Pandemic pivot: demands for online education evolve during a global lockdown
There has been a big shift in what visitors to Tuts+ want to learn about since the start of the pandemic.
By David Scott
A new generation of online students is on the hunt for the skills they need to adapt their abilities during a global pandemic, according to new data released by Envato Tuts+ today.
Converting PowerPoint slides to video, mastering the art of video conferencing, or setting up remote desktop access are just a few of the topics that have been trending over the last month.
Even non-technical skills are highly sought after, with many of the drawing and illustration resources on Tuts+ seeing a spike in interest, as are business guides that assist learners with managing their budgets.
Envato Tuts+ is a leader in online education for designers, developers and digital creatives. It provides more than 26,000 free tutorials and nearly 1300 video courses to learners around the world, covering everything from design and illustration to web development, coding, photography, video production and business studies.
The site has served more than 519 million learners over the last ten years, with more than 1.3 billion page views of its content and counting.
According to Tuts+ Manager Matthew Cox, there has been a shift in what visitors to the site want to learn about. “Clearly the demands of working remotely have changed how people do their jobs, and for many, that has meant they need to level up their technical skills in a range of areas. We’ve seen incredibly strong demand for course and tutorial content that covers video presentations and webinar tips, as well as pretty much any content that is aimed at helping you share your work more easily with large audiences.”
Google search trends support this view: searches for “Learn to Draw” have peaked at the end of March, while “Video Conferencing” has seen an equivalent spike.
Some of the business-related tutorials and courses on Tuts+ that have seen a significant increase in sessions (to the end of March) since lock-down conditions were imposed across the world include:
- How To Create And Host A Webinar For Free Using Google Hangouts (320% increase)
“People are also clearly looking to master new soft skills, whether it’s for hobbies or side hustles” notes Cox, “as this trend in educational content consumption has also included many of our more creative tutorials.” These have included:
- How To Knit A Step By Step Tutorial For Beginners (177% increase)
Customer Group General Manager David Brice said that Envato would continue to develop educational content that meets the changing needs of creatives and developers. “Since the early days of Envato we’ve been committed to helping people learn and earn online.”
“As the global workforce shifts to being even more remote-friendly, we will continue to do whatever we can to provide helpful and compelling materials that help everyone complete their work or hobby projects faster than ever before.”
