Online educatio
n market is a relatively young industry, which has experienced an explosion in its development in 2011-2012. Today, online education is gaining popularity every other year. Thus, in 2014 the number of universities with online courses has increased to 400 and the number of programs available has reached 2400. Nowadays the USA are the leaders in the field of online education and, what is more, over 90% of universities use distance education system on the Internet.
Specialists on TechNavio (technology market) research explored global trends of online learning and predicted annual growth of the market segment to 5.23% until 2018. The economic crisis will not affect much on the world of online education, as loss of purchasing power does not negate the need for new knowledge.
The main type of online education is so-called MOOCS which means massive open online courses with interactive participation. They intend for an unlimited number of listeners. Relatively new Ukrainian platform for online education is Prometheus. That is a project which started in 2014 (NaUKMA, KPI and KNU). Here you can take a course from professors of the biggest Ukrainian universities. You can listen to a series of lectures on the basics of programming by KPI teachers, the course of Ukrainian history from the lecturers of the Kiev National University of Shevchenko, or learn about the peculiarities of the financial management of the teachers of Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. Subject courses are very different. There are both humanitarian and technical disciplines.
Since its start in October, 2014, 70 thousands users have already registered on the site. Most Prometheus students are 20-25 years old. However, the best quality of assignments and final test were showed by users aged 45-50. According to the site’s founder Ivan Primachenko such statistics shows an insufficient level of knowledge of young Ukrainians, so the team will focus on the platform work with them mainly. There are already 16 courses available: in psychology, history, PR, and other subjects. The number of training programs is being constantly updated. The founders of the site were told that the largest number of subscribers IT-training program collects. The Prometheus plans to increase the number of courses to 150 for 5 years. Although courses and free of charge, yet everyone who graduated from them, receives a certificate. Courses duration is 4-12 weeks.
Information sources:
http://ubr.ua/labor-market/education/ejegodno-rynok-onlain-obrazovaniia-rastet-na-5-355448
http://blog.rabota.ua/8-populyarnyih-ploshhadok-dlya-onlayn-obrazovaniya/