Dive Brief:
- 2016 saw a new milestone in funding for learning technology, reports GeekWire. Research firm Metaari found that global investments in the learning technology market reached $7.3 billion, which is up from $6.5 billion in 2015. This represents a 300% increase in spending for learning technology since 2014.
- Where was this money headed? McGrane says most of it (around $4.18 billion) went to U.S. companies, based on a recent report from education tech news site EdSurge. These high marks occurred despite a decline in VC funding of U.S. learning technology startup companies.
- Another $2.06 billion went to China, and a large amount was invested in two companies: Xuele ($200 million) and Chunyu Yisheng ($183 million). GeekWire says that game-based learning is growing, but mobile learning received the highest amount of funding.
Dive Insight:
The Metaari and EdSurge reports provide needed insight into the big business of employee learning in the U.S., China and other developing nations. Most experts predict these numbers will only continue to grow as more companies demand resources for training their workforce.
The digitization of work processes, exacerbated by talent shortages, is driving the need for workplace training options. It's interesting to see the influence that Generation Y and Generation Z are having on the popularity of mobile learning and game-based learning modules.
HR departments should take note of these trends as they create internal training materials. On-demand and microlearning have most past their lifetime as 'fads' to become critical components of corporate learning.
