By the 2010s, online education had started to become common, from alternative high schools to all levels of collegiate pursuits. Online learning management systems (LMS) were becoming integral to advancing education. This is also around the time that online specialty courses for coding, IT, and engineering really started to pop off. As more and more services like Codecademy, Drupalize.me, and W3 Schools became available, new online specialty platforms appeared. With companies like Master Class you can take dance classes, piano lessons, or coding courses all online. As the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched from 2020 to 2022, there is no clear idea of when there will be any return to the former “normal”. Offering online resources and classes is important for just about any business, at this point.
Traditional schools have had to figure out how to teach everything remotely. This was already a tremendous challenge for any kind of class. It is arguably harder when more tangible tools are necessary, for example when there is a need for lab work or gym class. Education professionals and technologists worldwide have risen to the challenge impressively, and other businesses should follow suit.
Learning Management Systems
Our agency has first-hand experience helping a company upgrade its business model and offerings to adapt to current technology needs. We can’t name the client until their website and LMS is fully launched, but we can discuss the work we’ve done with them! This client originally provided services to international teachers helping them obtain visas and job placements in schools throughout the US. This included working with numerous groups of international teachers by providing a safe way to enter, work, and live in the US. Due to policy changes that occurred during the 2016-2020 presidency, the services they provided came up against major obstacles. COVID-19 only added to these challenges.
As a result, our client decided to pivot their business model. They now support teachers around the world with learning models hosted through their website. It is a subscription-based pedagogy tool that enables people to obtain lesson plans and vast teaching materials. All of the assets, courses and learning units come from cited and reputable sources. They are made accessible to professional educators, as well as parents/guardians that are now homeschooling children.
To us, this is a great representation of technology allowing a well-established business to pivot into a specific niche through the effective use of an online LMS. We feel this will be the way forward for a lot of brick-and-mortar organizations. Think about all of the certifications and continuing education platforms that are now online. In many ways, it has become more efficient and safe (due to the pandemic) to use an online learning management system. There’s a lot of growth potential, to say the least.
It is Time To Provide Online Education & Resources
We’re seeing big companies that have had to migrate their business model to learning instead of offering a service. This is not a trend that will be slowing down even as things go back to (kind of) “normal”. For example, major gym chains like Gold’s Gym and Planet Fitness that used to rely heavily on in-house memberships now provide a massive amount of online training courses. Most of the training videos are available for free whether they have a gym membership or not.
This is not only awesome for all of us folks who miss going to the gym, but it’s genius for their marketing. They’re keeping people interested in their gym and interested in physical fitness. Simultaneously, they’re expressing that they care about people’s health and not just their money. It might be time to look at your company and see what you can do to provide educational services that will hold people’s interest in your business.
Upgrading Your Services by Teaching Online
It can be hard to imagine how your business would provide online training or utilize a learning management system. In a round-about way, running a few targeted search queries on YouTube can be pretty revealing. There is seemingly a video explaining how to do just about everything and anything on YouTube. From how to snake a drain to how to build a high-performing computer, there’s a video about it.
While YouTube is awesome for that, it is also pretty limited. Most often, there is no one to message to ask questions and there are likely no resources to read or study along with. Also, you risk ads interrupting your lesson in the middle of an important step. A more straightforward and professional online offering is welcomed by many. This is evidenced alone by the massive success of online LMS like the aforementioned online education programs such as Codecademy and Drupalize.me. Now is the time to evaluate this step for your business, as well.
If you would like to discuss how our agency can help your business expand to include an online LMS, we’d love to help. Our team is passionate about enabling educators, nonprofits, and corporations the chance to grow in conjunction with the needs of our era. Contact us when you’re ready to take the next step for your business.
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