The global e-learning market was valued at $101 billion in 2019. Predominantly due to the pandemic and partly because of its ease of use and flexibility, e-learning will be a market worth $167.5 by 2026. Some sub-sectors in the online e-learning space include learning management systems, mobile e-learning, rapid e-learning, and virtual classrooms.
As helpful as online learning is, it also comes with a slight downside. There’s a wide range of courses, certificates, diplomas, and degrees available, which are spread across a multitude of websites and platforms.
The mere expanse of the choices available makes it difficult for learners to find suitable learning material for their needs. Fortunately, the tech world has made significant leaps in the online search department.
Google is no longer your last resort. You can now use metasearch sites to see data from multiple sites and course providers in a unified space. Let’s learn more about the benefits of metasearch sites for online education.
Overview of Metasearch Sites
In simple terms, a metasearch site or search engine is a tool that gathers results from several search engines to show you all relevant results in the same place. These sites are quite common in the hotel and tourism industry.
If you’ve ever used Booking.com to find hotels for your annual family trip, you’ve had an experience with a metasearch site. Other examples of such sites in the tourism industry are Expedia and Hotwire.
The same is true for Bestbuy.com. Let’s say you need a new pair of headphones. Instead of going to every manufacturer’s website individually, you simply search for headphones on Best Buy, and it shows you results from different websites.
Using Metasearch Sites in Online Education
Just as tourists and gadget buyers can use metasearch sites for easier and more streamlined shopping, online learners can also use similar platforms to find courses easily. An education-related metasearch site, such as Elektev, lets online learners navigate through multiple courses from different providers with a single search.
Don’t confuse metasearch sites with educational sites, though. These sites do not provide courses or certificates. They merely connect you to websites that do.
Here’s an example of how you’d use such a search engine. Let’s say you want to look for project management courses.
- Search ─ Type the term ‘’project management courses’’ on an educational metasearch site.
- Scan ─ You’ll see an array of project management courses from different providers, like Google, IBM, the University of California, Microsoft, etc.
- Filter ─ Many metasearch sites also allow you to filter courses based on perimeters like price, expertise level, reviews from past learners, duration, complexity, and specialization levels.
When you choose a course from the results, you will be directed to the provider’s website. Then, you can enroll in the program and complete your online education accordingly.
Benefits of Metasearch Sites in Online Education
As online education opportunities and interest grows, it’s important for learners to have easy access to the learning material. Metasearch sites help do just that. Here are some other benefits of these search engines.
Customized Search
Google is the supreme answerer of questions, and not many will argue with this. However, it’s an extensive resource, which can often make finding the right course overwhelmingly daunting.
On the other hand, a metasearch engine allows customized research. It is only dedicated to a specific niche, such as education or hospitality. So, the results you see are catered to your needs, rather than a mush of every website that mentions the keyword you’ve used as the search term.
Moreover, you can filter the results in metasearch sites. For example, an education metasearch site would let you filter courses or certificates by their duration and other factors. By specifying your needs, you’ll have a better chance of finding a best-fit course.
Time-Saving
Gone are the days when you’d have to sit in front of your computer and search for a good hour or so to find a relevant course. Let us present two scenarios.
In scenario A, you go to a search engine of your choice and search for ‘’project management courses.’’ The results show you a plethora of websites where such courses may be available. You scour these websites individually, further checking out each course. That’s an approximate hundred or so clicks.
In scenario B, you go to a metasearch engine. You type in ‘’project management’’ and see all available courses on different websites. Since you can filter results based on your preferences, you get a curated selection of courses to choose from. So, you can find the certificate or course you need — all under ten clicks.
Which of these two sounds better? The latter, right?
Course Comparison
Since metasearch sites have details of all courses they display, you can compare each learning opportunity. For instance, you can see the educator, course content, duration, and student reviews. Then, you can decide which course you want to take based on these comparison factors.
Use Cases of Metasearch Sites in Online Education
Metasearch sites have two primary use cases in online education. The first is quite obvious; course selection.
Besides, these search engines also let researchers and interested learners see the latest trends in a particular field of study. Let’s say you want to transition to a new career in tech but don’t really know which tech fields are in demand right now.
An educational metasearch site can be quite helpful in this regard. By checking which courses are more commonly taken, you can gauge a lot of information about current trends. Or, you can enroll in these courses and get an insight into your preferred field of study through the instructors and their lived experiences in the relevant industry.
Conclusion
Online education has leveled the playing field for everyone, giving people from different social and economic backgrounds to partake in the learning experience, which was previously often limited to the wealthy and privileged. Today, our problem is not the scarcity of resources but their excess.
While that’s not a concerning ‘’problem’’ at all, it definitely makes the course selection process a bit tricky. That’s where metasearch sites come in to save the day. They provide customized search opportunities, letting learners find and select courses based on their preferences and educational backgrounds.
Think of them as your assistants in an online knowledge marketplace. You no longer have to go through multiple aisles in search of the course you need. Instead, the metasearch engine simply points you in the right direction, saving you time and hassle.
