All of us feel the consequences of COVID-19 on our lives. Two years later, after the start of the pandemic, we got used to living in a new reality, with the more physical distance between us and less real-life communication. Education and medical systems changed severely. But is it as bad as it seems?
The main peculiarity of mankind is that we always get used to new things. The arrival of COVID-19 gave us a powerful push to transfer critical industries online with the help of the latest technologies. In this article, we will talk more about eLearning platform development and share our expertise.
Here you can see an incredible forecast for the e-learning platform development market projected by Research and Markets.
Today we will discuss the benefits of virtual learning platforms. Why are they so popular now, and which web development tools for online eLearning platforms will help you to create a usable and secure product? What do you need to know to create an impactful product? We will give you answers to these questions.
“So far technology has hardly changed formal education at all.
But a lot of people, including me, think this is the next place where the Internet will surprise people in how it can improve things—especially in combination with face-to-face learning.”
— Bill Gates, an American business magnate, software developer,
investor, author, and philanthropist
Benefits of using the virtual learning platform
Let’s talk about some distinguishing features of studying online. Why is there such a big number of people, who intend to develop their own products? And why are there plenty of people, who prefer online classes to face-to-face lessons?
Unlimited availability
Due to the accessibility of the Internet all around the world, students can join their classes just from their homes at any minute of the day, despite the weather, location, or any other conditions. This is much more convenient for a student and for a tutor.
Cost-effectiveness
If we look from the point of view of the individual tutor or the organization, we’ll see that it costs much less to build eLearning website than to manage the actual educational organization. Yes, you need more money to build an online learning platform, but you will not pay rent for a building, train your workers, and pay their fares. When you develop an eLearning platform, it will pay off over time and won’t need extra costs later.
Flexibility for students
Online learning gives students a lot of privileges. A student can choose a course he likes and get the personalized material, without huge pressure and a strict schedule. Virtual learning platforms give creators the opportunity to build unique education programs for specifically qualified users.
Utmost results
Your online learning platform is not limited by any distance. All students who desire to learn and have the Internet can easily buy access to your educational material from any part of the planet.
Easy Launch
To enter this industry as a creator, you don’t need any earlier experiences. The most essential thing here is the quality, aim of your product, and does it meet the needs of users. An experienced development partner can help you with the eLearning platform design.
eLearning platform development: 6 types of platforms you can build
Now, when you know what you want to build, we can discuss in more detail your possible approaches.
Massive open online courses
This option works similarly to eCommerce platforms. Any tutor can put up for sale his product, and any student can buy any course he likes.
Traditional learning management platforms
In this platform students can create their accounts with a subsequent saving of their results and achievements. These features are commonly used by big organizations like universities.
Open-source learning management platforms
This type of virtual learning platform is similar to the previous one but has more liberty for creators and students. Anyone here has an opportunity to build a platform based on already existing ones, and edit or adapt them.
Modern learning management solutions
With this type, you can create learning processes, which will be the greatest and the most effective because they are built on specific pedagogies.
Learning management ecosystems
This option offers users specific knowledge, assembled and developed from the best results of the market and collected into a unique ecosystem. Usually, these are very aspirational projects, like Notre Dame’s NeXus platform.
Custom systems
The last option we will look at is the custom development approach. This is a great solution if you want to create an online school with specific sets and approaches for courses and educational programs. For example, you want to create game-based learning platforms for high schoolers that you have never seen before on the market.
eLearning platform development: Examining key features
Registration and profile management functionality
The first step in creating your own platform is making a login function. It is a crucial function for every user of the project, for students, admins, developers, and tutors. Account information should be protected by using an email/phone number and password combination or social media login.
Students’ profiles should have options like user information, profile picture, a list of active and completed courses, information about achievements, purchase history, and settings. A teacher profile should include an information page and a list of added courses. If you build some unique solutions in the realm of the cooperative learning platform, you may need some additional options here.
Search function
Your eLearning platform design should include a search function, as users need to be aware of all the possibly interesting courses. This function should include keywords, categories, filters, and recommendations.
Control panel
This option will give students and tutors information about their achievements and expertise in your platform. Students should be provided with the usable design, the number of courses, the state of implementation, and the number of hours spent. For teachers, you should develop options with the number of courses, number of students, ratings, traffic, and possible financials.
Course page design
To effectively design the page of the course you need to add functions like attaching PDF files, audio, video, textbooks, and comments. For adding unique options to your project, coding is mandatory. If you want to build a game-based learning platform for teens, for example.
Convenient payment model
If you plan to charge for using your product, you need to think about payment mechanisms. They should be usable and secure and integrate indispensable elements like debit and credit cards, and integrations with famous payment systems like PayPal or Stripe.
Course creation and editing page
Your platform must support all of the demanded tools, materials in PDF, video, and audio formats, and extra resources like articles from other websites.
Reminder and notification functionality
Reminder and notification functionality is a good way to notify users about updates or new products. You can send them monthly digest emails and add some personal offers for users.
Admin panel
Your platform should be equipped with an efficient and handy panel for admin.
What do you need to do to develop an eLearning platform?
Explore and plan
You should determine your aim and what kind of product you want to create. We recommend you begin with a market analysis of similar platforms. Compare your potential project with them, think of what you might improve, and what might meet the needs of the users? What will you modify to make your platform unique?
Finding a development partner
As stated above, you can join this market and build an online learning platform even if you don’t have any substantial experience in this area.
If you want to have the greatest customization, you should probably think about a custom solution. For adding more technical expertise to your project, you can form your own team or hire an outsourcing partner. There’s no way to know which option is better without knowing the context. Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of each.
| Advantages | Disadvantages | |
In-House | • Control and visibility• Talent development | • Cost-efficiency• Ease of scalability• Large pool of experts |
Outsourcing | • Cost-efficiency• Ease of scalability• Large pool of experts | • Lack of direct control• Possible communication difficulties• Security risks |
Search for a trusted software development partner on such platforms as Clutch.co, GoodFirms, and IT Firms. Make sure that reviews from previous clients are good. A good outsourcing company makes their job great despite the remote processes and can become an essential part of your organization.
Creating great content
Only valuable content makes your project successful in the end. Find professional tutors at universities, higher educational institutions, or other platforms to provide users with efficient knowledge!
FAQ
What is an online learning platform?
An online learning platform is a website or an application, which makes it possible for students to learn online and for tutors to teach
What is eLearning development?
eLearning development is the creation of educational platforms, which help people to study online from any part of the planet if they have Internet access, of course.
What should an online learning platform have?
An online learning platform should have registration and profile management functionality, a search function, a control panel, a convenient course page design, a convenient payment model, and management tools for students and tutors.
What is a game-based learning approach?
The game-based learning approach is using some game principles in the education system. This approach makes it easier for students to remember the new information because it is provided in a playful, interesting way.