Education and training providers in the health and fitness sector need to embrace learning technology solutions or risk losing out to more innovative suppliers, awarding organisation YMCA Awards has warned.

Increasing numbers of students in the sector now expect access to on-demand learning, so they can study at a time and place that suits them, according to a report published by YMCA.

The report surveyed 250 students about their study routines and found that 68 per cent of e-learning is done outside of the traditional 9am–4pm hours using digital resources, and 16 per cent is done during the weekend. The most popular times for e-learning were 4–5pm, followed by 8-9pm. The most popular e-learning days were Wednesday, followed by Tuesday.

Almost half of students surveyed said they had used a smartphone in their studies over the past 12 months. The document said: "Over the past year, smartphones have surpassed desktop computers for internet searches for the first time – meaning providers should incorporate mobile methods into their teaching. This will become particularly important in the active leisure sector, where learners will appreciate the ability to learn on the move, or in different environments."

The report also found that the majority of learners (82 per cent) preferred a mixture of digital and print materials to support their learning, with 46 per cent favouring resources that can be used offline.

Of the learners questioned: 24 per cent used online games; 70 per cent used online quizzes; 78 per cent used websites; and 62 per cent had used online videos. In addition, 60 per cent of learners surveyed value small, bite-sized learning content of five to 10 minutes, while 59 per cent like multimedia to be included within this, such as video, audio, and illustrations.

Only one in four people had used online games, suggesting that these more advanced methods of learning technologies are yet to be fully adopted by the majority of students, the report said.

It concluded: "The sector must ensure that the quality of digital learning is prioritised as much as face to face. Therefore, the quality of learning content, teaching and assessment must be prioritised.

"Don’t fight learning technologies – digital learning must be embraced if education providers are to stay ahead of the curve. Digital advancements will continue, regardless of whether we evolve with them."

Commenting on the findings, Rob May, YMCA Awards director, said: “It is clear from our research that providers are still at various points in their digital learning journey; there’s still work to be done to make strides towards industry wide adoption. One thing we can say for sure is that students are really benefitting from the flexibility that digital learning offers.”