How to Create a Worthwhile eLearning App?
E-learning gained popularity before the COVID-19 pandemic and closed schools, institutes, universities, and corporate training. This is clear from the 2017 study from Orbis Research that predicted that by 2022 the online education market would cross USD 275 billion.
With the COVID-19 restrictions still crippling life, online education through the web and especially mobile is growing. The growth is so great that, according to Statista, apps in the education category stood at third place in Apple’s App Store and second place in Google’s Play Store in the most recent Q4Y20.
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eLearning is Sustainable
Compared to conventional learning methods, the environmental impact of eLearning is much less, and therefore it can be called sustainable learning. It is clear that when your school or organization switches to eLearning, they can reduce the environmental impact in many ways – reduced use of paper, reduced transport, reduced need for construction and maintenance, reduced diversion of forest land, and many more.
Research at Stockholm Environmental Institute showed that online learning could reduce carbon emissions by 90%. Similarly, the Open University Design Innovation Group research found that online learning organizations can save up to 90% of energy compared to traditional ways.
eLearning is Feature Rich
eLearning allows students and teachers to experience the content in a new way; it is less costly, more flexible, and is learner-centric.
Some of its rich features are:
- Recorded Video lectures.
- Streaming video for tutoring
- Online assignments, quizzes, assessments, and performance report
- Interactive lessons and assessments
- Instant notifications and information
- Personalized experience and profile
- Learner-centric growth plans
- Instant messaging, discussion boards, and video conferencing.
Steps to make a worthy eLearning App
Now, as you are convinced that eLearning is the way to go in the future and wish to develop an app of your own, you need to follow these steps to succeed.
Market research
Like any other app, online education apps also need proper market research. When you research, you will find the online education market for kids, schools, colleges, universities, institutes, corporates, government, and other players are quite different from each other.
The demands and needs of the stakeholders in each category are different, and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all kind of solution. For example, the demands of teachers and learners will be different from those of administrators and policymakers. The requirements for the platform will be different from those of content creators, content managers, and online assessment managers.
Play to your strengths
With detailed knowledge from market research, you now know what each type of app will need, their market potential, how much time it may take to develop such an app, and what are other competitors in the space.
You need to carry out a SWOT analysis for your company. Whatever you decide, keep in mind that it always pays to play to your strengths as a start-up. With this approach, you can have a strong footing in the market in no time and then can expand your portfolio to other segments. You may wish to develop a gamified app with curated content and offer it on a subscription basis, or you may develop an app to meet an organization’s specific needs.
Develop a business plan
The eLearning app business model can be tested on seven key parameters:
- Multiplicity – the ability of the app to serve the largest possible target groups and to handle a large number of users during peak hours.
- Publicity – the organic and commercial publicity you will garner for the app.
- Geography – the jurisdiction where your app can or cannot be used due to regulation, cultural differences, language barriers, or curriculum differences.
- Identify – the unique identity of your app with a clear brand recall value.
- Communication – your communication strategy with key stakeholders, administrators, teachers, parents, and students through all channels. It also means if the app allows real-time communication, asynchronous communication, or both.
- Time – the time to develop the idea into a product and time to introduce the newest features in the app.
- Price – the pricing model – license, project basis charges, subscription, one-time payment, course, or content-based, user-based – will determine your future profits.
Invest in a team
No one alone can do what it takes to develop, market, and popularize a blockbuster eLearning app. A team provides redundancy, strength, scalability and brings a diversity of ideas to the table. Therefore, it is imperative to find and invest in a team of skilled developers, marketing professionals, trainers, and domain experts.
The team’s technical prowess comprises cloud engineers, data scientists, gaming experts, animation developers, AR/VR engineers, security engineers, and AI experts. You will also need subject matter experts to guide your technical team in the right direction, develop content, maintain quality, and prepare assessment modules.
Finally, you will need project managers to guide the team and coordinate the efforts of different sub-teams. As an entrepreneur, you must always invest heavily in training your team so that they can compete with confidence.
How to create eLearning app: develop and deploy
The niche you wish to cater, and the business plan drawn based on that, will work as the guiding lights for your team to develop the idea. Mobile app development company work in an iteration, and you must focus on developing an MVP or a minimum viable product.
The working prototype will help you test many ideas, the UI/UX design of the app, its features, and functionality, before launching it in the market. The development process goes on in iterations, with security and quality assurance embedded in each step.
Once the app is ready for deployment, you give it to the QA team for thorough testing and then soft launch it for select users. This soft-launching will now test the app in the real world by real users, and their feedback will be very important for you to improve user experience and acceptance. Once the app is deployed on servers or the cloud, then your team must ensure regular support and maintenance while working on future updates in the background.
How to create eLearning app: promotion
If you are developing an app for a closed group like schools, universities, and companies with a large but limited number of users, then you need not worry about promotion. Instead, your captive clientele will provide you a user base.
However, if you are developing a product for the general market or need your app to be adopted by many organizations, then reaching out to the customer is necessary. With strategic promotion and communication, you can make your target audience aware of the great solution you are offering.
You can use all channels of promotion and advertisements to spread the word – competitions, newspapers & magazines, TV & Radio, social media, SEO, and digital ad campaigns. You can also hire a team of young enthusiasts who may be willing to campaign for you door-to-door or use tele calling/video conferencing in today’s times.
How to create eLearning app: wrapping up
Coming up with a great idea is no mean feat, but it takes a great deal to turn those ideas into reality. Nevertheless, by following the above-stated steps, you can start your eLearning app development in no time. If you still have questions, queries, or doubts, contact our representative to help you navigate this maze. We can also help you design, develop, and deploy the eLearning app.
Author Bio
Rahul Mathur is the founder & Managing Director of Arka Softwares. Graduating from Harvard Business School, he is a driven leader and technology enthusiast who takes pleasure in helping modern startups and enterprises to grow with the help of future-ready IT solutions such as next-gen mobile apps, web and marketing solutions.
