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While distance education has existed since the nineteenth century when correspondence courses arose in Western Europe, there are still questions about online learning’s effectiveness and a generalized feeling that it’s not the same as a traditional brick-and-mortar experience. For prospective online students, one major concern is how future employers will view a degree achieved online.

The edtech industry and online education as a whole are brand new fields. This is mainly due to advances in technology, such as the internet, streaming, and cloud computing. However, the concept has roots that date back centuries.

The onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic was also a shock to many educational institutions globally—but what impact, if any, did it have on Calbright’s online model in its nascent stages?

The U.S. Department of Education uses a standardized formula to calculate Pell Grant awards based on a student’s and their family’s financial need. The Department determines ability to pay for college—expressed as the student’s Expected Family Contribution or EFC—solely through financial data reported on an online form known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

Online education gives students the freedom to work their school work around their existing obligations that can’t be put on the backburner. While an adult may not be able to drop all of their responsibilities to pursue a new degree full time at a traditional campus, they may be able to pursue new skills during their off-hours.

A group of articles recently emerged in the press on a surprising topic. These stories explore how significant numbers of college and graduate students don’t want to return to classrooms again as if it were 2019. Instead, they prefer to continue with online education as they did during the pandemic.

When a college student chooses to enroll in an on-campus program instead of an equivalent program offered online, that student also chooses to pay America’s fastest-growing college expense. And that particular expense probably isn’t the one that the student expects would be growing so rapidly.

While the current COVID-19 pandemic is challenging in a multitude of ways, there is a silver lining to be gleaned in the educational world: it is forcing learning institutions that have lagged behind the digital revolution to quickly come up to speed.

Engagement in online learning remains a curious paradox. On the one hand, demand for online education platforms has skyrocketed recently during the pandemic. Coursera, the leading provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), reported that during 2020, its enrollments topped 59 million students, soaring 248 percent over the previous year. But on the other hand, engagement in these types of courses remains abysmal, with one team of researchers having estimated completion rates of around 3 percent.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a cornerstone of modern education, its potential to revolutionize classrooms is undeniable. AI tools are now used in tasks ranging from personalized learning to automated grading and even predictive systems that identify at-risk students. The OECD’s Digital Education Outlook 2023 highlights this rapid adoption, noting that over 60 percent of schools in high-income countries now employ AI-driven educational tools. However, with these advancements comes a pressing concern: the risk of AI bias.

Let’s suppose a job candidate or graduating university student faces a decision that has become increasingly common these days. They have a choice between two job offers, both of which come with remote work options. Which job should that candidate accept?

We spoke with a coding educator about what learning at a coding bootcamp looks like, what resources are available to students, and how to leverage and showcase these new skills to position yourself for success and land a job in the competitive tech hiring market.

Different segments of the online education market face unique challenges and opportunities. For example, the online master’s programs have reached a point of market saturation, with fewer students entering these programs and higher costs associated with acquiring them. However, opportunities remain robust in other areas, particularly healthcare education.

The financial landscape of higher education in the United States is shifting dramatically. Over the last decade, federal loans for undergraduate students have decreased significantly, while institutional grant aid and Pell Grants have risen to historic levels.

Parents may be concerned that their children are spending too much time staring at the computer with the shift of most schools to online learning. And this is a valid concern. A research study published in the 2019 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics found that excessive TV viewing and gaming were associated with lower grades for both children and teens.

Joining a virtual club or student organization can enhance the online college experience. Distance learning can feel isolating at times, so networking with students and faculty advisors can promote a feeling of connection. Some groups, such as student government or academic societies, offer opportunities that can be beneficial when applying for graduate school or work post-graduation.

The power of VR lies in providing users the chance to do something hands-on that might not be possible in the real or the remote world. With this in mind, leveraging virtual reality to provide immersive education experiences is increasingly used by companies to complement traditional workforce development and educational tools.

As the Biden administration considers regulatory changes to improve consumer protections for online students, a critical debate has emerged among educational institutions and consumer advocates. The proposed changes aim to grant states greater authority to enforce their own regulations on online education providers, potentially reshaping the landscape of distance learning in the United States.

It now seems like every month, a new survey of online college students appears that contains unexpected surprises. One of the more interesting recent polls comes from Education Dynamics (EDDY), the Kansas City-based higher education enrollment consulting firm that counts 500 colleges and universities across America as clients.

Most people know that online education is widespread in China and picking up steam in the U.S. But those unfamiliar with the industry may not know that India is capturing the gaze of edtech investors worldwide. While interest in the region had been building, it ramped up dramatically during the novel coronavirus pandemic period.

Anyone interested in online education will eventually hear about Dr. Paul LeBlanc, the visionary president of Southern New Hampshire University. In December 2023, SNHU announced that Dr. LeBlanc would step down after two decades in which he transformed a struggling college with less than 2,500 learners into America’s largest university, now enrolling 224,000 students.

Artificial intelligence technologies have already shown promise in supporting educational markets. As online and tech-driven education solutions come under the spotlight in the fallout of the pandemic, governments and private companies globally are increasing investment in AI to spur the growth of the tech in support of future educational needs.

Duolingo launched 148 new courses created using generative AI, marking one of the most aggressive moves yet in AI-driven education. It is a significant pivot for the popular language learning platform, which built its reputation on a playful user experience and gamified lessons. And its “AI-first” development signals more than product expansion. It raises deeper questions about how educational content is created, who creates it, and what may be lost when scale becomes the priority.

According to EdSurge’s Editor, Jeffrey Young, tech companies appear to have targeted education as a “killer application” for artificial intelligence platforms, an area that could significantly drive sales and company growth. Young cites several demonstrations during the late spring of 2024 by OpenAI, Google, and other firms that focused on educational applications of their latest chatbots and AI platforms. OpenAI also launched ChatGPT Edu, a new partnership program for colleges similar to the firm’s arrangement with Arizona State University.

Distance learning is not new, with correspondence courses being around since the 1800s. However, they became more prevalent and went online with the technical revolution in the 1990s. Covid-19 simply accelerated a process already in motion.