2018 has just passed us! And like every year, there have been some truly ‘trending’ topics, which have lit the digital space on fire. Have you missed out on them? Well don’t worry, because 2019 is here, and it brings with it a fresh new chance to be a part of new trends! Also, if you’re caught up with professional and personal events in the year ahead, and still want to upskill in 2019, then you should know that distance learning courses are going to be all the rage in the upcoming year.

But before we dive deep into this trend of 2019, let’s have a look at the year 2018 for some inspiration. Imagine processing about 40,000 queries per second, 3.5 billion queries a day, and 1.2 trillion searches every year. Using this massive data, Google releases a list of the most searched trends at the end of every year. Google’s trend report matters not only because it is providing an in-depth peak into the minds of people, but also giving an indication of things to come soon. Also, as per the insights from Google search, the online education industry will be a $1.96 billion industry by 2021 in India. The report also reveals that in 2016 and 2017 alone, there has been a 2x growth in online searches for education and a 3x growth in searches from a mobile device. This is surely a trend that will continue in the upcoming year as well.

What is catching people’s fancy? What kind of content are they engaging with the most? What would they like to see? Where do they see the world heading? These are some of the typical questions that trends can answer. 2018 is gone and Google has released the 2018 trends list. Let’s check it out.

FIFA World Cup and more

The FIFA World Cup 2018 held in Russia was the most talked about event both internationally as well as in India. “Live Score” was a close second, with people wanting to keep up with FIFA World Cup scores. IPL 2018, another mega sporting event in India, came a close third with people searching queries for the 20-20 cricket tournament as well as about the teams, players, and scores.  

The key learning from these facts is that today, whether it is finding a new word on Google, or watching a photography video, without realising it, we are already using the internet to constantly learn something new, or pickup on the latest trends. People see the digital platform as a medium to pick-up on information from every news topic and so many platforms, and so the idea of online learning is something that can be embraced by the students of India. Adding to this the fact that correspondence courses can help people access the best learning resources and learn at their own pace. This makes distance learning a hot-shot trend for 2019!

Top 10 searches Overall

Source: India Today

Film World and Celebrity Weddings

2018 was also the year of 3 high profile celebrity weddings. No wonder they were among the most searched terms under what Google calls the News Category. Well, in India, there’s no bigger news than celebrity gossip, and it’s only natural that the marriage of Nick Jonas with Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone with Ranveer Singh, and Sonam Kapoor with Anand Ahuja caught people’s fancy.

Among celebrities, the famous wink of 19-year-old Priya Prakash Varrier enchanted everyone and she became the single most searched after celebrity beating the likes of PeeCee and even Meghan Markle.

This goes to show that Indians have a knack of staying up-to-date on the latest happenings in the world, and that the digital medium is the platform where they like to consume the content. This is because of a significant rise in internet penetration and the drop in the prices of smartphones in India. What this also means is greater access to online learning resources, which will soon become ubiquitous.

Jobs and Career

The job world is changing at an extremely rapid pace. Education is one of the master keys to unlock the doors of this ever-changing future where employers demand good degrees. But given the hectic lives and often the unavailability of time, people find it difficult to pursue further education. But technology is bringing education to the doorsteps of people, and online and distance learning have been one of the major trends of 2018 that is slated to grow further in 2019.

Source: quikr.com

The coming year will belong to adaptive and microlearning, as content creators churn out high quality curriculum for those who don’t want to be constrained by classroom learning and want to learn in their own time, at their own pace. Sikkim Manipal University – Distance Education is one such university creating high class educational content. With interactive online lectures, access to rich learning material, opportunities to chat with industry experts, and smart dashboards to track progress, SMU-DE’s online program is here to impart quality education so that the requirement for quality employees can be bridged smoothly.

All in all, if you are looking to enhance your educational qualification in pursuit of landing a good job in 2019, then a correspondence course is an extremely fruitful option. The new year is a new chance to succeed, so go ahead and seize the initiative!