During the current coronavirus pandemic, when people are being asked to limit their social contact as much as possible, online courses are a safe alternative for education and training. Is it interesting to the population, in which countries the process is gaining momentum, which age groups are active - these and other questions Eurostat officials.
The survey affected citizens of the European Union aged 16 to 74 years. Eight percent of those surveyed said they took online courses in the last three months of 2019. This is 1% more than in the same period in 2017 and twice as much as in 2010.
Among the EU member states, the Scandinavian countries Finland and Sweden stood out. In 2019, over the past 3 months, 21% of people aged 16 to 74 took online courses in Finland, in Sweden this share was 18%. They were followed by Spain (15%), Estonia (14%), Ireland and the Netherlands (13% each). The Young Europeans are at the opposite extreme: in Bulgaria, 2% of respondents used online courses, in Romania - 3%, in Latvia - 4% (data for each EU country, see the table above).
In the vast majority of EU member states, the proportion of people taking online courses has increased, while remaining stable in others. Between 2017 and 2019 Ireland experienced the sharpest growth, from 4% in 2017 to 13% in 2019 (+9%). The proportion of people taking online courses also increased strongly in Malta (+6%) and Finland (+5%).
An analysis of online course attendance across age groups found that young adults aged 16 to 24 generally attend online courses more frequently than adults. So, in 2019, 13% of young people reported taking online courses in the last 3 months. Older people - between the ages of 25 and 64 - attended online courses less frequently. This was reported by only 9% of the respondents. Among older people (65 to 74 years old), only 1% took online courses.
Even more differences between age groups are observed in terms of face-to-face communication during online learning. 28% of young people (from 16 to 24 years old) reported communicating with instructors/students. In the age group from 25 to 64 years old, only 7% of those taking online training needed an instructor/student. For seniors, all online courses were instructor-led.
It will be interesting to know the statistics of online courses for this year. Self-isolation favored this area of ββeducation, but ordinary human laziness is still an obstacle.
Source: 3dnews.ru