What are the Main Trends in Online Learning? - A Helicopter View of Possible Futures

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran

COVID-19 crisis intensifies attention on online learning and raises questions about its main trends and possible futures. The paper uses a helicopter, big-picture approach while correcting pandemic-era tendencies to overlook the field’s rich history. It argues that defining online learning is difficult, with widespread inconsistencies in terminology, then applies a multifocal perspective to identify seven macro-level trends and examine how they shape a wider digital education ecosystem.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

What is already known about this topic

What this paper contributes

Implications for theory, practice and/or policy

Introduction

The Definition Problem

What are the Main Trends in Online Learning? A Helicopter View of Possible Futures Mark Brown Abstract: The COVID-19 crisis has given rise to the question, what are the main trends in online learning? What might the future look like? While predicting the future is best left to those who appear to have a crystal ball, the need for big picture helicopter thinking has never been more apparent as online learning remains under the spotlight. This paper responds to this challenge and the tendency to overlook the field’s rich history during the pandemic. It establishes that defining online learning is not a straightforward task, and there are widespread differences in using the term. A multifocal perspective is then adopted to identify seven macro-level trends, which help frame the analysis and enable the discussion to zoom in and out from different angles and viewpoints. The discussion covers much ground and draws on a wide range of literature to illustrate how the digital education ecosystem is simultaneously converging, getting larger in scale, more open and closed, and is growing in diversity. Inherent tensions across these contradictory trends, along with concerns about the growth , influence and sustainability of the EdTech industry, demonstrate how online learning is part of a wider social practice. Thus, the trend analysis endeavours to balance the language of opportunity with the need for deeper criticality. Woven throughout the paper is the spirit of hope and the crucial role that educators play in helping to shape and reshape possible, probable, and preferred futures. Keywords: Online learning, major trends, big picture, covid-19, social practice. Highlights What is already known about this topic: • Online learning is under the spotlight. • There is already a rich history of literature . • Much of this literature was overlooked during the pandemic . What this paper contributes: • Seven macro-level future trends. • Key tensions and contradictions between major trends . • The importance of a wide-angle multifocal perspective. • How online learning is part of a wider digital education ecosystem. • A reminder that online learning must be seen as part of a wider social practice • The importance of steering a path between the language of opportunity and the need for deeper criticality. Implications for theory, practice and/or policy: • Defining key terms and choice of language is important • Planning for online learning needs to consider wider social practice. • The rise of ‘Big EdTech’ is both an opportunity and threat to the current education system. • Growing environmental concerns need to be taken seriously in supporting ‘Green EdTech’. • Educators play a crucial role in mediating and shaping how online learning is understood and applied in practice. • A hopeful spirit with a critical lens is essential to finding ways that online learning can solve real problems and contribute to preferred futures. Introduction While the COVID-19 pandemic has been a game-changer for online learning on several levels, the field has a long and rich history. This history and established best practices and theories have not always featured in our response to the pandemic (Shearer, 2021) . A recent analysis, for example, illustrateshow the pre-existing literature on student readiness for online learning (Joosten & Cusatis, 2020) is largely absent from pandemic-related publications ( Brown et al. , 2021b) . There is even a risk of undoing what is already known and losing sight of the longer-term horizon as we get caught up in the current wave of special issue journals with a COVID focus. This paper seeks to address this concern by reporting a helicopter analysis of the main trends in online learning with an eye on the post-COVID future but anchored in lessons from history. In sharing this bigger picture analysis, the intention is to connect the past with the present and shape the future direction o

FAQs

What challenge does the paper identify regarding online learning terminology?

Defining online learning is not straightforward, and there are widespread differences in how the term is used.

How does the paper analyze future trends in online learning?

It adopts a multifocal perspective and identifies seven macro-level trends to frame analysis from multiple angles.

Why does the paper emphasize a post-COVID future anchored in lessons from history?

It seeks to connect past and present, avoid losing sight of longer-term horizons, and address pandemic publishing that overlooks existing literature.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran