Online learning solutions are rapidly on the rise. Over time, people from a wide range of backgrounds are increasingly finding it convenient to effectively learn at their own pace, pick their desired instructor and course, and attend classes when they want to.
Consider that more than 70% of students prefer online learning solutions over traditional brick-and-mortar education. And they’re not alone, reports suggest that it’s more than just students who are using e-learning platforms. As much as 9 out of 10 firms today look to provide access to e-learning platforms to their employees, with U.S. firms citing an average of 42% increase in income from e-learning platform adoption.
The trends are clear in what they’re trying to project: e-learning platforms are here to stay.
So, for anyone looking to develop e-learning solutions, the question becomes, what key features should be included for users?
Here, we break down some crucial factors that anyone creating an e-learning platform should keep in mind to maximize user benefits and gain a competitive advantage. Let’s dive in!
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An e-learning platform, also known as a virtual learning environment, is a digital management system that allows users to access educational content, courses, and related resources remotely through desktop, mobile, tablets, and related smart devices.
Such a platform allows users to learn their desired subject through videos, interactive quizzes, and other documents like PDF files to enhance the learning experience.
E-learning platforms can cater to academic subjects, professional training, or even personal development domains. The major advantage over traditional, physical means of learning is the flexibility for users to learn at their own pace and convenience and choose the courses and instructors that suit them best.
Other advantages include progress tracking, participating in discussion forums, and using self-help assessment tools to test current skills/abilities.
Creating an online learning platform carries several tremendous benefits, especially when compared to traditional learning means of learning.
Six key benefits to keep in mind when you look to create an online learning platform include:
On average, to develop an e-learning platform like Coursera or Udemy, costs can be anywhere between $20,000-$40,000 initially. After development, running costs will add to this. Additionally, costs can vary depending on the features you wish to include or exclude. Here are all the factors to consider :
Some key technical requirements to remember when creating your e-learning platform include:
To develop your own e-learning platform, there are a couple of steps to keep in mind. These include:
You’ve already decided to create an online learning platform, but starting off with a specific niche will help you gain a competitive advantage. Depending on your early goals, you can initiate with digital marketing courses, engineering courses, online writing classes, ad tech solutions—ad server, DSP, programmatic ads courses, etc.
This is because going too broad initially will require a lot of resources, such as costs, hiring a diverse range of instructors, marketing to different audiences, etc, which can create roadblocks that you initially might not be able to tackle. You’ll also open yourself up to more competition.
Next, you’ll have to figure out how your online e-learning platform will make money. There are a couple of different business models you can apply, such as:
For your e-learning portal development, there are two popular choices you can choose from:
First, implement all of the standard features, including in any e-learning platform, such as interactive quizzes and personalized content/resources.
Then, to build your competitive edge, include unique, interesting features that can make your platform stand out from the competition. Some examples of interesting features include:
Finally, engage course instructors who are subject matter experts in their field and have the expertise to communicate effectively. The initial course instructors will serve as the foundation for your platform and will be the primary reason for users to start using your platform. Ensure you choose the initial course instructors wisely, as most users will sign up on your e-learning platform primarily because of them.
LMS Collaborator, an online learning management platform, wanted to expand out of Europe to enter the global market.
To do this, they must build a great product with powerful new features that could blow the competition away. LMS Collaborator decided to integrate video conferencing functionality into their platform as part of their plan to offer new collaboration features.
The challenge with enabling video conferring at scale was doing it in a way where a vast number of users using their video conferencing feature in real-time to talk to each other would never face a problem, such as lags or downtime.
LMS Collaborator chose Digital Samba as their video conferencing partner because of their complete toolset, competitive pricing plan, and extensive market experience. They used Digital Samba’s ready-to-go video conferencing API and SDK to embed secure and lag-free video conferences in their learning management system.
LMS Collaborator saved time and money by using Digital Samba’s existing infrastructure. They could focus on their core product offering during their expansion period, while Digital Samba handled the video conferencing aspect for them.
Building your ideal e-learning platform boils down to two essential factors: First, you must ensure you get the right course instructors on board. Then, you need to ensure your platform has competitive features that make online learning a more effective learning experience compared with traditional means of learning.
One standout feature that will give your platform an edge is enabling live video conferencing between instructors and students. When you have a platform where video conferences must be enabled effectively at scale, you need a reliable video API like Digital Samba to make it happen.
With Digital Samba’s video conferencing API, your platform can ensure real-time video calls are a frictionless experience to make it easy for course instructors and students to talk to each other. To see how we can enable your e-learning platform, talk to our sales teams here.