The world of commerce has made a major shift to online platforms. Online businesses are booming and they have shifted their attention to online education. This has put tremendous pressure on educational institutions to make adjustments and also provide their services online.
It is stiff competition because companies who have been into online businesses for a while know the ropes, but educational institutions know how to present content.
Not relying on public funding as much
Higher education institutes have started to realize that if they are to stay competitive and bring quality education to the public, they have to start going private. Educational institutions with employees with a Six Sigma Certification are in the pound seats because these employees can address the problems of the institution and come up with solutions.
The major problem is that public funding is not going to cut it anymore. If they are to gather private funds, they also have to listen to those who provide the funds, alter their courses, offer new ones, and apply their educational skills to a new model. Where higher education used to be a driver for national trends, they have now become the institutions that offer what the people want.
Learning from other industries
The education industry has some time to prepare and take advantage of the shift and development of ICT. Industries like the media industry and music industry were caught off guard and had to learn some tough lessons. In some cases, ICT was devastating to the industry. Higher education has the opportunity to expand its reach and do what it does best - research.
By considering the current global trends, educational institutes can leverage Web 2.0 solutions and create borderless, virtual classrooms founded on pedagogical principles and produce phenomenal courses and opportunities for the masses. In making a move to the online realm, educational institutions can reduce their costs as traditional offline solutions tend to be more expensive.
Start doing business
In many parts of the world, educational institutions are seen as old and outdated. These institutions have started to rebrand themselves and have taken steps to enhance their prestige. Instead of having online businesses infiltrate the education sector, they have started turning the tables and infiltrated the online business realm by providing their services.
Content and course creators are in high demand because although anyone can design an online course, not everyone will do a very good job of it. Educational institutions, therefore, have begun offering their services to large companies to create their training material and courses.
Entrepreneurial mindset
Educational institutions have also made a shift from being only academically focused to being entrepreneurially focused. They say that necessity is the mother of invention and educational institutions have taken great steps to innovate education and take advantage of the online realm.
Not only do they develop online courses and content, but they also improve on current practices. Some institutions have invested millions of dollars in educational management systems and have risen the benchmark in content delivery systems.
Greater alliances
In the past, educational institutions kept to themselves and competed with other institutions. Everyone wanted to rank higher as the next, but those ranks are now obsolete because there is a new standard.
Today, many great educational institutions work together and have started to place a higher value on collaboration and co-creation. They have also started to pool their resources and invested time in developing and integrating Web 2.0 to develop new learning processes and infrastructures.