Top e-learning trends for 2024

Our dive into some of the top e-learning trends for 2024 and beyond.

E-learning is all about continuous improvement. That means staying open to the potential of new developments and new technologies so that you can benefit from them. And that’s why it can be valuable to keep an eye on e-learning trends.

In this article, we’re going to look at some of the top e-learning trends for 2024 that our team have spotted emerging or expect to appear on the horizon very soon.

Let’s see what you can expect to emerge in e-learning.

Getting more from an LMS

For some organisations, having an LMS has been a tick-box exercise. With belts tightening and budgets coming under closer scrutiny, there’s a definite move towards maximising the value of an LMS. 

That might mean starting to leverage the power that’s always been in the LMS to get more from it. Alternatively, it could mean taking a more focused approach to measuring return on investment.

Using AI in e-learning

AI is an important trend across the board for 2024, and e-learning is no exception. The major platforms and players are remaining somewhat circumspect at the moment; waiting for a clear direction of travel as to what AI means for the learning world.

While those macro decisions will perhaps become clearer as we get further into 2024, AI is already impacting e-learning on a micro level. Things like AI course building, image creation and process automation are already helping L&D departments to save time and resources. This will continue over the next year.

Accessible content

Accessibility is a significant e-learning trend, not least because the European Accessibility Act is now law in all EU member states. This is likely to set a new minimum legal requirement for products and services.

While LMS platforms like Moodle and Totara already have high accessibility standards in place, we’re expecting the most challenging aspect of the new law to be around content. Does the learning content itself maintain good accessibility standards? We predict a move towards LMS architecture that makes it easy for courses and content to conform to accessibility standards.

LMS as a staff retention tool

Employers are finding it increasingly difficult to fill employment roles. We’ve already seen evidence of e-learning being used to face this challenge, and we expect that to grow in 2024. This will be apparent in a continuing move towards skills-based rather than role-specific learning. The purpose is to give greater flexibility in career paths so that an employee can perform whatever role is needed. This closes both individual and organisational skills gaps, and gives organisations the agility to quickly adapt to changing market conditions.

More comprehensive onboarding experiences, greater support for personal and professional development, and more personalisation of learning will all be used to lower staff turnover. 

More interactive content

Many of the top e-learning platforms, including Totara, are in the process of creating native support for H5P activity content. This is going to increase the ease with which organisations can incorporate interactive content into their learning.

It’s already a no-brainer from a learning experience and learning outcomes perspective, so the moves towards making H5P easier and quicker to implement mean it’s likely to become even more widespread in 2024.

Goal-focused learning

We’re expecting to see action learning emerge as a strong trend in 2024. This is when a group of learners are brought together to solve real business challenges or goals together. They learn and develop through the process of collaboration, questioning, coaching conversations, reflection and problem-solving that entails.

This increases engagement among learners but also has the potential to drive better outcomes from e-learning for organisations. As more organisations spot the potential of action learning, we think it will be widely adopted.

What are your e-learning trends for 2024?

If you’d like to talk to us about any of those trends, or if you’ve got very specific goals you want your e-learning to achieve in 2024, just fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch soon.

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