How Custom eLearning Development Has Fueled Business growth in the wake of COVID-19

The 2020 stock market crash was the first sign of the global recession. However, the economy picked up pretty fast considering the situation because of advancements in technology. The fact that custom eLearning development wasn’t something new only helped to drive business growth not only for education and technology industries but for the global economy. This is because every company, regardless of the industry, needed to learn how to keep going without major setbacks. 

Custom eLearning Development Solutions Before the Pandemic

As mentioned earlier, eLearning wasn’t a novel concept when the pandemic struck, but people weren’t very eager to adopt it because they don’t like change. So back then, custom eLearning solutions were only for the innovators and early adopters. Universities were offering online courses using platforms such as Coursera and Udemy to further their reach and extend their market. People already knew that learning “could” occur beyond the realms of traditional classroom-based courses and “face-to-face” discourse. However, the world wasn’t ready just yet. eLearning was still just the black sheep of the family because of so many issues and limitations like bad internet connections, buffering speed, load times, incompetent authoring tools, etc.

What Changes Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Bring?

It was as if the pandemic brought about an overnight change. People learned that they didn’t have a choice. If companies had to continue and operate under a lockdown, then improvisation was needed. Okay, so overnight may have been an exaggeration. But schools closed down for a month before they realized this lockdown wasn’t going away so easily. It took between three to six weeks of schools being shut down for most of them to start some form of distance learning. 

At this point, most schools opted for virtual classes on Google Meet, Zoom, and other video conferencing software solutions. The thought that they would need custom eLearning solutions hadn’t occurred to them yet. This is because no one realized the permanence of the situation, and like every situation, this too took a while. 

Offices started offering their workers the chance to work remotely from their homes. This too was done in desperation because most organizations didn’t have a choice. This was a time when the COVID vaccinations weren’t formulated yet and no one knew what it would be like to “work from home”. Yet, conferences became virtual; doctors’ appointments turned into video calls; online shopping became a necessity! 

What about eLearning in the corporate world?

A research paper by Deloitte states that back then during the pandemic, more than 98% of organizations used some form of virtual learning for their employees. That means less than 2% of organizations either refused to acknowledge and make an effort to leverage technology and learning, or they really felt that they didn’t need it. 

Redefining Online Learning: Custom eLearning Development Solutions Today

The pandemic and the resulting recession and business closures had many lessons for the business world. The first one was to be more accepting of technology and to dare to try out new and innovative concepts. While businesses were shutting down and many organizations were laying off their employees, the technology sector was thriving as more and more people got convinced that this was the only way to survive. The EdTech industry and custom eLearning development acted as a catalyst for business growth and helped bring back the economy to a better state. The following trends arose in the EdTech space that helped fuel the economy and bring it back from survival mode to growth and success. 

Learning Management System (LMS) Development

One of the first custom eLearning development trends that hit it off was LMS development. Whether it was for schools and colleges or organizations using LMS solutions to provide training to their employees, it fast became one of the eLearning solutions asked for the most. It is definitely a more traditional way of learning with deadlines and assignments and grades, but to many, it is the perfect amalgamation of virtual and traditional classroom-based learning. 

Online Program Management (OPM) Development

Providing products and services to facilitate educational institutes in running their online courses smoothly, OPM services also help with student retention. These solutions help universities and schools gain market share without having to build their own custom eLearning development solutions. They do this by offering a variety of packages at a nominal service fee. 

Content Development Services

Nearly 80% of learners are concerned about the quality of course content and eLearning trends have content development to be one of the top custom eLearning development services. EdTech can’t work without quality content and so the content is one of the main factors driving business growth and helping the economy thrive.  

Custom eLearning Development Solutions

Somewhere in between the acceptance stage and trying out innovative concepts, organizations soon realized the need for custom eLearning development solutions. Turnkey solutions aren’t a perfect fit for every company. Sometimes the requirements of companies are very different and unique whether it’s a school needing unique subject matter content or a unique learning management solution, or a corporate giant needing a custom specialized training solution for the training and assessment of its employees. 

Today, in the era of the metaverse, you can witness how eLearning really has transformed the business landscape. Augmented and virtual reality has altered the concept of “reality”, and with so many companies and places joining the metaverse, there is soon going to be a very fine line between reality and virtual reality. The time is not so far when eLearning will not feel like it is virtual or remote. Currently, remote learning does not come without its fair share of challenges, but they are all problems that can be fixed with further research and technology.