The Current Rise of E-Learning

E-learning, also referred to as ‘online learning’ or ‘digital education’, is a form of distance education that takes place over the internet, by making use of different technologies.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for this type of digitized learning skyrocketed, with 98% of companies having adopted some form of online learning in 2020. The new reality pushed students, employees, institutions and companies to rethink education and training and seek alternative ways to get and grant remote access to high-quality instruction. However, with the advancement of ICT hardware and software over the past years, e-learning had already taken off even before 2020. In fact, as shown by eLearning Industry, 77% of US companies were already benefiting from e-learning in 2017.

Types of E-Learning

As the online learning industry grows in market size and users, so does its repertoire of options. Nowadays, there are multiple types of virtual courses to fit everybody’s needs:

Synchronous Online Courses

Among the e-courses that take place live, in real-time settings, we can mention:

• Live podcasts
• Live Virtual Classes
• Webinars
• Virtual Coaching
• Hybrid Learning

Asynchronous Online Courses

Some of the online courses that don’t involve simultaneous meetings are:

• Microlearning
• Self-paced Courses
• Recorded Webinars
• Interactive Videos
• Fixed E-Learning (MOOCs)
• Adaptive E-learning

Benefits of E-learning

Although at the beginning of the pandemic most people were forced to adopt online learning, many continued choosing it later on. In fact, a 2021 survey carried out by Cengage states that nearly three-quarters of students (73%) reported that they would prefer to take some of their courses fully online after the pandemic. This shows that during the pandemic years, the online learning industry proved itself as a useful and effective alternative to traditional education. Some of its benefits are listed below:

• Flexibility: especially with asynchronous courses, it allows people to arrange their schedules to their convenience. Moreover, as long as they have a computer, smartphone or tablet with internet connection, they can take their classes wherever and whenever they want.
• Efficiency: it takes learners and employees 40% to 60% less time than traditional learning (source: Guru99). Moreover, some studies have shown that students can retain 25-60% of material compared to 8-10% in on-site classes.
• Affordability: in many cases, e-learning is more affordable than traditional education. This can be explained since commuting costs are reduced and sometimes course materials are available free online.
• Accessibility: online learning enables many people to continue working full-time while studying. Additionally, numerous platforms offer a myriad of multilingual e-courses, i.e., online courses that have been translated to be available in different languages.

E-Learning Translation

The rise of virtual learning saw the growth of various education platforms that wanted to expand their market and reach broader audiences, following the trend toward globalization. With this rise comes an increased demand for e-learning translation and localization to satisfy the worldwide desire for these education models.

Some of the services LSP can offer to said platforms are: 

• Translation and subtitling of videos and audio.
• Localization of copies and promotional materials.
• Translation of graphics and images.
• Translation and localization of UI elements.

To offer their services, schools, universities, and companies need quality e-learning translation to attract larger audiences, and for this, Language Service Providers (LSPs) that offer localization services can be of valuable help. Accounting for cultural and regional differences when translating and adapting content is key to achieve success globally by offering worldwide audiences education in all languages.

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Our Expertise in Education and Training:

From employee e-lectures to highly technical training courses for software developers, through localization of K-12 school books and materials, at GeaSpeak we are highly experienced in the Education field. We have localized dozens of virtual courses including user interface and video subtitles, as well as printed materials such as coursebooks and student manuals. Some of the education projects we most frequently work on include the localization of training decks, e-learning/self-learning courses, course platform interface and a wide variety of employee training courses and presentations (selling, compliance, ethics, finance, gender equality, software and app use, among many others). For these courses we also complete a task called “Online Review” (for checking everything looks fine online) and “Narration Review” (when there is also narration in addition to text).