What is the demand for e-learning?

What
are the e-learning needs?
z KEY FINDINGS
z Of the seven core market segments, in the U.S., Corporate Learners, Professional Enhancement Learners, and Degree Completion
Learners are the segments where technology-mediated learning has achieved the greatest penetration.
z CORPORATE LEARNERS:
z The corporate learning market has grown significantly over the past several years and growth is expected to continue. Many
postsecondary institutions, especially community colleges across the country, are actively seeking to provide training to
companies. Thus, the corporate training market presents an opportunity for institutions of higher education to expand their
customer base and generate additional revenue from e-learning investments.
z Corporate web-based training is expected to surge by more than 900 percent between 1999 and 2003. A key reason according
to Business Week is that “online training is far cheaper than bringing in a live instructor.”
z A survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers found that 37 percent of respondents were having difficulty
introducing productivity improvements and 36 percent were having problems upgrading production technology due to employee
skill shortages. This presents a tremendous corporate training opportunity.
z PROFESSIONAL ENHANCEMENT LEARNERS:
z Based on an environmental scan of e-learning programs, there are five major categories of Professional Enhancement
Learners. Business Education, Teacher Education, Health-related Education, Information Technology Education, and
Manufacturing Education.
z E-learning opportunities in the business content area cover a wide range of courses and programs in the area of business skills
and management education. Selected topics include general management, finance, customer service, and leadership.
ƒ Between 1984-85, and 1994-95, the number of MBA degrees conferred increased by 40%.
ƒ To meet this demand, numerous postsecondary institutions and corporate e-learning providers have launched online MBA
general management certificate programs.
z E-Learning opportunities K-12 professional development area has become an attractive market segment for companies,
postsecondary institutions, and investors attempting to meet the needs of today’s current educators and the hundreds of
thousands of new educators entering classrooms across the next decade.
ƒ Merrill Lynch estimates the market for teacher professional development is approximately $3 billion.
What is the demand for e-learning? What are
the e-learning needs?
ƒ Our nation’s schools will need to hire about 2.2 million teachers by 2010 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
ƒ Currently, 19.9% of all distance education courses, including 31% of all distance education courses at four-year institutions,
are targeted at current or prospective teachers.
z E-Learning opportunities in the health-care arena, particularly in nursing, cover several distinct program areas including
bachelors and masters degrees, licensing and certification renewals and post-masters programs. Unlike many other
occupations, nursing has well-defined educational requirements that must constantly be updated in order for nurses to retain
their license.
ƒ Between 1996 and 2006, the number of nurses are expected to increase 21%, for a total increase of 411,000.
ƒ Between 1996 and 2006, the number of home health aids are expected to increase 76%, for a total increase of 378,000.
ƒ Currently, 10.2% of all distance education courses offered are targeted at nurses.

z Web-based IT training represents the largest portion of training currently delivered online, covering topics in database and
enterprise services, desktop applications, Internet, operating systems, and application development. Leading technology
companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle and Novell have developed multi-course certification programs available online and
delivered by dozens of partners through Web portals and/or proprietary Web-based libraries.
ƒ Approximately 50% of IT company executives cited the lack of skilled workers as the most significant barrier to growth in
1999-2000.
ƒ Skills of IT professionals become outdated in 3-5 years; and Sun Microsystem’s Chairman and CEO has commented that
employees at technology companies face an annual 20-25% skills obsolescence.
z Employees in the manufacturing sector monitor workplace conditions to ensure emplooyee health, comfort and workplace
efficiency. Safety coordinators, directors and managers comprise the majority of occupations within the industrial safety group.
The primary objective employers seek to attain is staff quality control.
ƒ Employment projections for manufacturing in 2008 indicate that the industry will be one of two that experience declines in
employment.
ƒ Unlike the rest of the Nation, the manufacturing sector in Minnesota is projected to continue to expand. Manufacturers are
expected to add 41,000 new jobs (MnSCU - Industry Image Research - Precision Manufacturing Partnership).
 What is the demand for e-learning? What are
the e-learning needs?
z DEGREE COMPLETION LEARNERS:
z The total market for degree completion students is 9.1 million. Part-time enrollments for undergraduates between 17-24 years of
age is at 2.9 million; while the part-time enrollments for undergraduates above the age of 25 is at 5.3 million (NCES).
z Students 25 years of age and older now represent 43% (6.1 million) of all post secondary enrollments, up from 28% in 1970.
z More than 90% of MnSCU’s students are employed full-time or part-time.
z According to a Noel-Levitz Market Research report, about half of lifelong learners surveyed are degree-seeking. 26.4% of the
adults surveyed stated the primary objective is to complete a bachelor’s degree; 19.5% stated the primary objective is to earn a

master’s degree.

z CONCLUSIONS
z The corporate market offers higher education the greatest opportunity to expand its customer base and generate additional
revenue.
z Business education, teacher education, health-related education, and information technology education are the largest market
segments in distance education for professional enhancement learners nationwide.
z The demand for manufacturing education appears to be a unique demand within Minnesota, as manufacturing remains the State’s
second largest industry.
z Adult degree completion learners are increasing in numbers. Since students over the age of 25 tend to work part-time or full-time,
the need for more flexible learning environments has become more pressing.