Monday, May 4, 2015

LinkedIn's big bet may pay off - BLAYNE SLABBERT, Stuff NZ

Online learning is a booming business, and now one of the top tech companies has hooked into the industry. LinkedIn is buying the online education company, Lynda.com for about US$1.5 billion (NZ$1.96b), the first big aqusition of this scale. Lynda.com specialises in video courses in technology, creative and business skills which makes it a good fit for LinkedIn's 347 million users, especially those looking to upskill for career advancement. This is backed by a report from Deloitte which shows the No 1 aspiration of members is to learn more about a subject area, not to complete a prescribed subject curriculum. It's a canny move by LinkedIn as the workplace gets more competitive and more technology focused. It also gets it a foothold into the online learning market which is worth about US$30b. http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/business/67950607/LinkedIns-big-bet-may-pay-off