By:

Technology has been transforming the workplace for some time now. The traditional education system was formed in the heat of the industrial revolution and many would say is obsolete nowadays. It was primarily meant to create a workforce that was only fit to perform one task for the rest of their working lives. Motivation has obviously shifted from those times towards more engaging, complex, and fulfilling work.

This system is slowly but surely becoming unfit for its purpose in these modern times. We can see this in its inability to address the skill shortages in technical disciplines. As with all things in a global, atomized economy, this gap in education is being filled by alternative forms of education. Let’s go over some of the key points when considering online education.

Education reinvented

The main idea is that the modern world revolves around skills, not necessarily degrees. There are plenty of people who are unsatisfied with their low-skill jobs because they provide them with no future. On the other hand, too many businesses are in lack of skilled labour. Community colleges might have an unnecessary stigma surrounding them, but innovative learning platforms still offer more opportunities for upskilling or outright reskilling workers in order to give them a chance to be a part of the competition for lucrative careers in the future.

Flexibility

Online learning platforms have plenty of benefits associated with them. This method is definitely the one best suited for everyone as it provides a high degree of flexibility. The digital era has led to great changes in how the learning material is accessed, consumed, discussed, and shared. These courses can be taken by anyone, anywhere, and anytime.

A housewife, looking to enter the job market can attend these courses without leaving the house or her kids. Nine-to-five office goers can take up a course to learn a new skill or perfect an already attained one. Some might choose to learn at weekends or evenings in their spare time. It all comes down to an individual’s availability and comfort levels as ultimately, they are the ones that choose where, when, and how to consume this content.

Mending the skills gap

Plenty of companies are expressing their desire for a very different skillset from their employees than that offered by universities today. The online education environment is the one experiencing constant innovation to provide supply for this kind of demand. Students need to spend their initial education period pursuing creativity, critical thinking, and innovation in the hopes filling future job positions that currently don’t exist.

But most importantly, students are now able to learn about specialized subjects the likes of stoichiometry and other collegiate level sciences that are nuanced enough to open up exciting career paths for those with clear educational goals and aspirations in life. Until recently, nuanced subjects were reserved for the university classroom, but nowadays online learning platforms can teach aspiring workers everything they need to ensure a thriving future in the competitive job market.

Delivery

Online learning platforms provide you with a fast process of learning and acquiring certifications, especially when compared to more traditional methods. When talking numbers, the time required is reduced to 25%-60% when compared to traditional learning. And for a number or reasons. Namely, lessons start quickly and are wrapped up in self-sufficient units.

This method enables them to be easily rolled out within weeks or even days. Students can learn at their own pace instead of being forced to follow the speed of a group, nor do they need to travel to a learning or training venue. They can learn at the comfort of their own home. And finally, students can focus on studying specific subjects relevant to them as opposed to learning a wider-than-necessary area.

Affordability

Depending on where you find yourself, online education is usually the more cost-effective solution compared to traditional platforms. There are several reasons for this price decrease and they are usually connected to the speed and ease in which education is conducted.

Trainings, travels, course materials, accommodation, etc. are greatly reduced in terms of time and cost required. Being this cost-effective also helps enhance company profitability and student expenses as well. Students have their travel and accommodation expenses severely reduced compared to when training is done in another city, state, or even country.

Efficiency

Online learning has a positive influence on a company’s profitability as well as the individual’s own expenditures while making it easy to understand the content and internalize it. This leads to a significant increase in the number of students that achieve “pass” or “mastery” levels. As a result, students have a higher ability to learn and implement new processes and knowledge in their relevant workplaces. Therefore, information is better understood, retained, and applied where needed.

In closing

E-learning is making big waves in the education industry. It’s bridging an enormous gap between cumbersome traditional forms of education and unskilled labour while offering a wide range of benefits to its students, and in extension, their current or future employers.

About the author

Emma Miller is a marketer and a writer from Sydney, working with Australian startups on business and marketing development. Emma writes for many relevant, industry related online publications and does a job of an Executive Editor at Bizzmark blog and a guest lecturer at Melbourne University.

Featured image via Unsplash.