The e-learning and moocs market - Italy

1.2 The global market

In **** the global e-learning market was valued at *** billion dollars. This market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (***) of **.*% to reach a size of *** billion dollars by ****. 

Global e-learning market World, ****-****, in billions of dollars Source: ****

The COVID-** pandemic has created massive potential and opportunity in this market, hence the huge predicted growth, however there are also other factors contributing to this growth:

the increased use digitalisation of society and greater use of mobile apps and social media familiarisation and adoption of blended learning technologies increased diffusion or virtual reality technologies higher Internet penetration and Internet compatibility in devices Population growth and increased standards of living and scolarisation

Europe is the biggest market for e-learning accounting for **% of the global share in **** [***].

Content providers are the biggest players in this market accounting for more than half of the market share.

E-learning market share, by type of company World, ****, in % Source: ****

The biggest global players include companies such as Aptara, Inc., Adobe Systems, Inc., Cornerstone, Citrix Education, Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Microsoft Corporation, SAP SE, NetDimensions., Oracle Corporation and others.

1.3 The Italian market

As mentioned above, Europe is the world's largest market for e-learning, accounting for **% of its share in **** for a total of ** billion buros. Italy is estimated to count for *% of the European market giving it an estimated value of * billion euros. This market has been growing at an incredibly fast pace. In fact, in **** this market was worth *** million euros [***].

E-learning market Italy, **** and ****, in millions of euros Source: ****

Despite this growth in a short period of time, the Italian market has not unlocked it's full potential and still lags behind other developed nations (***). 

E-learning for educational purposes drives and accounts for more than half of the market, followed by e-learning used by companies, public administration and other end users.

  Consumers of e-learning, by type Italy, ****, in % Source: AGCOM  

In **** the digital economy in Italy was valued at almost ** billion euros, meaning that the e-learning market, a sub-segment of the digital economy, was just a small fraction of it [***].

1.4 The Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-** pandemic and the resulting lockdowns hurt many economic sectors. Understandably, the e-learning market is one that benefited. With offices and schools closed all types of activity, instruction and work had to be done online.

As a consequence of this, from March **** until the end of the school year **% of students were able to attend ***% of classes, an increase from **% the previous year. However, due to the abruptness of the change and lack of a smooth transition period less than one in five schools were able to guarantee students all of the necessary allocated hours (***) [***].

**% of teachers stated that as a result of the pandemic their way of teaching has completely changed. The biggest methods of change were the utilisation of apps, videos as well as social networks.

New teaching methods employed by teachers because of the COVID-** pandemic Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

 **% of teachers said that the main advantage of social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok is to maintain a relationship and empathise with their students, and **% of them said they consulted the Internet to change and improve their online lessons.

The graph below represents the proportion of searches for a given keyword in a given ...

2.1 Determinants of demand

There are three major factors that are crucial to e-learning: Internet connectivity, ownership of a device, and technical competencies.

Internet connectivity

In ****, almost a quarter of Italian households did not have Internet access. This placed Italy fourth-to-last in the OECD's ranking for internet connectivity, only ahead of Greece, Mexico, and Turkey (***) [***]. 

Internet connectivity in families Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

In the same year only around half of the Italian population used the Internet daily, and around two-thirds in the three months prior.

  Internet use Italy, ****, in % Source: Istat  

Of those who don't use the Internet a majority cite a lack of skills or understanding, while almost a quarter don't believe the Internet is useful or interesting. 

  Reasons for not using internet Italy, ****, in % Devices 

In ****, over a third of Italian households didn't have a tablet or computer, while in only **% of them, every member of the family had at least one of these devices.

Possession of tablets or computers in families Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

In the South of Italy, the percentage of households that don't have a computer or tablet rises to **.*% while families that have one of these devices for each of their members is **.*%. Conversely, the proportion of ...

2.2 E-learning for educational purposes

As mentioned above, e-learning for educational purposes is the biggest segment of the e-learning market, accounting for **% of the total revenue of this market.

Before the COVID-** pandemic e-learning and the use of e-learning methods and strategies often took place directly in schools and universities, rather than at home. Therefore, it is important to analyse the connectivity and coverage rate in schools and how much and for what purposes students use the internet in schools.

Public expenditure invested in Italy per student is not very high, both in absolute values (***), while in Anglo-Saxon countries students can make extensive use of loans to cover university expenses [***].

The average age of Italian first-level graduates is **, slightly better than the OECD average, the percentage of graduates is the lowest in Europe (***) [***].

In Italy, **% of school buildings are connected to the Internet, with no substantial differences related to size, grade, and/or geographical distribution of schools.

Schools with an internet connection Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

The distribution of schools connected to a speed higher than ** Mbps is **.*% significantly lower than the percentage mentioned above. The number of building units reached by fibre in the primary network in December **** - including those belonging to the State and ...

2.3 The effects of the pandemic on opinions on e-learning

The COVID-** pandemic resulted in schools and offices shutting down. This gave way to a forced mass experiment on the use of e-learning methods. A study conducted by AlmaDiploma revealed the opinions of students on distance learning, which employed these methods. Opinions were gauged on subjects such as work loads, grading by teachers and professors, ability to follow lessons and more.

      Opinions on distance learning Italy, ****, in % Source: AlmaDiploma    

When students returned to classes after the first lockdown the Center for Social Investment Studies (***) conducted a study regarding Italy's national digital plan for schools. 

The biggest problems cited were the lack of preparedness of students and teachers as well as the lack of a centralised and unified pedagogical model.

Barriers to the National Plan for Digital Schools Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

When observing how e-learning teaching methods were employed and curricula designed to fit the circumstances a majority of schools left it up to individual teachers.

  Who decided and designed the syllabus/curriculum for distance learning Italy, ****, in % Source: Censis  

2.4 Evaluation of e-learning/distance learning by geographic macro area

As mentioned above, the pandemic gave way to an experiment for forced mass e-learning/distance learning. Schools are the biggest consumers of e-learning materials and methods. It is interesting to analyse the evaluation of distance/e-learning in schools based on four geographic macro areas of Italy:

Northeast  Northwest Centre South & Islands

The graphs below analyse questions regarding a gap in digital skills and devices between fellow students, but also teachers.

Agreement to the question: "The different levels of tech skills, connectivity and digital culture between students and teachers are an obstacle to distance learning?" Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

  Agreement to the question: "Has distance/e-learning increased the learning gap between students? Italy, ****, in % Source: Censis   As we can see, it is perceived that distance learning highly depends on tech skills, but also connectivity and digital culture within the family of students, but also that these factors increase the gap between the learning of students in e-learning situations. Additionally, the evaluation was practically the same in every area.

If other questions are analysed, such as the performance of teachers and students, consistency, and future prospects, a similar picture of homogeneity of opinions between different geographic areas arises.

  Agreement with the statement: ...

2.5 E-learning in the public administration

Public administrations are broken down in terms of national, regional, or municipal administrations. Municipal administrations and offices in Italy use e-learning systems and courses towards the training of their employees. The region in which the highest proportion of municipal offices use e-learning to train their employees is Trentino, at almost **%, while the lowest is Calabria, not even reaching **% of municipal offices.

    Share of municipal administrations that use e-learning systems to train their employees, by region Italy, ****, in % Source: Istat  

A huge discrepancy can be observed between northern and southern regions, as is the case with many other socio-econo-political phenomenons in Italy.

3.1 Production and distribution of e-learning

The world of e-learning content sees two distinct areas: 

*) E-learning production: with courses and materials produced for a greater audience. These are catalogues that companies and schools can purchase and insert into their own e-learning platforms or have their students and staff use using the producers' platform. This is the specific area of English or science courses, compulsory training, digital competencies, soft skills, managerial competencies, which are common and transversal to different organisations and sectors.

Customised e-learning production also exists with courses built on specific school or company needs, for example on products or company procedures, to quickly train sales networks dispersed across the national or international territory or all personnel.

The nature of the e-learning market is that it depends completely on internet connectivity and ownership of devices, therefore in this case territoriality is less of a factor than in other markets

There are global players such as Linkedin Learning, Ted, Moocs (***), Coursera, Edx, or platforms such as Udemy with courses that are partly free and partly paid. They operate throughout the world, however, there are more than ** companies in the Italian market, most of them very small startups, that develop e-learning courses, apps, and platforms. 

Often, however, individual ...

3.2 Different market players

Schools/universities

The first institutions to offer fully online training are American universities, notably via MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses. These courses are accessible directly on the websites of the schools/universities, or directly in private access to their students when it comes to personalized content

In Italy universities such as Luiss, Bocconi, Politecnico di Milano, Sapienza, and IULM, for example, offer online courses, allowing students to obtain a certificate of achievement and different areas. This trend has expanded due to the COVID-** pandemic.

Lower level schools (***) often have their own programs and curricula adapted to e-learning.

Training platforms

These platforms concentrate the various training courses that schools, public institutes, or private companies can offer and provide a framework for them. Moreover, they also allow you to create your own online training courses by providing tools to create your own online training courses. From this point of view, the training platforms thus make it possible to compose tailor-made training courses requested by certain players.

Private companies / Institutional bodies

In the same way as schools and universities, this category of players offers educational content for its employees or open access for anyone. They are then available via training platforms or directly on ...

3.3 Advantages & disadvantages of e-learning

Advantages

It has been calculated that e-learning allows a time saving of between **% and **% compared to normal physical lessons, which often require transfers over medium and long distances and consequent waiting time due to traffic or means of transport. Consequently, in economic terms, distance learning is also a significant advantage, since there are no costs associated with getting to a classroom. The economic savings also come from the lower enrolment costs that online courses generally guarantee compared to traditional courses, as they are not dependent on a physical location. The economic aspect is of great interest not only to the students but also to other parties such as companies, which, thanks to current technologies, can invest in staff training, thus reducing the costs normally incurred for such activities.

Another important advantage is the possibility of eliminating the classic constraints of times and days, which are inevitably required for physical training sessions. Except for special cases, which involve live lessons at specific times of the day, e-learning allows video and educational material to be provided on special platforms so that each learner can access them whenever possible. Obviously, this opens up the opportunity to follow the lessons also in one's free time, ...

4.1 Courses on offer

 In Italy, there are *** online didactic training courses on offer, twice as many as in France and four times as many as in Greece, figures which bode well and which place Italy within the European average, alongside the German offer of *** courses and the Spanish offer of ***. 

The subjects most in-demand and most taught are purely economic and scientific: IT accounts for **.*% of the supply, economics and business organisation for **%, followed by marketing and communication.

Offer of online courses, by subject area Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

 Courses on entertainment, sports, tourism, and industrial production are totally absent from the scene.

The certifications resulting from these courses are also interesting to observe. The most common certifications received are certificates of attendance.

E-learning certificates received, by type of certificate Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

Corporate training

In Italy **% of companies offer some type of e-learning training to their employees, these focus mainly on the technical professional field. **% of courses concern safety at work. This is followed by soft skills training, i.e. transversal competencies such as communication skills, autonomy, negotiation, etc (***). Foreign languages are also offered as well as sector-specific topics [***].

Below are some of the most used e-learning platforms in Italy:

G Suite for ...

4.2 Prices and production costs

The price of e-learning courses can vary enormously, from a free video to a tailor-made course ordered by a large company.

In the educational environment, when schools, colleges, and high schools integrate e-learning activities into their curricula, this does not generate additional costs for parents.

Academic environment

Concerning e-learning offered by universities and higher education institutions, the price of training courses varies according to the modalities, such as the reputation of the institution, the entry-level required to follow the training or the subjects taught. Some courses are courses lasting a few dozen hours, at the end of which a certificate is issued. Others are longer and offer diplomas similar to those obtained in face-to-face courses

For example, the FUN MOOC platform offers a certificate "From Manager to Leader or how to become agile and collaborative", whose course costs €** for * to * hours of work over * weeks

Private universities, on the other hand, offer more expensive training courses

Professional environment

Demos offers a car insurance e-learning package at €*** HT, with a duration of * hours, and another on the theme of Agricultural activity costing €*** HT and for * hours First Finance offers training courses on banking culture from €***, for ** hours and spread over * weeks

The ...

4.3 New trends in e-learning

Measurability

Training is no longer being considered unrelated to corporate objectives. The tools for evaluating it and measuring its actual impact on the business are already very important today and will become increasingly important in the coming years.

*G

*G will consolidate what is already happening with *G, i.e. reducing or even eliminating waiting times. More powerful connections lead to better online learning experiences: ready-to-use content, fast-loading videos, real-time content updates. Speed, which is already a decisive quality parameter for classic websites, will also become increasingly important for e-learning platforms.

Social learning

The use of tools facilitating the sharing of content from experts to users is increasing, providing a well-structured wealth of information delivered via technological tools. Training platforms are increasingly oriented in this direction and offer collaborative areas for sharing ideas, discussion among course colleagues, and direct communication with tutors and teachers. In addition to social learning, there is also coaching, i.e. an experienced employee who passes on his or her knowledge to less knowledgeable colleagues, as has always been the case in the classical workplace. Chats, forums, and videoconferencing tools support this kind of activity.

Virtual Reality (***)

Both of these technologies help to support 'learning ...

5.1 Regulations

The training of workers on safety and health at work through the "e-learning" methodology is regulated by the State-Regions Agreement of ** December ****. The Agreement defines the criteria and conditions that allow the use of this methodology and indicates for which courses its use is permitted. 

The State-Regions Agreement of * July **** (***), defines the training of Prevention and Protection Service Managers and Supervisors and also makes significant changes to the two **** Agreements regarding the use of e-learning.

The State-Regions Agreements of **** regarding provides and the State-Regions Agreement of * July ****, establish the validity of online safety courses carried out in e-learning mode, with regard to the training of:

Workers: * hours of General Training common to all risk categories (***); Supervisors: limited to * of the * hours (***); Managers: (***); Employers who carry out RSPP tasks: limited to * hours for low-risk companies, ** for medium risk companies, ** for high-risk companies + five-yearly update (***); RSPP and ASPP Appointed / External: limited to Module A (***).

The State-Regions Agreement of ** July **** defines the necessary requirements for e-Learning Training to be considered valid:

the hours dedicated to training must be considered as actual working time the equipment used for training must be suitable for using all the resources provided for the training course the syllabus and ...

6.1 Segmentation

• Coursera
• Dale Carnegie
• OpenClassrooms
• COORPACADEMY
• Docebo
• Preply
• E-hippocrates
• Viteco SRL
• Talento
• Mosaico E-learning