Introduction
Higher education industry has been constantly evolving for past two decades. It contributes to research base and creates competitive global economy by providing high skilled work force. It is basically driven by globalisation and innovation which further facilitates international collaboration, cross border exchange of ideas and culture (OECD, 2009). Students, faculty, finance, constantly growing communication and information technology are various key factors in functioning of higher education institutions. Today, education and technology are going hand in hand not only on national level but on different regional level worldwide. New advanced technology has changed the learning process and has upgraded the administrative and assessment methodologies.
This essay will shed led light on higher education industry in global and regional context. Thereafter, key market drivers, market challenges and key highlights, market trend will be presented. It is predicted that rising focus on improving quality of curriculum, content and learning process will bring sustainable growth in the higher education industry in upcoming years.
Higher education industry – Market segmentation
According to a study conducted by Research and Markets in 2018, higher education market can be segmented on the basis of various factors like software, hardware, services, regions and end user markets. This section will point out different factors which play key role in market segmentation of this industry.
1- On the basis of software and hardware: There are wide range of software like campus technology, data security, compliance, student and curriculum, performance management, content and collaboration solutions. In terms of hardware, tablets, PC, projectors, interactive white boards and printers have enabled educators and educators to grab many opportunities (Research and Markets, 2017).
2- On the basis of service: Higher education market can be segmented into consulting and advisory, implementation, and training and support services (Research and Market, 2017).
3- On the basis of end user: Furthermore, this market can be segmented basis on higher education system like private colleges, community colleges and state universities, student information system, learning management system, document management system, learning content management system and student response system (Research and Market, 2017).
4- On the basis of region: Apart from above factors, market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle-East, and Latin America. There are wide range of vendors like Cisco Systems, Inc., Blackboard, Inc., IBM, Adobe Corporation, Educomp Solutions, Desire2Learn Inc., Dell, Inc., Xerox Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Smart Technologies, Inc., Three River Systems and Panasonic Corporation. Other market players such as Hexaware Technologies, rSmart, Instructure, Inc., and Workday which are offering software, hardware and services at low cost to higher education institutions (Market and Research, 2017). They are laso focusing on innovating and deploying their technology.
Higher education in Finland and Sweden:
According to a research (Bouret, 2018) Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden are key players to achieve higher education via system expansion. These countries are massively contributing in the development of higher education system. Higher education system is the pillar of their welfare system. Higher education institutions are largely supported by state fund. Absence of tuition fee and egalitarian principles make easy accessible to all citizens. In order to preserve the integrity of high quality life and economic well-being of citizens, these countries are focusing on powerful educational policy which will help its citizens to access excellent and high-quality education. High ranking university like University of Helsinki which is also one of the oldest universities of Finland provide English-language courses to its students to stimulate international collaboration in learners. Famous Aalto University is becoming increasingly fashionable and hosts number of cultural-festivals every year. As per statistics (Times Higher Education), state spends upto 12.32% on education out of total expenses. Out of which 27.91% is contributed in the development of higher education system. There is 86.99% enrolment rate in higher education of total population of 5.495,303. Unemployment rate is around 8.68% whereas annual GDP is 2.14%. According world ranking of universities, University of Helsinki holds 90Th position whereas Aalto University is on 190th position (Times higher Education).
Current market trend and key highlights
This section deals with current market trend on higher education industry. As per a research (Research and Markets,) key players in the global higher education market are Blackboard, D2L, Dell, Ellucian, Pearson Education, and Samsung. Other vendors like Adobe Systems, BenQ, Apple, Discovery Education, Educomp, HP, Instructure, Jenzabar, Knewton, Macmillan Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, Oracle, Promethean World, Saba, Seiko Epson, SMART Technologies, and Unit4 are also increasing their prominence in the market. In addition to this, there assessments through social media platforms has increased. Higher education system is massively evolving by using technology and social media in teaching methods. Students have been participating in informal ways through social networking platforms which has become part of formative assessment. Twitter, class hashtags, instant chats have made easy access of educational resources. It has also been helping students in developing classroom communication and team building.
Global higher education industry- Market drivers
According to a research report conducted by Research and Markets in 2017, four key factors have been claimed to drive higher education market, which are as follows:
1- Increased prominence of active learning techniques: Active learning strategies has been prominently used in higher education industry these days. Author Misseyanni (2018), describes active learning as a ‘learner-centred’ approach which is used by contemporary educators. There are various practices like interactive lectures, class discussion, case study analysis, role-playing, peer teaching, flipped lessons which involves students actively, helps them to analyse the problem and reflect on solutions. This technique stimulates leadership, innovation and creativity in the learner (Misseyanni, 2018).
2- Emergence of mobile education: The persistently evolving technology has transformed human lives. In the last two decades, various smart phones have been introduced in the market and so the number of users has been increasing dramatically. Many people around the world are now relying on mobile technology to simplifying their day to day tasks. It is claimed in a research conducted by McKinsey & Company that; mobile technology will significantly change the face of education system. Any portable device like smartphones, laptop, tablet which are laced with mobile connection such as 2G,3G or 4G can be a tool to access education. The ability to access information and learn anytime anywhere has caused growing popularity across geographies. Many organisations have been using M-technology to improve learning outcomes, for example, in India and New Mexico primary schools are using game based applications to enhance listening comprehension, word recognition, sentence construction and spelling. Furthermore, it has been claimed that education spend will grow faster in Asia-Pacific at a CAGR of 54% between 2018-2020, whereas North America will remain biggest player in the market with total annual spend of USD 15 billion on M-education products and solution by 2020. In addition to this, 90% of mobile education services will rely on content enabling software and applications. It is also claimed that very M-technology will tap higher education market (McKinsey).
3- Cloud computing in higher education: Cloud computing has enabled users to access wide range of educational resources regardless location and time. Provided with internet access it allows users to share infrastructure, software, hardware or any platform at any point of time anywhere. Since flexibility is one of its feature, its users have been creasing worldwide. In higher education institutions, its users are mainly student, lecturers, administrative staff, faculty staff, developers, programmers and researchers (Akande,2015). Software as a service (SaaS) is one of the most widely used cloud-based service models by higher education institutions, for example, South African universities (Akande, 2015). It has also become one of the strategies adopted by institutions to improve agility and save the cost.
4- Advances in STEM education: Author Rodger W. Bybee (2010), has claimed that STEM education will be a business vision in 2020. There has been development in STEM education and it will be an educational priority over coming years. It prominently emphasises on literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But author further explains that STEM is dominated by Information Communication Technology (ICT) and it is increasingly used in various programs at higher educational level.
Market challenges
Since higher education market is driven by above discussed factors, there are challenges also such as implementation issues, low digital literacy, state budget shortfalls in certain region, privacy and security issues which may be pitfall for this industry. Higher education industry needs to overcome these challenges in order to persistently grow.
1- Implementation issues: There may be many issues on regional and national level in implementing these technologies. Different cultural issues, state law and regulations, availability of internet, higher tariff imposed by mobile companies for internet access in some regions across the world can play crucial role in adoption of advanced technology by big universities.
2- Low digital literacy: Digital literacy doesn’t only denote capability to use software or operate digital devices but also indicates large variety of complex skills such as cognitive, motor, sociological and emotional, required by users in order to work effectively in a digital environment (Alkalai, 2004). In a joint study conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and Deloitte Research found that 950 million Indians are facing digital literacy which is obstruction in adopting advanced technology. This may act as a hindrance in developing digital savvy country. Despite cheaper smartphones, various regional language and low internet connectivity are the key factors in low digital literacy.
3- Low state fund in certain regions: A booming economy gives rise to higher state revenue which results in increased state fund for higher education and vice versa. During economic recession state in United States in 2008, many states cut funding immediately for higher education. Despite improving revenue picture in many states, there are certain states like Colorado and Vermont which are still relatively low in funding (Baum, 2017).
4- Privacy and security issues: The increasing use of advanced technology like cloud-based application can impose threat on privacy and security. Growing cyber crime and data theft are some of the examples.
Conclusion
Global higher education industry has emerged in last twenty years. There are number of public, private institutions, ministries of education, government agencies, educational and testing companies. According to Grand View research, there has been high competition between private and public educational institutions to draw students, faculty, research funds, business partners across the world. E Learning and M Learning have been recognised as two popular learning modes. There are few higher education standard and learning regulations Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Higher Education Act of 1965, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. which play crucial role in regulating law and regulations pertaining to higher education (Grand View Research). Despite cloud-based software, hardware are promoting collaboration and connectivity, they are threats to data privacy as well. Therefore, the above-mentioned laws need to regulate in this area as well. High education cost and shrinking state fund in adopting server-based computing may be a challenge to this market. Though business alliance, different technology focused strategies, increasing student mobility across borders and constantly evolving technology could increase opportunities in this market. However, increasing number of universities worldwide could place high pressure on established universities.
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