How should online education newcomers be based?

Absrtact: Online education, also known as distance education, is now in the ascendant. Global Industry Analysts, a market research firm, predicts its size will reach $107 billion trillion in 2015. Although those more traditional training or education

Online education, also known as distance education, is now in the ascendant. Global Industry Analysts, a market research firm, predicts its size will reach $107 billion trillion in 2015. While the more traditional methods of training or education do not disappear (at least not yet), all types of institutions, whether public or business, are choosing to train and distribute information through the web. The Software development online education platform Pluralsight recently announced that it raised $135 million trillion in the already completed B financing.

In the 2013, lynda.com, the online education giant--or even the Big Mac in the field--gained 103 million of billions of dollars in growth equity investments from the Accel partners and Spectrum Equity. According to subscription content, the site has achieved 100 million U.S. dollars in revenue, registered users to 2 million people. Lynda has accumulated more than 83,000 teaching videos, although the content of software and web development teaching, but a cursory glance, you can find a wide range of coverage, from design to photography, and then to 3D Animation, 00 total. Content remains the key to the market, and Lynda has just announced the acquisition of Interface Technology training company headquartered in Phoenix, adding 2,500 videos on teaching, technology and innovation skills for its content. After paying an annual fee, users can watch all their videos indefinitely.

Disclosure: Last year, I purchased a one-month privilege on the Lynda website, and then they offered me a short-term media access account, but I was tired of all sorts of tasks, and I couldn't use the account more than the overall view of its video library.

Alex Conrad, a Forbes staff member, quotes some of the VCs ' views on online education and hot tech trends in his article titled "Top VC Forecasts: 2014 Wind investment Gold". We can quickly review the ideas of two VC experts:

Scott Sander (Scott Sandell, New Enterprise Associates): "Educational technology will become mainstream in the 2014." The area has attracted a lot of attention, but the question is whether it is a business. We see 12 start-ups reshaping the education system in a variety of ways. I think they will become a huge company. But it will take years before the real winners are decided. ”

"I think online education is very attractive, but the market is very crowded," says Mike Maples, a floodgate of Gate Capital Investment Corp. Companies involved in online education will struggle unless they come up with truly subversive ideas and structural advantages. ”

I do believe in the power of online education, just as those who earn their living by cloud computing, and a father who gives their children online tutoring. One of the exciting parts of the market is how it allows people to use their expertise to create business opportunities. If you look at the Lynda operating model, the lecturers will be rewarded according to their course number. Last week, I met a lecturer who earned enough to earn his living in a Lynda company.

In the early days of Skype, even today, many instructors or coaches often offer their services through Internet video telephony. Not long ago, Business Insider also published information about a professional SAT instructor who charged 1,000 dollars an hour for the children of rich families. To a large extent, the online education market is saturated, but in the eyes of those with entrepreneurial ideas, there are still opportunities to create an education company focused on niche markets.

Online education company Pluralsight is compelling because it offers a free trial service; I registered an account with myself and tried one. The Online education website General Assembly combines network and traditional learning (in real life), providing local training and web-based courses in some cities. I've seen them most often introduce programming courses, but they will also launch a series of business and technology-oriented courses. After you register for free, you can pay by the class hours.

Last week, Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced a partnership with the National Community College Entrepreneurship Association (NACCE) to help lecturers from urban and rural areas to incorporate the HP life online curriculum into their teaching. This is a free web-based course, and students from high school and community colleges can learn basic business and IT skills to become an entrepreneur to solve real-life business problems.

Online education is an important way to constantly update your skills or to learn new skills completely. Of course, you can search for free tutorials and good instructional videos on YouTube, but I think these web sites and carefully organized platforms will change the way we learn. Kio Stark, author Jon Stark, interviewed more than 100 independent academics for his book away from the Academy (Don t go back to parochial). The book records how people constantly enrich themselves through online education. It also hints at how the overall size of the online education industry will break 100 billion dollars. As startups continue to find niche markets, or to tap deeper into the content, we will see continued investment in this area. By then, those big companies will be tempted to buy.