Chinese workers see online education as viable resource

Out of every 10 Chinese workers four say they preferred online education over a traditional classroom when considering educational programs for a career boost, a survey published by US-based networking website LinkedIn on Thursday has found.

Among those who opted for online education, which has been expanding rapidly in China, 85 percent said it is more flexible in time, 64 percent said it doesn’t require them to suspend working, half of them said it takes less time and another half of them said it is less expensive.

More than 500 people between 18 and 54 took the online survey, which LinkedIn conducted in January.

Nearly 70 percent of women wanted to take language courses and 60 percent of men wanted more skill training. Workers below the age of 35 prefer skill training programs while those aged 35 or above intended to take language classes, according to the survey.

Experts believe as the technology in big data and video transmission keeps improving, the market of online education will continue to boom.

Online education market has seen 20 percent annual growth in China since 2013, when the market size was nearly 84 billion yuan ($12 billion), according to local consultancy iResearch. It is expected to break 200 billion yuan in 2018.