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Industry News

UK E-Learning Sector 'Flowering'

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Dec. 7 - Sheffield, England

"The UK e-learning market 2009," a report by Learning Light, an organization that focuses on promoting the use of e-learning and learning technologies, reveals the U.K. e-learning and learning technology industry is flourishing despite the recession.

The report’s principal finding is that the U.K. e-learning industry remains robustly positive in its view of the market and the prospect for continuing growth. Using financial modeling and third party research, the report suggests that the annual size of the U.K. e-learning industry is currently between 300 and 450 million pounds U.K.; with growth rates forecast between 6.7 and 8 percent.

“Our premise that this industry is ‘flowering’ is based not just on organic growth as more companies use e-learning and learning technologies but also on other factors such as the role of marketing departments in commissioning learning materials to support customers,” commented one of the report’s authors, David Patterson. “Another key factor is the adeptness with which the U.K. e-learning industry is adopting and exploiting new media for delivering learning, such as gaming and immersive learning scenarios, leading to the eventual contextualisation and personalisation of learning being promoted by companies such as the LCMS producer, Giunti Labs.”

The report recognises that the current recession has resulted in downward price pressure on developers and vendors; while cuts in training budgets and public sector projects have also had am adverse effect. Nonetheless, Patterson and his co-authors, Glyn Jung and Gillian Broadhead, remain optimistic that the U.K.'s e-learning industry, concentrated in its two principal hubs around Sheffield and Brighton, is set to weather the economic downturn fairly.

“There is no doubt that companies will come and go – just as they did in the easier times,” said Gillian Broadhead. “We can only reflect the optimism and confidence, the innovation and enthusiasm that characterised our research findings.”

In January 2007, Learning Light commissioned a briefing paper on the e-learning market in the U.K. The subsequent report, was posted on Learning Light’s e-Learning Centre Web site and now, after two years, Learning Light felt it was time to update the report.

“An important part of the process of information gathering and interpretation for the 2009 Report has been a series of interviews with organizations engaged in the e-learning market, from micro-businesses developing innovative technologies to established major service and product suppliers in the U.K.,” said David Patterson. “Our goal has been to provide both suppliers and purchasers with an understanding of what’s possible, what’s available and where e-learning services and products are going.

“We also comment on the convergence of technologies and design techniques for business, entertainment, gaming, learning and assessment. Finally, we include some analysis of public sector procurement patterns derived from the Learning Light Market Intelligence and Tender Information Service.”

According to James Wilson, of Creativesheffield, which supported the publication of Learning Light’s report: “The global market for e-learning content is growing at a rapid rate as large and small businesses, along with educational institutions, are seeking to deliver their learning in a smarter and more cost-effective way. Much of this is enabled by advances in digital and new media applications and through the deployment of new technologies.

“The digital and new media industries in the Sheffield region are growing at a faster rate than anywhere else in the U.K. in terms of specialist companies and new jobs. This is due to the significant cluster of e-learning businesses in the city.”

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