E-learning courses saw a big increase in popularity throughout lockdown as people seek new ways of learning.
As difficult as the last year has been with lockdowns having been on and off since March 2020, people across Britain have still been enthusiastic about their desire to enhance their skills and knowledge.
This can be seen in year on year data from the online training course comparison website CoursesOnline, whose internal year on year data has revealed that e-learning courses since last March have jumped in popularity by nearly 20%.
Health courses were the big winners
Unsurprisingly given the huge demand on the NHS as a result of the Covid pandemic, the course subject that posted the greatest increase in popularity was that of healthcare. Interest in these courses grew by a whopping 153% throughout March 2020-21 when compared to March 2019-20, as applicants flocked to respond to the Government’s call for medical personnel. Many of those looking to learn had in fact previously served in some medical capacity previously and were looking for refresher courses that topped up their existing knowledge with the most up to date methods of practice.
Psychology courses also proved popular
Whilst not seeing the huge increase in popularity of health courses, psychology courses also proved popular as interest in them grew by 61%. A lot of the specific courses that enquiries were based around looked specifically at how to best work with children and teenagers, which again can be perhaps put down to the growing mental health crisis that they have been facing over the last year.
How has technology played its part?
With in person learning courses being off the table, providers have had to make big moves towards getting all of their course content available online. From a user perspective this has proven to be a great success as now they can access all of the required course material as and when is convenient, rather than being forced into the traditional classroom environment, which does not suit everybody’s learning preferences. Instead users can learn at a time and crucially, at a pace that best suits them, with the option to go back and revisit aspects of the course that they may not fully grasp on a first viewing.
Will the popularity of e-learning remain the same after Covid?
Hopefully with the UK’s vaccine rollout going largely as planned, restrictions on in-person activities will be removed in the coming weeks and months. However it is likely that there will continue to be a high demand for online learning options as Sarah-Jane McQueen, General Manager of CoursesOnline explains:
“Those looking for training courses tend to be looking for three things: affordability, the ability to improve their knowledge or learn a skill, and thirdly they are looking for a learning option which emphasises convenience. This desire for flexible study options won’t be going away anytime soon as it helps with the ever crucial work-life balance, of which e-learning is at the front of ensuring.”
