eLearning Industry presents a plethora of articles, educational technologies, training events/conferences and even jobs! It also provides opportunities to author your own eLearning article(s).
This website provides summaries of recent events in educational technology/training, findings and trends in STEM education. It lists widely-used educational technologies and online learning platforms. It also speaks to market projections e.g. AI and technologies that educators will most likely continue to use based on current trends and the impacts of COVID on remote learning. It is particularly insightful for someone who is starting their research or work in educational technologies, and using ed tech in their classrooms e.g. new teacher. This resource also provides a plethora of trends in business industries and fields outside of the formal K-12 education system and Higher Education. It speaks to industry issues and how to be a successful course designer and instructional designer. It even has a job listing of positions in educational technology located all over the world. Furthermore, it provides information about elearning tools, authoring tools, learning management systems as well as conferences and webinars.
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for introducing this, I wasn’t familiar with this website.
As someone who manages a team of corporate training experts, I found the “LMS Buyer’s Guide” page, quite interesting. I particularly like how this part of the website has a consolidated list of the best LMSs on the market. Additionally, this part of the website enables the reader to filter/sort for “LMSs that offer best customer experience” or “LMSs that offer best learner experience”, and so on. Furthermore, we can see real-time feedback and reviews from customers and companies attached to each LMS software; very neat. Thank you for this.
Thank you for leaving your comment! I’m glad you found the information about LMS’s helpful! I usually find the choices daunting because certain LMS platforms are specific to particular industries. And then, when you have a major upgrade by a school district or company, all LMS’s the organization was using would need to be “assimilated” into the upgrade! Usually, it is seamless, if the existing system can be integrated. However, for teachers, I find it is a point of temporary panic, especially if you have designed your own courses and some of the components of your course (such as assessments) use a proxy that is no longer used!
I found the trends portion of this page very helpful. While not industry specific,it provided highlights to cross the gambit of industries using e-learning, and those that will benefit from e-learning. Most particularly, coming out of the pandemic I think all industry professionals will need to take notice of growing trends in e-learning; be it tools, pedagogy, platforms or other items pertinent to technology. I appreciate the the articles have some academic rigour behind them which gives the consumer more confidence in the content.
Yup! You’re right, Kyle – when you identify the impact on e-learning via the pandemic.
Elearningindustry.com describes itself as a “leading publishing platform that delivers inspiring, industry-specific content to eLearning professionals” which ostensibly suggests that it is a community forum where advice can be shared. However, they also describe themselves as “a top-tier eLearning marketplace, … offer[ing] a plethora of sophisticated, online marketing solutions” (Source: https://elearningindustry.com/about-us). This is where I immediately begin to have reservations.
As all the articles seem to be sponsored and as this site defines itself as a marketplace, I am suspect of the objective educational value of their advice. They use the buzzwords of “where thought leaders and experts can share trends and newsworthy stories”; trends and newsworthy stories are not necessarily backed by any educational or academic underpinnings. However, does this completely rob it of worth? No. I do believe that among the plethora of sponsored stories, there could be nuggets of actual value.
The information seems to be largely corporate-based, focusing on ideas like returns on investment (ROI), employee onboarding and using the idea of organizational success. This clearly doesn’t touch on ideas of education in the K to 12 classroom, or at the post-secondary level. Nevertheless, it is not impossible to see that article like “Overcoming Immersive Learning Challenges And Limitations” (https://elearningindustry.com/overcoming-immersive-learning-challenges-and-limitations) could very well be applied to classrooms as well as training rooms.
do you expect to seek out future versions of this report to help drive your own professional success, and also to recommend it to others in this regard?
For me personally, I currently exist in the university educational spectrum. In the future however, I’m hoping to go corporate. So, I could very easily see that there might be some trillions of Truth here that could impact my future – Particularly if I am providing corporations with feedback on their training programs. Does this make me want to recommend it to people? Well, I am still hesitant. I think it has value in in-and-of that reading these articles allows someone who has been working in a school setting speak in terms that a corporation eLearning professional should be fluent in. So while it is not devoid of value, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Hi Cindy,
I also want to talk about eLearning. While eLearning offers increased opportunities, not all of them are meaningful. Although meaningful interactions can occur asynchronously through eLearning, I sometimes feel that online interactions can feel forced, diminishing the quality of learning experiences. Personally, I have found that in-person interactions through traditional methods tend to be more meaningful compared to those in eLearning, despite my preference for eLearning overall. When it comes to the most relevant aspects of eLearning, I find the distinction between experimental learning and simulation tools particularly important. While eLearning is relatively easier for general subjects, only requiring a computer and internet access, STEM subjects, especially those involving extensive experiments, require the use of various simulation tools. However, a significant challenge arises from many teachers’ lack of familiarity with these tools, which can lead to distractions and a loss of student attention.
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for sharing this extremely valuable resource. As someone who is still trying to find more and more resources about technology in education, this is proving so far to be a great resource and a place to find valuable information. The world is constantly changing, and becoming more involved with new and evolving technologies. I am a music teacher in an elementary school, and I see constantly how the need (not just simply the desire) to incorporate more technology into my teaching practices and curriculum is extremely vital. It’s hard, at times, trying to find just the right way to do that. My goals are to engage student interest, follow the curricular requirements, all while (and this is the big one) staying within a budget. Eventually, we will all be required to add more technology into our classroom practices. Again, this is such a valuable resource, and even a good starting point for those who are looking for new ways to advance their classroom. Thank you for sharing this. I will definitely be examining this website further and seeing just what other available, engaging, and financially possible technologies I can use. Thank you again!
Hi Cindy,
eLearning has been a part of my adult life through other jobs and what really caught my eye was that this was more than face value. Upon clicking the link, it was interesting to see so many articles on the main page as well as the categories they are attached to. I believe that this is a good resource for the new teacher who is looking for ideas to incorporate technology in their classroom.
My only thoughts on eLearning is the social disconnect. Like Terrence, I find that having a traditional classroom makes learning meaningful and not a chore. I believe there can be a hybrid of eLearning. I’m sure there is something out there that is currently doing this but i would argue that humans are social mammals and placing them behind a screen hinders the social behaviour.
On the flip-side, I find that this will be a valuable resource for myself. As I go through this course, I think about new things that are innovative but I also don’t want to re-invent the wheel.