It’s never been easier to start learning about a new topic. The internet provides you with a huge wealth of resources, making it possible to soak up information that simply wouldn’t have been available in the past. Of course, though, the online learning market is always changing, and the way that it has grown over the last couple of decades might surprise you. Let’s take a look a the growing online learning market, and what it might look like as we drift into the future.

The rise of online learning

In the past, quality online learning has not always been possible. Connections were too slow for video downloads, and content streaming was simply impossible. Of course, distance learning companies have always been around, but it wasn’t until they could start using the web effectively that they started to grow. First small companies popped up to provide their teaching services online, and they were soon followed by much larger educational establishments. This forced schools to start being far more competitive with one another, with more students for them to teach than ever before.

The current state of the market

Today, online learning is one of the most popular ways to get an education. The Australian online education market stood at around $4 billion in 2018 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 8% to cross $7 billion by 2024, on account of technological advancements, eager learners and increasing penetration of smart devices (Research & Markets, 2019). These figures show that the perceptions surrounding this type of learning have began to shift. You can find online courses in just about every topic, and many of the world’s best schools have started to offer their own versions of courses like this. This sort of study can be harder for some people, but it also provides flexibility and freedom that can be essential for people living in the busy modern world. As time goes on, more and more educational websites are going to hit the market, ultimately forcing all of them to improve.

The future of online learning

The future is bright for online learning, and this field isn’t going to stop growing any time soon. With increasing numbers of people looking to improve their education while they’re still working, demand for learning like this is only going to keep expanding. By 2025, the global online learning sector is expected to grow to more than US$350 billion (Research & Markets, 2019), and this could be even higher thanks to the recent Covid-19 outbreak. The courses you can find and the way that they are delivered will be improved as time goes on, with more and more professionals looking for ways to provide their learners with this sort of experience.

Becoming a part of the online learning revolution

The modern entrepreneur is shifting to become an ‘edupreneur’ – providing an educational and entrepreneurial income generating business, driven by visibility, scalability and profitability. The online course allows you to put yourself forward as an expert in the field. As the sage it brings greater visibility around yourself, your message, your methods. You could do this through a traditional face to face course. But there is a limit to the amount of visibility that you’ll get. Today with the amount of technology that we’ve got, with social media, and the power of the internet, you can be more visible to a wider and greater audience. You can reach more people and provide greater value to them. As an edupreneur delivering online courses positions yourself as an authority, contributing to your professional credentials. Publishing educational resources, in particular an online course can rapidly shift you into a position as an authority, a leader in your industry. From this credibility you can extend to other opportunities, including speaking engagements, consulting and partnerships. An online course also allows you to be more scalable. The delivery of a face to face classroom can fit 20-30 people. If you’re doing a large event you could be potentially delivery to 100 plus people, but that is one point in time that you’re delivering. With an online course, you have the ability to scale across to thousands or more people and reach them in different ways. Enriching them in ways that are suitable for them and they’re preference for learning. As we scale and become more visible, more credible, then that will lead to greater profits. The eduprenurial journey means that, through your online course you can create an educational income stream to support, supplement or surpass your existing business.