Education News

Companies, Universities Moving Toward E-Learning
Worldwide revenues in the corporate e-learning market will surpass $23 billion by 2004, according to IDC. Not too bad when you consider the market was less than $2 billion at the end of 1999. April 9, 2001

Working Adults Like Online Education
A survey of working adults conducted by Opinion Research Corp. revealed that 54 percent believe that college courses offered via the Internet are the future of higher education. They also like the flexibility and time savings afforded by learning online. July 26, 2000

Rave Reviews for Net-Based Training
A survey of managers that have used Internet-based training (IBT) found they would overwhelmingly recommend it to those who haven't used it. March 30, 1999

Companies, Universities Moving Toward E-Learning

Worldwide revenues in the corporate e-learning market will surpass $23 billion by 2004, according to International Data Corp. (IDC). Not too bad when you consider the market was less than $2 billion at the end of 1999.

"Vendors in the e-learning market are proving to be quick studies. By improving content and resolving localization issues, they are successfully overcoming corporations' reluctance to use e-learning," said Cushing Anderson, program manager for IDC's Corporate eLearning research. "Increasing Internet usage, faster, more reliable connections, and decreasing telecommunications costs will also contribute to the market's growth."

Vendors will need to customize their approach by region to capitalize on the worldwide e-learning market. Differences exist in terms of opportunities, market drivers and inhibitors, competition and mix of content demand, IDC found, and vendors should not expect to succeed with a one-size-fits-all approach.

North America represents the largest opportunity for corporate e-learning. It will account for two-thirds of worldwide revenues through 2004. Western Europe will be the fastest-growing market, increasing its revenues at a compound annual growth rate of 97 percent from 1999 to 2004. In comparison, revenues in the worldwide market will increase at a CAGR of 69 percent.

IDC also predicts a significant shift will occur in content demand. In 2000, IT content accounted for 72 percent of worldwide demand. By 2004, however, non-IT content will be the larger market, accounting for more than 54 percent of revenues.

"IT training vendors have been the driving force behind elearning so it's not surprising that IT training content is now more popular than non-IT content," Anderson said. "However, a shift toward non-IT content will occur as existing non-IT courseware is reformatted for the Web, non-IT vendors adopt a Web-first training delivery strategy, and IT training vendors enter the non-IT market."

Delivery of training materials over the Internet in Europe has been accelerated by the need to provide a broad range of training to a geographically dispersed workforce at a lower cost. IDC estimates the European e-learning market will grow to $4 billion by 2004, representing a compound annual growth rate of 96 percent. By the end of the forecast period, more than 50 percent of the total will be derived from IT-related training. The remainder will be made up of soft skills training, such as sales, marketing, and leadership skills.

The United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden are the strongest markets in the adoption of e-learning because Internet adoption levels are already high in those countries. In addition, there is less of a language localization issue in these countries as a high proportion of the population speaks English and is used to conducting business in English.

But it isn't just businesses that are taking advantage of opportunities presented when learning materials and the Internet get together. The number of colleges and universities offering e-learning will more than double, from 1,500 in 1999 to more than 3,300 in 2004, according to IDC, and student enrollment in these courses will increase 33 percent annually during this time.

Four-year schools will continue to spend more than twice that of two-year schools on e-learning; however, spending by two-year schools will grow more rapidly through 2004. Over the next four years, the e-learning market will develop into a three-quarters of a billion-dollar opportunity for vendors.

Working Adults Like Online Education

A survey of working adults conducted by Opinion Research Corp. revealed that 54 percent believe that college courses offered via the Internet are the future of higher education.

The telephone survey was commissioned by Capella University, an online institution of higher learning and was conducted among 667 working adults in February of 2000.

The study also found that while people see education as a top priority, busy schedules (42 percent) and family and travel commitments (10 percent) may keep people from continuing their education. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents said they are interested in continuing their education, but 48 percent said that a busy schedule is the biggest barrier to hitting the books, one-third cited high costs as an impediment.

Assuming the quality of education was the same, 32 percent of respondents said they would rather take courses through the Internet than go to a classroom. More than half (53 percent) of respondents said the biggest benefit of taking courses online was the ability to work from home, while 19 percent cited time saved from not having time to commute.

A substantial majority (63 percent) of respondents said nighttime was the right time for courses, including 22 percent who said late night was an ideal time. Another 12 percent said early morning before they went to work was a good time. Given the option of studying in exotic locations around the world, 34 percent of respondents opted to stay at home with their family, topping choices such as a cabin in the mountains, a tropical beach, and a world tour.

Respondents also said the idea of dressing casually for class. More than half (54 percent) said the greatest advantage of taking courses from home was the ability to attend call in their pajamas.

Looking 50 years down the road, more than three-quarters of adults said they believe the Internet will play a major role in higher education, including 39 percent who said the Internet would make classrooms obsolete. Only 2 percent believed higher education would not change.

Rave Reviews for Net-Based Training

A survey of managers that have used Internet-based training (IBT) found they would overwhelmingly recommend it to those who haven't used it.

The survey, done by International Data Corporation (IDC), found that nearly 100 percent of the respondents would recommend it, with nearly 60 percent saying they would strongly recommend it. The respondents to the survey were training managers, information systems managers, and business unit managers from companies that have used IBT.

Respondents ranked IBT's ability to deliver training anywhere, anytime, as its biggest advantage. Cost effectiveness and efficiency were ranked second and third. The cost of Net-based training has always been an obstacle, according to IDC, but the survey found companies are in a position to realize significant saving from IBT once early conversion costs are absorbed. The respondents to the survey consider IBT efficient because it enables users to target multiple audiences and address different learning styles.

"Enthusiasm for Internet-based training revolves around flexibility, convenience, and cost effectiveness," said Ellen Julian of IDC.

IDC also spoke to companies that aren't using IBT to find out what is standing in the way. The highest-ranking obstacle was the lack of desktop access, followed by uncertainty of how to monitor and track use and effectiveness, lack of management conviction regarding IBT value, and lack of human interaction.

"Access issues will quickly decline over the next few years," Julian said. "And the obstacle linked to lack of human interaction will progressively diminish as live IBT becomes more widely available or as companies adopt an approach to their education needs that combines both IBT and classroom training."

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