Global Digital Media - E-Education and E-Learning Trends and Statistics

Synopsis

The use of IT and telecommunications technology within educational environments is set to increase dramatically as high-speed fibre-based broadband becomes more widely available. Simultaneously, the capability of internet services devoted to distance education is set to increase enormously over the next decade as well.

Distance education is not new. In the form of a presentation or lecture, letter writing has been used as an educational tool since time immemorial. But the move towards remote educational services for students unable to attend traditional schools escalated with the development of the internet. Since then, broadband and associated Web 2.0 technologies have opened up completely new dimensions for distance education. ‘Virtual classrooms’ have enhanced the quality and the possibilities of remote learning beyond measure.

With mobile devices proliferating around the world, people are finding more and more uses for these tools that have become practically an extension of the self. One of the uses for mobile devices is in training and education. Without a doubt, the future of the world is tied to this small revolutionary tool, which has radically changed the way we think and interact with our environment. The potential of mobile devices is staggering – they are with us everywhere, able to provide performance support and knowledge checking. They are immediate, flexible, entertaining. M-learning is learning at the point of need, learning on the go.

Most governments around the world are now also well aware of the importance of implementing digital services and solutions such as online services, cloud computing and m-government. The benefits of many of these developments include cutting costs and improving processes and information flow with the primary aim to improve customer service for citizens. Cloud computing has been well received by many government organisations and BuddeComm sees governments around the world continue to deploy cloud platforms and indeed increase spending in this area.

This report explores the key trends and developments occurring in the global education, e-learning and e-government sectors, supported by examples. The report is designed to provide current observations that may assist investors, analysts and industry participants in making investment and business decisions.

Latest developments:

• E-learning and e-education markets continue to grow apace and internet media companies have made attempts to become involved.
• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are increasingly popular.
• Businesses and schools adopt the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy.
• Self-paced education has become a popular method of e-learning.
• A key development of m-learning is Just-In-Time Learning.
• The public sector is at a crossroads of how services have been delivered in the past and how they will be delivered in the future.
• Adopting digital technologies will be central to solving looming government problems, but it will also require comprehensive reforms to the public sector.
• South Korea recently announced it would move 60% of its e-government services to cloud computing by 2017.
• The sharing economy is definitely the key area that governments should foster to see the creation of new jobs.