Global Trends in Learner Behavior

This analysis is based on the OECD report titled "Trends in Adult Learning: New Data from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills." The report reveals a concerning trend of stagnation or decline in adult learning participation across most OECD countries, despite its critical role in economic and technological adaptation. While participation varies widely, there's a general downward trend that poses risks to skill maintenance and development. Key Findings Participation is Stagnating and Unequal: On average, 40% of adults in OECD countries participate in learning annually, but this has been falling in many nations. While gaps between socio-demographic groups are narrowing, it is often due to declining participation among traditionally high-participation groups (like men and the highly educated) rather than increased participation from disadvantaged groups. Dominance of Short, Compliance-Based Training: Non-formal, job-related training (37% participation) is far more common than formal education programs (8% participation). A large portion of this training is brief, often lasting a day or less, and it is frequently focused on compliance topics like health and safety rather than substantive upskilling. Barriers to Learning Persist: About half of all adults neither participated in nor wanted to participate in learning. For those who did want to learn, the most significant barriers are a lack of time due to work or family commitments and cost. The Critical Role of Employers: The workplace is the primary setting for adult learning, with most training occurring during paid work hours. Consequently, employer support is one of the strongest predictors of participation. The report concludes that current adult learning systems are frequently reactive and fragmented, highlighting the need for a policy shift. It urges a "paradigm shift" toward all-encompassing approaches that incorporate financing, adaptable delivery methods (such as micro-credentials), and robust employer involvement to guarantee that opportunities for lifelong learning are available and efficient for everyone.

The international student mobility landscape is undergoing one of the biggest transformations we have seen in recent years. For decades, destinations such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia dominated international student recruitment. However, changing immigration policies, rising tuition fees, increasing living costs, visa uncertainties, and evolving student expectations are reshaping the global education market. At the same time, Europe and Asia-Pacific are emerging as strong growth regions, attracting students through competitive tuition fees, scholarship opportunities, expanding university capacity, post-study work options, and lower overall living expenses. What is particularly interesting is how student behaviour has changed. Today’s students are no longer making decisions based solely on university rankings or destination prestige. They are asking more practical questions: • What is the total return on investment? • What are the graduate employment prospects? • How much scholarship support is available? • Is the visa process stable and predictable? • What are the long-term residency and career opportunities? • How affordable is the destination compared to alternatives? Recent industry reports also indicate that students are increasingly considering emerging destinations and transnational education pathways rather than focusing exclusively on traditional markets. Another major trend is the growing influence of employability. Universities that can clearly demonstrate strong graduate outcomes, industry partnerships, internships, and career support services are gaining a competitive advantage in attracting international students. Technology is also playing a larger role than ever before. Students now compare destinations, universities, visa policies, graduate salaries, accommodation costs, and student experiences within minutes through digital platforms and social media. This means transparency and authentic student outcomes matter more than marketing claims. With global international student numbers projected to reach approximately 8.5 million by 2030, the opportunities for universities, education providers, and recruitment partners remain significant. However, success will increasingly depend on understanding changing student priorities rather than relying on historical reputation alone. The future of international education belongs to institutions and destinations that can deliver affordability, employability, student support, and a clear pathway to career success. The question is no longer where students used to go. The question is where students see the greatest value for their future. #InternationalEducation #StudyAbroad #StudentMobility #HigherEducation #GlobalEducation #InternationalStudents #EducationConsultants #StudentRecruitment #UniversityAdmissions #FutureOfEducation

📘 What drives learning in the workplace? A new systematic review (Journal of Workplace Learning, 2025) examines 73 studies (2012–2022) to understand the antecedents — individual and contextual factors — that foster or hinder workplace learning. 👉See: https://lnkd.in/dNFuFfPT 🔑 Why it matters ▪️Learning “on the job” is increasingly vital as digitalisation, hybrid work, and job volatility reshape how people acquire skills. ▪️Formal training alone can’t keep pace — continuous workplace learning is now essential for employability, adaptability, and innovation. ▪️For VET systems, it reinforces the need to connect learning environments with real work processes, ensuring skills remain relevant and evolving. 🧭 Key Themes & Insights: 1️⃣ Individual factors: the learner matters 🎯 Motivation & self-efficacy are top drivers — employees with high learning orientation and confidence engage more in feedback-seeking and self-regulated learning. 🎓 Education level predicts participation: higher-educated workers learn more through reflection and knowledge sharing. 👶 Career stage shapes learning: engagement peaks mid-career, declining near retirement — signalling a need for stage-specific learning strategies. 👩💼 Gender nuances: women engage more in feedback-based learning; men more in self-directed forms. 2️⃣ Contextual factors: the organisation matters 🧩 Job design: task complexity and autonomy fuel learning; repetitive work and information overload suppress it. 🤝 Leadership & learning culture: supportive, feedback-oriented leadership is the strongest enabler. 🕐 Time & psychological safety: employees learn best where they can make mistakes without fear. 💬 Knowledge sharing & peer support: collaborative climates foster informal, continuous learning. 🧭 HR systems: transparent appraisals, coaching, and career planning enhance engagement, though many firms underuse them. 3️⃣ Emerging trends 💻 Digital tools and hybrid work are reshaping learning behaviours — enabling flexible, real-time knowledge exchange. 🌍 Labour market context matters: Scandinavian models offer richer workplace learning ecosystems than more centralised systems. 💡 Takeaways for Education & VET ▪️Build learning-rich workplaces where skills evolve daily, not just in classrooms. ▪️Integrate workplace learning into vocational curricula and apprenticeships — it’s where employability truly grows. ▪️Foster leadership for learning and psychological safety as key competencies in organisations. ▪️Use digital tools wisely to support—not replace—human interaction and reflection. 👉 Workplace learning is the bridge between education and innovation, competence and competitiveness. We need to design systems that make every job a learning opportunity. 🌱 #WorkplaceLearning #VET #LifelongLearning #SkillsDevelopment EU Employment and Skills Cedefop Eurofound European Training Foundation OECD Education and Skills

The next wave in international education is not being defined by “easy options,” but by what students truly want. Today’s learners are more discerning, more informed, and more realistic. They don’t want shortcuts. They want clarity, purpose, and outcomes. Yet, many students are confused about what they want and where they should go. This uncertainty isn’t just about choosing a university - it’s about navigating a rapidly shifting ecosystem shaped by policy changes, geopolitical shifts, and evolving global opportunities. The result? Students are exploring multiple options, and they are doing so with a level of skepticism that didn’t exist before. This is a transformation phase for the education industry. Counselors and education partners now have a critical role to play. The first step is clarity. Counselors need it, so they can impart it. Students need confidence right now, not later. The ability to guide them with certainty and context will define who wins in 2026. Another key trend is that the industry is moving beyond the traditional “Big 4” destinations. While these markets remain important, students are exploring a wider set of destinations and pathways. And even the students who still choose the Big 4 need genuine guidance - not assumptions. For institutions and partners, maintaining university partnerships and consistent communication is more important than ever. This slowdown is not permanent; it is a phase. Staying connected, staying informed, and staying agile will determine who emerges stronger. Because in 2026, education will no longer be traditional. It will be strategic, personalized, and outcome-driven.

We're witnessing the most significant transformation in learning since the industrial revolution. Automation will reshape 85% of jobs by 2025, creating a seismic shift in how we define professional competence. Here are the 10 key trends I think will reshape learning: 1. Continuous Skill Evolution: Traditional degrees are becoming stepping stones rather than final destinations. Professional relevance will demand constant skill updates across all career stages. 2. Inquiry-Driven Intelligence: Critical thinking and question-formulation skills will outweigh traditional metrics of intelligence. The ability to navigate complexity will become more valuable than storing information. 3. Experiential Learning Integration: Immersive technologies will bridge theory and practice. Simulation-based learning will become standard across industries, accelerating skill acquisition. 4. AI-Enhanced Personalization: Machine learning algorithms will revolutionize feedback mechanisms, offering real-time, personalized learning pathways based on individual performance patterns. 5. Global Collaborative Networks: Geographic barriers will dissolve in learning environments. Cross-cultural knowledge exchange will become integral to professional development. 6. Applied Knowledge Focus: The gap between learning and implementation will shrink dramatically. Real-world application will be embedded in the learning process. 7. Data-Driven Learning Design: Analytics will optimize learning pathways, creating efficient, personalized routes to mastery based on cognitive patterns and learning preferences. 8. Engagement-Optimized Content: Neuroscience insights will inform content design, maximizing retention through strategic emotional engagement and cognitive load management. 9. Micro-Credential Evolution: Traditional certifications will give way to granular skill validation, allowing for more agile career progression and skill demonstration. 10. Iterative Learning Models: Rapid experimentation will replace traditional learning cycles, emphasizing quick iteration and practical application over perfect execution. Which one do you agree with the most?

2025 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report: Insights to Inspire the Future of Work Keeping pace with the rapid changes in today’s workplace requires a commitment to skills development and validation—not just as an option, but as a necessity. 📈 The 2025 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report by Udemy highlights three critical priorities shaping the future of work: 1️⃣ Cultivating and validating skills to build skills-based organizations, 2️⃣ Creating GenAI-powered workplaces and understanding how to adapt, 3️⃣ Reinventing leadership skills for the demands of the modern workforce. Key findings from the report: • 84% of organizations are considering implementing skills-based processes in the next year, yet only 1/3 of employees are seeing tangible changes so far. • The use of GenAI (Generative AI) for productivity learning has skyrocketed by 859% year-over-year! 🚀 • The top workforce skills include analytical thinking, creative thinking, and resilience/agility. • However, 65% of executives admit they lack the expertise needed to lead GenAI transformations effectively. Lessons for workplaces globally—and in Turkey: 👉 Skills shouldn’t just be inferred; they must be validated through pre- and post-assessments, activity-based evaluations, and knowledge checks. 👉 GenAI isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a revolution. Organizations that embrace it will have a clear edge, but leaders need to upskill fast. 👉 With four (or even five!) generations in today’s workforce, modern leaders must master the art of managing multigenerational teams. 📌 The bottom line: To thrive in this evolving landscape, organizations must embrace a skills-based approach, adapt to disruptive technologies like AI, and rethink leadership for a future-ready workforce. Reading this report, I truly believe these global trends offer valuable insights for organizations in Turkey and beyond. Is your organization ready for this transformation? #UdemyBusiness #GenAI #Leadership #FutureOfWork #SkillsDevelopment https://lnkd.in/eVNdwUXV

Optimising for Obsolescence: How Corporations Are Rewriting What It Means to Understand AI 📡 This trend report was authored by EdTech Hub's AI Observatory and Action Lab for Development, funded by UK International Development. It applies horizon scanning — a structured foresight methodology running continuously since May 2025 — drawing on curated feeds across 56 languages, automated relevance filtering, and weekly expert review to build a working library of 2,250 signals. From this, 400 learner-relevant records were submitted to AI-assisted thematic analysis, supplemented by targeted desk research, yielding a final corpus of 59 sources. The report identifies three trends around AI and learners in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). #Tensions, #contradictions, and #complexities 👻 #Informal #GenAI #use #is #already #widespread and likely underestimated. The tools for measuring it don't yet exist at scale, and the informal, shared, intermittent access patterns that obscure the data are the same conditions that make unmanaged use most consequential for vulnerable learners. 🚔 #Punitive #enforcement #dominates institutional responses, yet evidence suggests it is both #ineffective and #inequitable. Schools attempt to contain what they structurally cannot see, deploying detection tools that disproportionately flag non-native English writers — turning an integrity problem into a discrimination problem while leaving the underlying dynamic untouched. 🪞 #AI #personalisation #works #best #with #strong #teacher #involvement. Systems most drawn to AI as a substitute for scarce teachers are those where the structural conditions for effectiveness — teacher agency, curriculum coherence, relational learning — are already most fragile. 🧱 #The #effectiveness #attributed #to #AI #may #belong #to its #pre-#AI #pedagogical #foundations. Teaching at the Right Level principles predating the 2023 AI surge may explain most observed gains, raising the uncomfortable possibility that the AI layer is adding cost, complexity, and hype — but not learning. 🪤 #AI #literacy #narrows #the #skills #agendas and at risk of being absorbed by them. Unless actively defended as critical and civic practice, AI literacy frameworks are vulnerable to corporate capture — rewritten to mean tool proficiency, serving platform adoption rather than the deeper educational purposes they were meant to restore. ⏳ Source: Weatherall, M. (2026). Trend report: Learners in the age of AI. EdTech Hub. https://lnkd.in/eNS7mCJF