Member Article

Brits using online learning to boost career prospects

A new ‘What Britain’s Learning’ report, issued by global online education marketplace Udemy, this weeks reveals that the UK has seen a 140% rise in online learning. In the past year, 390,000 UK students took 1.3 million courses to keep up with the pace of change in technology and working life.

Interestingly, online courses that educate how to learn to programme, build apps and games, and design websites make up 48% of all enrolments in the UK.

Jobs today are changing faster than ever - too fast for the traditional education system to keep up and adequately train the next workforce. The majority of Udemy courses taken (75%) are work related as people look to move their careers forward, either in traditional workplaces or by building their own businesses.

The report identifies the changing face of learning. Twelve of the top 20 most popular courses would not have been heard of a decade ago. As technology moves at such a fast pace, skills such as web and app development are now paramount to British businesses, but not universally taught in traditional education. People need to keep their skills up to date and in order to stay relevant, they have to keep learning long after they leave school.

It’s all about the apps. The data reveals a new age of aspiring tech entrepreneurs. Brought up on stories of tech billionaires and a diet of online gaming, mobile phone apps and social media, a generation of British people are taking steps to be part of the tech revolution. There have been more than 660,000 enrolments in technical courses to learn to programme, build apps and games, or design websites in the UK to date - which is 48% of all Udemy enrolments in the UK. Further, a quarter of Udemy users identify themselves as entrepreneurs who have started or want to start a business.

Outside of the workplace, personal wellbeing and self-improvement are high on Britain’s agenda as learners look to improve their productivity, advance their memory and improve confidence. One in 12 of the courses taken in the UK are on self-improvement or life skills including positive thinking, mindfulness and confidence-building techniques.

Dennis Yang, Udemy CEO, said: “The world of work is changing faster than ever, resulting in constant shifts in what people need to know. People are moving online to equip themselves for today’s careers as traditional education and training can no longer keep up. In the last 12 months, we have seen a 140% increase in the number of online courses being taken in the UK as more and more people look to shape their future. Students can access the courses they need on the go from any device, to immediately learn what they need. Whether people are taking job-specific courses or courses geared toward broader self-improvement, we see students continuing to seek skills to help them chart their own career paths.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Udemy .