The Future of E-learning

According to the report "The Worldwide Market for Self-paced elearning Products and Services: 2009-2014 Forecast and Analysis" by Ambient Insight, it is found that:

1. In 2009, e-learning reached a dollar volume of $ 27.1 billion, and by 2014, e-learning will reach $ 49.6 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8 % over five years. The dollar figures in the research included expenditures in five categories of electronic learning technologies: packaged content, custom content development services, learning platform and tool hosting services, authoring software and tools, and installed learning platforms.

2. North America is the largest region for eletronic learning, the growth is being driven by academic institutions, both preK-12 and higher education. The largest expenditures for packaged content in 2009 were made by the preK-12 and higher education buyers, which accounted for 43 % of all North America purchases. the higher education segment will be the largest buyer by the end of the forecast period driven by the robust expansion of online programs in both non-profit and for-profit institutions.

3. North America will continue to be the largest e-learning market for the next five years while Asia, with a "breathtaking" five-year CAGR of 33.5 %, will edge out Western Europe by 2014 to take the No.2 slot.

4. In higher education, particularly in career and vocational programs, the current economic situation is helping to fuel the growth. For-profit institutions are dominating online education, owing partly to this trend.

5. In preK-12, growth is being fueled by the proliferation of online virtual schools that are part of state and local education systems and online charter schools that operate independent of these systems in many cases. Both are helping preK-12 experience a 17 % CAGR over the five years.

6. The United States is unique in the world, even in North America, in the organization of its online preK-12 programs:

-The virtual school and the cyber charter school phenomenon is a distinct US trend.

-Virtual schools in the US are administered by the school systems and many offer full time programs to students.

-In 2009, there were over 200,000 students enrolled in virtual schools in the US.

-Many virtual schools in the US purchase content and services from commercial "education management", and the trend of purchasing growth rates are impressive. For example, from 2008 to 2009, K12's purchasing grew by 35 %.

-There are over 185,000 children in the US enrolled in cyber charter schools in 2009, and by 2014, 1.5 million US children will be taking online class in cyber charter schools.

In conclusion, e-learning appears to grow more rapidly in the future, because it mainly takes the form of online learning that tends to increase more in the educational system in the near future.

Ref:http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2010/03/03/The-Future-of-E-Learning-Is-More-Growth.aspx?Page=3