The Impacts of COVID-19 on The Online Course Industry

In the year COVID-19 prompted lockdown measures across Europe and North America in March 2020 and the impact it had on brick and mortar establishments was immediate. From huge factories to mom-and-pop corner shops, the pandemic caused customers and employees to return in their homes, and forced business owners reconsider their future plans.

Many of these businesses chose to make use of online education in order to stay in the black. In early 2019 the industry of online education was predicted to increase by 300 billion by 2025. The pandemic has rapidly increased during this period since entrepreneurs, companies and educators shift their focus towards the internet and the internet, resulting in an increase of 221% in the amount of online courses that were created within the first few moments of the disease.

With this first growth, we asked few important questions:

• How will this change play out over the course of time?
• What kind of skills are learners who are online in the new remote working?
• What does this mean for present and future online course creators?

In the report on trends that is to follow, we explore these issues and much more.

Knowing the facts

The report provides key insights regarding the market for online courses that are based on first-touch responses to COVID-19, as well as the trend of slower burn which were observed.

To determine these results We looked at two distinct periods of time. The data between March 15-31 showed the immediate impact of pandemic related security measures. The data from April 1 to June 30, provided an overview of the ongoing trends as a result of the world moving on a new normal. To gauge the development of both periods, we compare both to average benchmarks within the six-month period before the 15th of March.

Over these three timespans, we've assessed new course creators and new student enrollment, and the development of new courses. Be aware of the fact that in this document, when we talk about an growth in the development of courses, the amount is calculated based on courses that have at least 10 students in order to make sure that enrollment numbers do not increase because of courses that are not in use.

The data gathered from their company's business model is specifically gathered, and therefore may differ from other online course providers based on a range of demographic factors, but it gives a look at developments in the online course sector that has been developed upon one of the biggest online educational platforms.

The Early Boom

The key to online course delivery

In the early weeks of COVID-19's lockdown measures we observed a 21 percent increase in the number of students who have created courses for our platform. It's a broad range of kinds of creators who differ in their goals, which differ from:

• Entrepreneurs and companies that have established brick and mortar businesses that have switched to selling and services online because COVID-19 forced them to close their doors.
• Educational institutions throughout the entire process from the kindergarten stage to post-graduation who have taken their online teaching materials to support the services of tutoring and distance learning.
•       Career changers as well as entrepreneurs who have taken an existing skill or talent to create the creation of a brand new online course for their earnings when faced with lay-offs and shifting careers because of economic turmoil.      
•       Businesses andhuman human resource professionals who have developed online training courses for new employees to help them to stay at the same level remote.      

If creators made courses that had greater than one the same, we observed the increase of 3688% in the number of courses made on the platform over the last two weeks of March.

We looked at the expansion of all aspects 3 industries jumped into the picture as early adopters.

• Arts & Entertainment course which has grown by the staggering amount of 2108 percentagewith the assistance of skilled entrepreneurs who offer anything from marketing, photography, and graphic design to weaving paintings, weaving and hip-hop dancing.
• Education followed and grew by881 percentageand classes that cover everything including macroeconomics, economics, and AP historic.
•       Health & Fitness courses grew by543 percent as pilates and yoga studios and health specialists moved their practices on the internet.      

We also tracked an increase of 7988% in the amount of courses whose creators identified themselves as Other or whose field did not appear to be identified.

Online course growth all over the world

A large proportion of the creation of courses prior to the outbreaks of disease was focused in North America, the online expansion of the market of course was international.

• The United States and Canada saw a growth rate of 691% compared to course development during the six months prior to COVID-19.
•       Hungary was the country with the highest increase in growth, beginning with only the handful of courses offered during the period of six months before the pandemic and then soaring by 1015 percent of new courses during the second week of March.      
•       Mexico witnessed theinitial growth of 383 percent the latter part of March. However, they've seen the highest increase throughout April and June due to their growth has been steady with 263% more than pre-pandemic averages.      
• In the meantime, Mexico continues to demonstrate a steady trend of expansion, India and Spain trail close behind by registering the same percentage of 230% and 215 percent growth, respectively.

While many countries saw an explosive increase in the number of courses created in the latter part of March and a steady levelling downwards over the following months, the top 15 countries slid to an impressive increase in the creating courses - with a range from 115% to 263% higher than the average pre-pandemic. It is clear that across all over the world, online courses are still a very effective tool to assist the world transition into the new norm.

Students' engagement in online classes

It's one thing for entrepreneurs and companies to make the leap onto the internet however how they interact with students with the internet is another matter. With the ailment that is bringing everyone inside, what did those students in the time they had off?

Certain sectors stood out as winners that clearly showed significant jumps in student enrollment:

Software & Technology earns an Honorable Mention in this article. The enrollment rate increased by 234% during the first period of the lockdown, it skyrocketed by more than 1200% in the time that followed. This should come as no shock, as many are looking for ways to improve their abilities to work from home and jobs that are based on technology are abundant.

the Slow Burn

In the past, we've discussed several instances of metrics that are notable for their growth in April-June and the initial numbers in March's final days. Let's look at the developments emerged in the period shortly after the global lockdown measures.

Evolving student demand

Between April and June students' enrollment grew relatively stable around 20 percent in comparison to pre-covid figures and indicates that the rising demands of students for online instruction is here to stay.

The majority of industries saw steady growth in student enrollment:

Three of the sectors experienced a significantly greater increase in their growth that they experienced in the initial post-lockdown expansion phase. This shows the trend of student demand to take courses that are the current post-pandemic education. As an example, Software & Technology and Education provide a number of opportunities to meet the needs of the ever-growing number of remote workers. People looking for ways to increase their fitness levels at home are choosing online Health & Fitness courses.

The online course keeps growing

Since student demand has increased as time passes, course developers have been able to respond to the increasing demand. New development in courses has risen across every category with significantly greater growth rates than prior to the outbreak. Consider for example that Business & Marketing has the lowest rate of growth among the categorical categories at only 261% of the rates prior to the outbreak however, Education and Arts & Entertainment are among the best performers, having growth rates in 732 percent and 722% percent, respectively.

However, the student enrollment rates across the globe and in every industry outstrip those of course designers which means there is a lot of opportunity for current and aspiring course creators looking to fill in the holes.

The Long Game

These numbers paint a depiction of a flourishing market for online courses, in which entrepreneurs can find new ways to showcase their skills regardless of financial challenges caused by COVID-19. The explosion in online course offerings isn't a one-hit wonder driven by lockdown. It is expected to grow when businesses, entrepreneurs, and institutions of higher education turn online classes into strategies for the uncertain future.

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