Growth
of e-Learning
 According
to International Data Corporation (Training choices and e-learning, November 25, 2000),
the total corporate-training market is $66 billion, and this will
continue to increase at a steady rate of 5 percent per year
for the foreseeable future. The market for Web-based corporate
training will increase from $2 billion today to $11.5 billion
in 2003.
CIO
magazine (Alison Bass, 12/01/00, Trendlines - Learning Creativity) reports that e-learning is the fastest
growing segment of the corporate IT education market. It captured
$3 billion in revenues last year (I believe they only report e-learning
as internet training).
Grok magazine (September 13, 2000) reports that most of today's
corporate training takes place in instructor led classes. For
the year 2000, internet-based training will reach $2.2 billion
(3% of a total training market of $66 billion). By 2003, the online
training market is expected to grow to more than $11 billion. (Note
- grok was part of "The Standard" magazine which folded in late
2001)
BusinessWeek's
chart, U.S. Corporate E-Learning Market, reports e-learning
to grow to about $11 billion by 2003.
The
October issue of TRAINING Magazine has their annual Industry Report. Some of their latest findings for the
year 2000, include:
- 80
percent of all training is delivered by live instructors,
but sometimes the instructor isn't in the room with the students
(e.g. teleconference, videoconference - which would be considered
e-learning).
- 40
percent of all employer-sponsored training in the United States
today is devoted to teaching computer skills.
- 13
percent of all courses are delivered via computer-based training
with no instructor in the picture.
- Of
computer based training, 19 percent is delivered by the internet.
Training
Magazine's report is at Industry
Report 2001.
Learning
Technologies and Learning Soft Skills
Presently,
the bulk of e-learning is used to instruct workers about new
technologies, particularly computers. For example, The Department
of Veterans Affairs has turned to online courses for its employees.
The e-learning company that it signed, Learn2.com Inc., will
provide online courses to the agency's 5,000 employees in IT
certification, Internet training, as well as instruction on
Lotus Notes, Microsoft Office, and other office software (The VA Turns To Online Courses For Employees).
But
is this really e-learning or is it just using the correct medium
for instructing the learners? Shouldn't we expect computer courses
to be delivered via computer technology? As
noted earlier, by the year 2003, the growth in e-learning is expected
to surge. This will mostly be due to employees becoming more tech-savvy.
According to the Gartner
Group, corporate training falls into two major categories
- 1) IT training and 2) soft skills, each with roughly 50 percent
of the total market (Training Choices and e-learning, December 2000).
As workers begin to master computer technology skills, they will
then be able to use it for learning other skills. This means organizations
will refocus their budgets from training computer skills to training
soft skills such as management, communications, and professional
development. For a related story, see (Trend Watch: E-Learning Goes Soft).
The
Three Sectors of e-Learning
There
are three main sectors in the e-learning business ("The Standard" Learning Potential 09/12/00):
- Portals - These companies pool educational resources, products, and
services targeting their audience. They attracted $458 million
in private funds in 1999, nearly half that year's e-learning
investments.
- Edu-commerce
companies - These peddle items such as institutional procurement
services, books, clothing, and merchandise. They attracted
nearly 27 percent of total e-learning venture capital in the
six quarters beginning Jan 1, 1999.
- Network
platforms These provide everything from Web-based applications
to full-service intranets. These accounted for nearly half
of private investment in the first half of 2000.
What
We Can Be Sure Of
As
shown, e-learning is definitely a growing field in the educational
and training market (The Evolution of Corporate e-Learning). But exactly how
much of the market share it will eventually grab is anyone's
guess. Proponents say those who arrive first on the e-learning
scene will profit the most, e.g., Yahoo, Amazon, etc. However,
this was not always the case for a lot of "dot com" companies,
which have been failing in record numbers. Brick and Motor companies
may initially lack the technology, but they have the resources
and experience to capture the market.
Resources
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