We live in an era of rapid technological change, high competition in the market, and an abundance of entertainment for any taste.
It is not surprising that the time has come for people who enjoy and value comfort in everything - from clothing style to choosing a career.
This global need for comfort has moved most areas of our lives online, bringing some important changes that affected the education system as well.
Let's have a look at the trends that are already changing the approach to learning.
Learning virtualization
The idea of earning a college degree online used to seem unrealistic, but today it is a universal practice. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed this trend, as many universities had to radically change their teaching approach and find new ways of organizing the educational process.
Leading players in the online education market quickly reacted to the situation and developed revolutionary solutions. For example, the Coursera platform launched a project to support universities: all students got access to 4,000 lessons. Artificial intelligence helped in adapting the curriculum.
As it was already mentioned, modern people value comfort and convenience. Many students appreciated the opportunity of replacing face to face classes with getting knowledge straight from home. After all, studying online, you can get fresh knowledge at any time and place, which are convenient for you.
However, along with the idea of comfort, online education also brought the information security issue. Since taking exams online is still a technical challenge, eventually, the probable scenario will be a combined learning format when live communication is blended with online classes.
Continuous learning
This concept is also known as life learning education. Acquiring knowledge throughout your life is a new rule for those who want to build a successful career. According to statistics, there are already more than 45% of adults aged 25 to 64 taking various learning courses and training.
In many advanced fields (for instance, IT), continuing education is a must. If in your area new programming methods and software constantly emerge, you can't stop learning. The expertise of an IT specialist depends on the ability to promptly master new technologies. To succeed, the IT professional must turn attending training classes into their hobby.
The flexibility of the educational system
Being adaptive today means staying in demand tomorrow. The need for continuous learning has taught many workers how to combine learning and work. To accommodate this demand, there are being created special adaptive curricula with flexible schedules and various formats.
There is also a growing demand for courses, dedicated to soft skills not taught at college, such as skills of a leader, team player, ability to resolve conflicts, analyze information, etc. Competition in the job market keeps growing, along with the requirements for candidates and soft skills today are one of them.
The modern world provides many opportunities for education, self-development, and gaining valuable experience. Thanks to actively developing technology, you are able to take practically any course from anywhere in the world.
You can obtain additional education remotely or acquire new skills on your own on your schedule, using open sources. The most important thing is the desire and awareness in making decisions, as well as the correct setting of priorities. Only with this approach, you can achieve your desired goal, no matter how incredible it may be.