The pandemic we are going through will have changed many of the habits that we took for granted. Among these habits, the way we work has definitely taken an unexpected turn with the explosion of telecommuting and distance learning, thus minimizing the risk of contagion.

From the beginning of the confinement, when any return to work was impossible, most of the world turned to television or social networks, drinking in series, movies, or social networks. Taking advantage of this free space and eventually of specific subsidies allocated to training. More and more people took advantage of the pandemic to develop their skills and know-how and even to launch new challenges by training themselves, mostly at a distance from their homes.

Most of them were discovering this type of training for the first time, and statistics show that a majority of them were satisfied by this experience. This is certainly not a coincidence, as some studies suggest that online training increases knowledge retention by 25-60% and reduces learning time by 60% compared to in-person instruction.

In terms of the mode of education, students had no choice but to jump on board and were forced to switch from face-to-face instruction to distance learning overnight. At this stage of the pandemic, e-learning providers had only one goal in mind, to stand out from the competition with efficient online learning and unmatched quality. These were taken by storm to overcome the new challenges facing education. While most schools today have returned to face-to-face classes, many subjects have remained in e-learning format, especially in higher education.

Companies have had to face this same challenge to the extent that it has been possible. In order to keep productivity unaffected, it was necessary to train the remote staff on this new way of working. E-learning was the right solution to face the different obstacles and challenges in business continuity. Today, we still have 26% of French active workers who work remotely on a regular basis, for a duration of 3.6 days per week, while the pandemic is starting to fade away. Another interesting fact is that 86% of those who have worked remotely would like to continue this new way of working because of its many advantages (travel time and lower costs among others).

Ultimately, the pandemic has allowed e-learning to flourish, and has provided unparalleled opportunities for e-learning platforms to innovate and iterate their offerings in the face of growing demand. Some platforms have offered free trials, allowing new users to discover the benefits of e-learning when they were locked away at home or unable to work. While some are skeptical about the longevity of this dramatic increase in demand, it is highly likely that distance learning will see its market share continue to grow in the years to come.

R. Frisch, web editor