Learning Analytics Fuels Growth of Global Digital Education Content Market

Credit: AmrThele

Following the onset of COVID-19, distance learning became the primary means of receiving education. In today’s post-pandemic era, it remains a viable means of earning a certificate or diploma that is recognized by business organizations worldwide. As such, internet-based education is poised for growth over the next few years. A recent report by Technavio reveals that the digital education content market is projected to grow by $47.1 billion from 2021 to 2026, at an annual rate of 11.94%.

A key driver to this market’s growth is the growing number of digital devices that households own, from laptops to mobile devices. This has led to 62.5% of the global population, or 4.95 billion people, having access to the internet. And so, many people have the tools necessary to enroll in online courses no matter where they are in the world. In addition, educational institutions have been collaborating with digital course and learning management system (LMS) developers to create cloud-based library systems.

With many high-tech colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, it is no surprise that 47% of the market’s growth is expected to originate from North America. After all, 98% of educational institutions shifted from face-to-face courses to online ones following the onset of COVID-19, most of which were from the US.

Many institutions conduct online classes with the aid of learning management systems, which provide real estate for coursework and a means of delivering courses to learners. Within these systems lies a digital process that discreetly pushes the demand for digital education content by tracking the performance and engagement of learners, as it enables schools and businesses to adapt to the aptitudes of users: data analytics. Not only does it personalize learning but it also drives better results from students and trainees.

The Impact of Data Analytics on Digital Education

Data analytics has made a difference in the professional world, which is why many business solutions include it in their core features. The same has occurred with educational platforms, given that data can be leveraged to influence the success of subjects and students. In fact, the pivot to remote learning has raised the demand for student success analytics by 66%.

As 92% of teachers admit that student engagement drives success, only 45.7% of students are reported to be engaged in school activities. Data analytics helps in this regard by affording educators insights so they can provide effective personalized metacognitive feedback support to learners, as published in the Tech Know Learn journal.

The data-driven reports produced by LMS are detailed, allowing educators to track student behavior and the subjects that consistently produce low marks. As such, educators can make key adjustments to the coursework and manner of instruction so that students will yield better results.

Besides course content, data analytics can monitor the time spent by educators and learners on resources like classrooms and audio-visual assets. In leveraging such, schools can see if they are overspending on certain activities and if they need to invest more in other areas.

Given the numerous advantages that learning analytics brings to the table, 92% of LMS users report that they are satisfied with their school’s digital system. Furthermore, outside schools, the large number of LMS vendors that target corporate outfits reflects the high demand for digital education content from businesses worldwide. It is therefore safe to say that digital courses will continue to be a popular source of education going into the next decade.