After the Big Bang: Higher Education E-Learning Markets Get Set to Consolidate

Authors: Outsell Client Services, Client Services; Eduventures, Inc.

Higher education e-learning companies such as Blackboard, eCollege and WebCT emerged in the mid-1990s in what amounted to a web-based learning "big bang." Since that time, the burst of energy released by these companies, and others that followed, has coalesced into distinct constellations of products and services - opening up the potential for colleges and universities to effectively wire their campus services systems from end-to-end.

After the Big Bang provides tools for assessing the opportunities and challenges facing today's higher education e-learning market leaders. In this report, Eduventures.com makes the following forecasts for this market:

Current $4 billion opportunity will grow to $11 billion by 2003
Market domination by two or three large players will emerge within 18 to 24 months
Publishing and media companies, as well as hardware and software giants, will take a more concerted interest in these businesses and the opportunities they represent

Later in 2000, Eduventures will publish a survey of institutional decision-makers and end-users on their satisfaction with vendor-developed course management platforms.