Of Spanish and American nationality and French culture, Sidney Taurel is president of the British group Pearson, the world leader in learning through educational books and online teaching.
Do you think that the health crisis and the confinements will permanently modify the world of education?
Yes. The pandemic has changed the way we work, live and learn, forcing us to find new and more efficient ways. Learning is the key to this development and to all the opportunities it creates. Proof: the speed and scale to which this learning has gone online, and the acceleration of the demand for new digital forms to learn.
In this knowledge market we now live in, the world of work is changing faster than most workers. This phenomenon creates a huge need for retraining and improvement. It is estimated that 30% of current jobs in all sectors will become obsolete by 2030 and the vast majority of the rest will be transformed by automation. Governments, employers and the wider educational community must work in partnership to address these pressing productivity and skills challenges. This is a huge gamble.
What are the size and growth potential of the global e-learning market?
The digital learning market is still in its infancy; it is estimated at only 3% of a global apprenticeship market of around 6,000 billion euros. As a global leader, Pearson is well positioned to take advantage of the huge opportunities that open up as learning becomes increasingly digital. Today, nearly three quarters of its turnover (4 billion euros in 2020) is directly or indirectly online. A shift to e-learning was already underway before the pandemic, and it has greatly accelerated the demand for quality products and services at distance and at scale. We believe that this strong trend will continue in the future.
What lessons should e-learning learn from previous confinements?
We are witnessing a quest for quality. It is increasingly recognized that the provision of large-scale online learning materials and services requires experience, investment and practice in educational science. Successful virtual learning empowers the learner to use the material at their convenience, with a flexible mix of synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous experiences, solo work, and teacher interactions.
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