E-Learning

Introduction

E-learning can be defined as the process of teaching and/or learning through the use of electronic content, whether packaged or custom built, developed using authoring tools like Adobe Captivate. etc., and delivered through either pre-installed or hosted learning platforms. E-learning can be or self-paced or instructor led. When it is used in combination with face to face teaching it is known as blended learning.

Global E-Learning Market

Per industry estimates, the worldwide self-paced e-learning market is currently estimated at USD 45 billion and is expected to touch USD 70 billion by 2020. While the US dominates this market, Asia has emerged as the fastest growing region. In terms of individual countries, Russia has registered the highest growth rate and is therefore considered a mature market now.

Some of the major companies in the e-learning space, world over, include Pearson, Apollo Group, McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning, and Blackboard. Key spenders on e-learning include private schools, colleges, and universities, large corporations, and the government.

Emerging Trends

Across the globe, as governmental spending on higher education decreases, universities are consequently forced to cut down on scholarships in turn making higher education more expensive for students. Universities are thus looking at online courses as an alternative revenue stream, as they navigate their way in uncertain times. In January this year, Georgia Institute of Technology, in partnership with AT&T and Udacity, started a low cost online Master’s degree in computer science.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have also paved the way for democratization of knowledge across the world. Some of the key players in the field include edX, Udacity, Coursera, Knewton, Udemy, Khan Academy, 2U, MITx, iTunesU, and Code Academy.

Other emerging trends include business models based on the renting of e-books, e-library platforms/environments which can host e-books, flipped classrooms, big data analytics, data or knowledge mining, gamification of Learning Management Systems (LMS), canned lectures, cloud computing (Infrastructure, Software, and Platform as a Service), Content as a Service, School as a Service, wearable devices, and virtual and remote labs.

 

The E-learning Market in India

In India, e-learning is a part of the Ancillary segment within the Education sector, and is estimated to be worth around USD 15 billion, compared to the total USD 80 billion size of the Indian Education sector.

The e-learning market is at a nascent stage and with all its constituents (digital learning, LMS, CMS, ICT, online learning etc.) across different segments, is estimated at around USD 1 billion growing at a CAGR of 20%. The segment is largely unregulated and is characterized by asset-light business models, making it a lucrative segment for Private Equity/Venture Capital firms.

E-Learning can fix many of the problems that India’s Education sector faces. For instance, in the schooling segment, we are still short of over 100 thousand schools and 4 million teachers. In higher education, our Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is a mere 20% with a current shortfall of 0.4 million faculty members. The vocational education segment also faces challenges: while the government has ambitiously targeted skilling 500 million people by 2022, there are hardly any “Train the Trainer” facilities. The quantum of investment required to bridge these gaps is estimated at USD 450 billion. India clearly does not have such funds with which to invest in education. However, the acuteness of the problem necessitates that technological solutions be considered before India’s demographic dividend turns into a demographic disaster.

Key Players

The nature of the e-learning industry is such that the entry barriers are very low and therefore, a large number of companies are competing in this space with fragmented market shares. This trend is observed globally and is not limited solely to India. Educomp, Everonn, TutorVista, HughesNet, NIIT Imperia, Excelsoft Technologies, G-Cube, Mexus Education, NIIT, Next Education, Pearson, Upside Learning, 24X7 Learning, Tata Interactive, Tridat, Liqvid, Meritnation, iProf, Attano, S. Chand and Extramarks are some of the players trying to stake a permanent claim in this space.

Key Growth Drivers

The Indian e-learning market is poised to take off in a big way, as indicated by such factors as the huge base of over 900 million mobile phone connections, over 130 million smartphones, in excess of 250 million Internet users with more than 75% being active users of social media, the growing adoption of 3G and 4G technologies, the increasing availability of low-cost mobile devices, and a mostly-young Internet-using population, with 75% under 35 years of age.

One of the key enablers of an e-learning product can be its tangible correlation with organizational goals and its flexibility and compatibility in terms of seamlessly integrating with existing legacy systems like ERP, CRM, etc. In this space, instructor-led MOOCs, m-learning, e-assessment and gamified LMS can be the next big, disruptive business models and, in effect,  game-changers.

Key Challenges

One of the biggest challenges for e-learning in India is that teachers and other faculty are not ready to adopt it at a mass level and there is substantial resistance to such a change across schools, where products like SmartClass are kept under lock and key and sporadically used. Again, many products are mainly imitations, with little differentiation between their core offerings. As a result, players in the market are competing on price alone in order to gain a greater market share, wiping out any scope for profit margins.

Another challenge of e-learning is that, in most cases, it does not account for the prior learning of the learners. Also, at the level of professional courses- an area which MOOCs are targeting in a big way- the industry has still not fully recognized and given due weightage to these courses.

Future Outlook

The e-learning market in India is likely to be fuelled by the increasing penetration of Internet-enabled smartphones, the availability of low-cost tablets, and the shortage of educational infrastructure in terms of quality teachers, labs, libraries, and other physical and support infrastructure. However, the psychographics and availability of such support infrastructure as electricity, computers, broadband, etc. have thus far dampened the growth of e-learning in India. Even today the reach of e-learning products is limited largely to the metros, mini metros, and Tier I and Tier II cities.

On the higher education front, private universities, which have set up physical infrastructure on a large scale, need to watch out for the trend currently developing in the US, viz. the burgeoning proportion of enrolment in online higher education programs vis-à-vis total enrolment in programs of higher education.

Key Imperatives

Among the key imperatives necessary for this sector is the creation of an industry body which provides for a repository of open and reusable learning objects. Also needed is the creation of knowledge through social networks, virtual worlds like Second Life, etc. Further, there is need for an online accreditation agency which can monitor and evaluate the quality of available e-learning offerings. Finally, the e-learning proposition needs to be made more personal and human.

To sum, India needs to take a leadership role in this space, given its strong IT infrastructure as well as the quantum of manpower involved in the IT and ITeS sectors. Indian students need to stay ahead and not lag behind in terms of adopting technology, in comparison with their transcontinental counterparts.