|
New Way of
Learning
In a SunTrust Equitable
Securities report, titled e-Learning and Knowledge Technology,
Richard C. Close, Rob Humphrys, and Brian W. Ruttenbur explain how
important e-Learning will become:
Technology is
increasingly changing our lives. First, it was the emergence of
the desktop computer, now it is the Internet. It enables the
ordinary person to have access to never-ending quantities of
information and knowledge. Technology and the Internet empower
individuals and facilitate a more active role in the educational
process. As previously mentioned, the Internet has transformed the
way people shop (B2C) and the manner in which businesses conduct
transactions with each other (B2B). Over the last several months,
we have seen the evolution of a third area that we believe can
have the most significant impact on all our lives. The e-Learning
sector is just beginning to emerge. Just as the Internet has
transformed the retail market, we remain confident that it will
also transform the education and knowledge markets. As stated in a
New York Times article summarizing John Chambers' (CEO
Cisco Systems) comments at 1999's COMDEX Conference, "The
next big killer application for the Internet is going to be
education. Education over the Internet is going to be so big it is
going to make e-mail look like a rounding error." As
more individuals become connected, the Internet will penetrate
deeper into our everyday activities, including the way we learn.
The Internet has the
ability to level the learning playing field. Whether it is a high
school student seeking assistance with a geometry question or a
father at home in Iowa who wants to get an MBA from Duke
University’s Fuqua School of Management's distance education
program. Individuals now have the power to learn on their own time
and at their own pace. E-learning technologies allow for the
real-time performance, thus enabling individuals to spend time on
their deficiencies rather than spending time on areas that they
have already mastered. Not only will e-learning improve the
achievement of students from kindergarten to high school, but also
the productivity of Corporate America's workforce. We believe that
the e-learning market will realize substantial growth over the
next five to ten years. Moreover, we believe that as bandwidth,
video, and voice technology continue to improve, the demand for
e-learning products and services will grow exponentially.
SunTrust Equitable also
points out that the trends indicate there is no stopping the new
e-Learning and knowledge markets.
IDC projects that a
substantial percentage of the U.S. population will be active
Internet users. Notably, IDC also forecasts nearly 60% of
the U.S. population will actively use the Internet by 2003, up
from just 15% in 1996. Although the rate of growth of
individuals online is expected to stabilize somewhat, the actual
numbers of individuals expected to become connected remains
impressive.
In 1996, there were an estimated
38 million individuals connected to the Internet. By 1998, the
number of users increased to 82 million, growth of 116% over two
years. IDC forecasts that the Internet population will grow to 158
million by 2003. The 23% compound annual growth rate in users from
1996 to 2003 is significant. Again, although the rate of growth in
users should experience some deceleration, we believe that the
time spent online per individual will expand. Based on a greater
amount of time spent online, we remain confident that the growth
in e-commerce revenue can meet current projections. The growth in users and the amount of time
spent online is favorable for emerging areas such as the
e-learning and knowledge markets.
There is no stopping the
revolution. The number of
daily activities impacted by the Internet will continue to rise.
However, as more individuals connect and become accustomed to the
benefits created by the Internet, its presence will become
commonplace. Therefore, the e-learning experience will be second
nature to the growing Internet population.
|
