Home News Corporate Baseplay Careers Contact News Smart education and education on demand 2020-07-01 Possibly the biggest change that is impacting education has been the growth of online learning platforms, with report after report confirming the continued growth in the uptake of online courses. These courses delivered in several ways– from online universities and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) including the likes of Udemy, Coursera and FutureLearn, to micro-learning platforms and applications that can be used for personal education and learning of new skills, such as Basebone’s learning platform, Baseplay Mastery. There are several reasons for the growth in online courses. Many universities offer online courses in order to remain financially viable, attract new enrolments, and maintain ‘brand’ presence and visibility in an increasingly competitive marketplace of attracting new students. There is also the push from students themselves, whose profile has dramatically changed over the past few decades. Today’s students can belong to almost any age group and are increasingly working part-time or full-time while learning, are generally time pressed and need flexibility as to where and when to learn. Online learning can and is meeting the needs of this changing learner profile by delivering educational courses where and when they are required. Another aspect of online education is its ability to deliver education to those who cannot access traditional institutions. Students in India, for example, can take robotics classes at Harvard through EdX while children and adults alike in South Africa can grow their knowledge on mobile phones with bite-size learning modules and documentaries on Baseplay Mastery. What these examples have in common is their delivery of educational content to the student where and when they want it and in a way that engages and stimulates the learner. The idea of offering educational content as and when it is needed, is something that Benito Alvarez, Chief of Marketing at Basebone, is passionate about: We live in an age when many things in our lives, such as entertainment, transport and food are available on demand. Research suggests that 50% of downloaded apps are educational. Our m-learning service, Baseplay Mastery is utilized by 140K of Baseplay subscribers and offers users to learn two times faster across 68 subjects with specific courses such as SEO and Social Media Marketing, documentaries and infographics, with the focus on ensuring we deliver bite-sized chunks of content that allow our users to be more productive. The micro-learning offered by Baseplay mastery is an example of the type of learning platform that people are increasingly willing to pay for. According to recent research by Euromonitor International, “more consumers are willing to buy products and services that optimize the use of their time.” This is an important trend that impacts the online learning market. Microlearning is also particularly useful to corporations who want to keep employees skilled up and engaged without weighing them down with time consuming and sometimes uninspiring training. This type of employee training is also usually very cost-effective for the employer. One notable change connected with education is how people will need to look upon learning as a continuous lifelong exercise. The very technology that enables smart or on-demand learning is itself part of an increasingly technologized society where everything happens faster. This increased pace is set to increase further as AI processes and platforms become embedded and commonplace in the workplace and in the workings of our society. People will, therefore, need to develop new skills and tools to deal proactively with these seismic changes. Interestingly, AI itself will help people to develop new skills through adaptive learning, which refers to the use of algorithms to determine what is the most appropriate education or training modules for a learner. The aim of adaptive learning is to deliver a highly personalized learning experience and meet specific learner needs. Based on their performance, learners get only material that they need to learn. The rapidly growing sophistication of both online learning technology and artificial intelligence advances, together with the real benefits that adaptive learning provides to learners, means that adaptive learning is set to dominate the online learning market going forward. So, looking ahead, we see an increased use of online courses and micro-learning education delivered increasingly to mobile devices, on-demand, and with increased use of adaptive learning. But we also see around us an increasingly fast moving and sometimes frenetic pace of life both inside and outside the workplace. The new more flexible online education also offers tools and techniques to survive and thrive in this new world. Education and learning have changed forever. The impact of this change is being felt right across educational institutions, corporations, the workplace and by individuals. Learning for life is now both a reality and an increasing necessity and this includes learning for personal health and wellbeing, in an increasingly fast-moving world. Get updates sent directly to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Basebone is a digital media company that provides OTT Media Services in emerging markets. 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