How IT Professionals Can Cash in on the Trend for E-Learning

More and more people are choosing not to attend bricks and mortar classrooms, and it’s a trend that is likely to continue. Now that universities, colleges and other educational institutions have moved a lot of their courses online following the COVID-19 pandemic, chances are that a lot of institutions are likely to continue to offer e-learning because of the benefits it offers. 

Virtual Reality

With more and more courses being delivered online, there comes a greater need to provide students with experiences online that could usually only be attained in real life. For example, registered nurses who are undertaking an RN to MSN online need a certain number of placement hours in order to qualify as a nurse practitioner. In the current model, the university would support the student to find a suitable placement. In the future, more of this experience may be gained in virtual reality.

Virtual Reality is already being used in some nursing training with great results. Virtual reality allows teachers to select which scenarios students will encounter, based on where their personal weaknesses are or on which scenarios they are likely to encounter the most often in their line of work. This provides an opportunity for focused practice that just isn’t possible through placements in real life.

VPN Services

With the increase in e-learning comes an increase in the need for VPN services. 

Most learning institutions will have their files stored on a secure network that can only be accessed by computers from within the institution. This is a necessity in order to ensure that their data is secure, after all universities are holding all sorts of sensitive information, not just about students and staff but information on confidential research projects. 

In order for students and teachers working outside of the main campus to safely access the university network, they will need to use a VPN, and this isn’t the only use for a VPN. Students and teachers who can’t reasonably work from their homes may need to work in public, using an unsecured public wifi connection. Doing this via a VPN means that the information on their own digital devices is secure. Finally, if there is less of a need for students to attend their educational institution in person then people may make use of the opportunity to live abroad while continuing with their studies. 

If you would like to put yourself in a good position to be the provider of VPN services to educational establishments then consider taking a VPN course to make sure you have the skills that will be needed.

Cyber Security

Every industry, including e-learning, has an increased need for cyber security. Technology is advancing at a rate that is tough to keep up with, and with the advances in technology comes advanced techniques employed by criminals to hack networks.

Learning facilities may be particularly vulnerable to these kinds of attacks as they struggle to cope with the increasing demand on their networks as more and more classes go online. Upskilling in cyber security would place you in a position to be able to help a lot of institutions to solve these issues.

If you want to take advantage of the e-learning trend it’s important to not only ensure that you are skilled in the relevant areas, but to market yourself so that institutions know that you are the person to come to. Try utilizing social media to build yourself a community within the education sector by writing about topics that are relevant to them, like those we have just discussed. If you can show that you are the person who knows all about their problem areas, then they are bound to call on you for help.

Why can e-learning benefit you?

E-learning means that people with commitments that make it difficult for them to attend classroom based learning now have the opportunity to reach their educational goals. A virtual learning environment also provides opportunities for institutions to schedule classes outside of the usual hours because it isn’t dependent on being able to access a physical learning space which is only available at certain times, which opens learning up to students who cannot afford to stop working in order to study.

This increased need for digital services also creates an additional need for IT support. If IT professionals can provide the support that is needed, then they will be in a good position to cash in on this emerging trend.