4 Ways eLearning Prepares You For The Technology Revolution
Technology is advancing at breakneck speeds right now, which means that there are many new jobs created daily. In spite of countless news stories claiming that automation will render most people's jobs obsolete in a few years, it's actually helping to create an entire new industry that maintains computer hardware and all the code needed to manage these workflows. Unfortunately, our education system is doing almost nothing to help prepare students to take these jobs.
Traditional education has been slow to change for decades now. Curriculum planners can't keep up, and they're often focused more on sociopolitical issues than ones related to technology and engineering. Professors are often stuck in their ways and resistant to new ideas. On top of this, a massive bureaucracy is holding things back.
As a result, an entire generation of new professionals are turning to eLearning instead. Some industry analysts are skeptical, however, these trendy new training programs can really prepare students for the future.
The truth is actually pretty surprising.
1. Jobs In The Blockchain & Machine Learning Sector
Many conventional universities that offer online education are teaching students things that aren't any different from what they'd cover in a traditional classroom. Newer private eLearning programs are paying close attention to international technology job trends, which means they've been able to tailor their programs to match what sectors of the industry are actually creating new employment opportunities.
For instance, blockchain-based software is quickly becoming a hot topic. While mainstream media outlets only seem to cover its use as the driving-force behind cryptocurrency, blockchain is powering everything from sales ledgers to secure document repositories. As a result, there are many new jobs for professionals who have a background in it.
Machine learning is also becoming a major area of research that's producing new jobs. You're probably familiar with image recognition and natural-language processing, which are revolutionizing the way certain businesses interact with customer data. To illustrate how popular it's become, consider the fact that, one technical study on machine learning now has over 50,000 peer-reviewed citations.
Professionals are needed to maintain these systems. Unfortunately, there aren't enough people trained to apply for these jobs. Online blockchain and AI classes are available and can do so much more to prepare students for these jobs than sitting in a lecture hall for four years.
People aren't flocking to these programs, because they don't have the ability to grant traditional degrees.
2. Professional Certificates Are Taking Over
What most people don't realize, is that eLearning certifications may be considered superior to traditional degree programs in certain specialized industries. Artificial Intelligence and blockchain technology are just two of these fields. Some experts have said that there are upwards of six new technologies that will soon prompt employers to look for people that hold these certifications.
Some industry analysts have been adamant on the fact that professional certifications aren't anything new. Corporate learning programs have been a fixture of the IT world for several decades, and some private organizations have granted their own certificates since the 1980s.
The problem is that some of these programs have remained every bit as inflexible as traditional colleges have. More than a few of them focus primarily on topics that really aren't all that relevant to the type of material they claim to cover. They've also slowly become outdated since they refuse to try anything new.
You'd never see a conventional corporate certification for certain types of app development or UI design, which makes these additional fields where newer eLearning organizations have a leg up on their competition. Universities are risking their obsolesce in certain fields if they don't make drastic changes to their academic curriculum in the next few years.
3. Jobs That Haven't Been Imagined Yet
One of the problems with a conventional education is that it can't prepare people for new jobs that don't yet exist. The technological revolution is creating openings that weren't even a thought just a few years ago. Universities can't hope to keep up, but eLearning has two ways of dealing with this problem.
Since eLearning programs are quick and affordable, unemployed professionals can decide to simply apply for them during their job hunt and add it to their résumé as soon as they've completed it. In many cases, it might only take a couple of days to finish up a program.
A strong focus on the fundamentals has also helped to ensure that eLearning graduates are capable of taking positions that are currently in their infancy. While technology might be changing, the underlying principles of computer science don't. Numerous universities dumped things like discrete mathematics years ago, but now students can have scientific information at their fingertips simply by avoiding a traditional lecture hall.
Once they've got the fundamentals down, they can take their skills to almost any company that's on the lookout for skilled professionals.
4. The Future Of eLearning
Going to school online is nothing new. What's likely to change, however, is the way that employers view people who've undergone this kind of training. Some people currently view eLearning certifications as inferior to traditional college diplomas. Others see them as equal at best, but most still have a relatively poor opinion of them.
While this view is likely to persist for some time in the academic world, that's largely just because universities don't want to admit that the writing is on the wall as far as their tired old methods are concerned. Employers will soon start to consider eLearning certificates as superior to traditional college degrees in at least some fields. Those who have taken the initiative and gotten digital credentials will soon reap the benefits without having to worry about coming out from under crushing debt.
Students who haven't taken the opportunity won't be left out of the rain though. All they might need to get a jumpstart on a new carer is the better part of a weekend.
