E-learning is 'a growing market'

The US market for online education is bigger than ever and will continue to grow, industry experts have suggested.

According to a forecast by Ambient Insight, by the time 2015 comes around it will have climbed to $24.2 billion (£15.2 billion), taking into account eight different buyer segments.

While the corporate market was observed to adopt such educational tools early on, associations and nongovernmental organisations now seem to be making the swap from staff training events.

Chief research officer Sam Adkins also commented on the increase in services offering tutorship in specialised areas.

"One interesting new trend is the strong demand for industry-centric web-based learning management portals preloaded with vertical content, particularly certification and licensure content," he said. "They are now generating significant revenues."

Earlier this month, TalktoCanada.com, which uses technology to teach languages, reported increased sales volumes for the first quarter of 2011 despite concerns about global budget cuts.