Entrepreneur Press - Start Your Own eLearning or Training Business: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success

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ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-318-5

Contents

E urope and the United States have embraced correspondence education since the mid-19th century. Women in particular were encouraged to study at home. An online article (untitled) on the history of distance learning by the Interactive Media Lab/University of Florida, says that by the early 20th century along with the delivery of educational materials through the postal service came instructional radio. While getting an education via radio never quite caught on, digital applications at the other end of that centurywhat we know as eLearninghas become the next dimension of distance learning. Not only is it a success by any measure, the industry is still in its infancy making it a perfect entrepreneurial opportunity.

In Start Your Own eLearning and Training Business, we show you how to become part of that success story and that upward trajectory. And the story has many chaptersbeing involved with eLearning can range from teaching your own classes via the internet, putting together an online learning program, or being in the behind-the-scenes part of the industry working with the platforms that make remote education possible. You can train military personnel, children, the corporate workforce, or the individual looking for personal enrichment. As usual in entrepreneurship, the world is your oyster!

The junction where great technological advancements meet innovative educators and groundbreaking insights into learning psychology is where distance learning is today. And that means while wide open and potentially lucrative, like any startup business, starting your own eLearning business is not for the faint of heart. The distance learning professionals interviewed for this book stressed the importance of defining your top-quality product and competitive edge against thinly built products that are looking to jump onto the crowded online education bus. With easy access to setting up a business structure and a do-it-yourself website, the internet is teeming with people who want to be in the distance learning business.

But despite being crowded, this is a fast-paced marketplace; for those who have exciting ideas, there is a rich field of opportunity with talented people who can help you, fund you, inspire you, and mentor you. And students of life are awaiting the next development in this industry, rapidly consuming all of what is offered to them. Its clear that eLearning methods are holding their own and even dominating some areas of traditional education, such as in retention levels with self-paced learning.

As with an entrepreneurial startup that has a strong work-from-home or at least work independently slant, the eLearning world has become increasingly sophisticated in reaching out to a widespread community and providing opportunities for comradery and collegial interaction with others in the industry. For example, the United States Distance Learning Association offers a conference and comprehensive website where support and information through membership can enhance any online educators experience. They claim to focus on being working professionals not educational theoristsreal-world solutions opposed to educational jargon. This is a community where, they say, the college professor is open to the potential of learning something from the elementary school teacher.

Widespread internet use has proven that we can get and give information as quickly as we think of it. Rapid ascent of the use of mobile devices has replaced much of the stationary exchange of global information to add a whole new element to instant learningroving education is now a trend! Although it may seem almost impossible to keep up with the latest in this ever-changing industry, what you, the potential eLearning entrepreneur, need to focus on is thoughtful, quality development of distance education and how to offer it to the right audiences via the best medium at the moment.

A maturing industry offers some perspective and opportunity to analyze where we have been and where we should go. Innovators are changing the way we think about eLearning by bringing decades-long ideas to fruition with timing that strikes while technology is hot, and delivering them to an audience that is ready to devour the best that comes along. Use the industry tools mentioned throughout this book to keep abreast of the next new thing and jump on board when the time is right for your product and the learners you have chosen to target. Dont let the rapid-changing technology scare youadapt or not, and as quickly or slowly as your market seems to respond. After all, despite the saturation of electronic devices through almost all demographics, pencils and paper are still made and sold! A solid foundational tool will outlast fads and trends.