms are those that make it easy for students to pay. The growing improvements in finance technology is making this possible. Credit cards used to be the only way to pay for courses, but e-wallets, virtual debit cards, and other payment modes have made it easier for avid learners to pay for access to virtual courses, webinars, and other training opportunities. Some use a budgeting software for their business needs as well and integrate it with their existing systems.

7) New curriculum development a priority  

On the trainors’ side, educational companies and training organizations are trying to keep up with the growing demand for new training materials. Project management and proper planning play a crucial role in this as trainors mount more webinars, online courses, and other learning opportunities online.

Using a good project management tool will help this process a lot for many of today’s proactive training companies. One great service for online educators in this field is ConnectWise, a project management tool that’s helping a lot of companies better manage projects and deliverables. Check out ConnectWise Manage reviews to see if it’s a good fit for your education company.

8) Workforce upskilling  

Studies show that up to 40% of workers will need upskilling in the next six months. So it’s only natural that organizations will look to online training as it’s more convenient for busy employees and executives who try to balance self-development and the demands of their day jobs.

HR departments and decision-makers can opt to create their own internal programs or rely on third-party trainers to create these upskilling opportunities. Whichever route they take, providing on-demand learning for their staff should be non-negotiable as it provides more flexibility to busy workers.

9) Mobile learning  

As the modern-day gadget continues to shrink, people turn to mobile learning experiences more and more. The average online student can now learn anywhere and everywhere, from a coffee shop to the beach if they wanted to.

99% of users said that using a mobile-friendly platform improved the learning experience. For any online training company looking for the best online training platform, mobile responsiveness should be a foundational criterion. It would also be a great bonus if the platform had a mobile application of its own.

10) Embracing hybrid setups  

For those who aren’t completely sold out to fully remote learning as an alternative to traditional modes of education, there is also the option for a hybrid setup. This can include an online training aspect and a face-to-face one. Some trainers use hybrid setups to provide pre-recorded lessons and have open forums, discussions, and Q&A sessions in offline setups to enable more interactivity.

Training in the future  

Education and training will undoubtedly have some online format in one way or another. The trends in edtech softwares will greatly affect how well students and learners will be able to retain information. The same goes for how trainers will continue to develop programs that make it easier to learn and apply those lessons. Knowing these e-learning industry trends will help you stay on course as the way people learn continues to evolve.