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Technology is disrupting every industry more and more every single day. Even the most traditional industries are being challenged by new technological innovations that are making our lives better. Online education is an evolving space. And as the industry has changed, some key trends have begun to emerge.

These are 7 key trends that are happening right now in the online education space. It is all about helping people from all over the world get a world-class education from the comfort of their own home, and what they mean for the future of education.

• It?s becoming easier to learn from world-class experts. If you?re a world-class expert on a particular topic, you?re probably pretty busy. Most likely, you?re continuing to work in your field, which takes up most of your time and attention. These world-class experts spend their time on their area of expertise, and they don?t have time to visit every classroom around the world to teach other people. However, world-class experts can broadcast a message, a course, or another package of information to a large number of people through technology.


• Learning is becoming more optimized. Traditional education is a bit broken. It is important to understand the way people best understand complex technical concepts. The concepts need to be presented in a fully optimized way. This is where online education comes into picture. Ultimately, it is necessary to scale our approach to far more people than we could ever fit in a college classroom.


• Getting the right content in the right form. Video lessons work for some concepts, but text works better for other concepts. Live instruction trumps both video and text for other types of learning. Online learning experiences need to find a way to balance each type in the best way possible for students. The ability to give students the right content in the right form is a very important trend that is starting to push the online education space into an exciting new space.


• You can challenge yourself on your own time. Figuring out challenges without explicit instructions is one of the best ways to absorb the material and truly start to understand how things work on a deep level. It often takes a bit of frustration and failure in order to make things click. Traditional education handles this process through tests and quizzes. Deep level learning is difficult to accomplish in a classroom setting. The same challenge could take one person 4 hours to finish, but it might take another person only 30 minutes. Online learning platforms allow you to move at your own speed. You don?t need to cram for a test just because it?s happening on an arbitrary date. And you don?t need to sit around waiting for other students to finish their challenges. You can move forward in the exact way that works best for you.


• It?s becoming easier to get back on track. When learning new skills, students encounter problems that they don?t understand, it?s often the silliest things that cause the issues. The best online education platforms are engineering ways for students to correct as quickly as possible in order to help them stay on track. This includes things like:
  
  
  • Moderated Forums
  
  
  • Student Communities
  
  
  • Chat Rooms
  
  
  • Email Support
  
  
  These tools ensure that when a student slips up, he/she is able to get back on track quickly and continue to learn and improve their skills.


• Learning online no longer means learning alone. Learning virtually doesn?t mean that you?re learning alone. Online communities exist and it?s possible to build bonds with peer groups. This can help foster relationships, solve problems, and motivate students to keep learning because everyone around you is learning.


• Online learning has evolved greatly in the past few years. It democratizes the spread of knowledge. It breaks down a lot of barriers associated with traditional learning:
  
  
  • It?s available to with an Internet connection.
  
  
  • It provides access to expert-level teaching.
  
  
  • It?s cheaper than traditional education.
  
  
  • It gives access to other motivated students at an incredible scale.
  
  
  • You can schedule it according to your routine.
  
  

Online education is the future of education. And the future of education is one that is inclusive and flexible for the people who are willing to put in the work.