Higher-ed was already experimenting heavily in hybrid and completely online learning before Covid-19, with extensive investment in edtech leading development both in terms of curriculum and technology. Online and flexible learning options were already key to universities’ long-term growth strategies. 

Major pushes toward enabling ubiquitous, anywhere-anytime education were underway before the current COVID-19-driven lockdown, which has effectively brought education to a halt, closing down schools at all educational levels on a global level. Now the promise - and challenges - of virtual education are top of mind as educators and academic institutions look to the future to ensure that education continues both in the face of crisis and beyond.

Recent years have seen the creation and adoption of completely online university degree programs and free and low-cost e-learning programs, platforms and apps that help people do everything from building a marketing plan to learning a new language. Fueling this growth were investments of almost 19 billion USD in 2019 in the edtech industry, which was projected to increase to 350 billion USD by 2025.

In the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, many things have changed - suddenly. We have seen unprecedented disruption to business, and daily life change in unpredictable, and tragic, ways for most of the world’s population. While the consequences of the virus continue to unfold, their far-reaching effects are undeniable.