Right To Invest in Education Software has Arrived
According to Forbes, the education software market will reach $325 billion by 2025. No wonder more and more educational startups are popping up here and there, and most of them have unique ideas, functions, and skills.
But having a billion dollar idea is not enough to create an e-learning website. Rather, it is the combination of brilliant ideas with a stable and reliable platform that turns a shared project into a great one. Just like Coursera, Udemy and other giants.
Different EdTech development reports give different figures when it comes to estimating its market value in the near future. They typically range from $325 billion in 2025 (Research and Markets) to $375 billion in 2026 (Global Market Insights). Most of these reports were published before the pandemic, so we can imagine these numbers going up significantly. There is no doubt that Covid-19 has accelerated the implementation of Education software development worldwide and requires a rapid paradigm shift in traditional education.
E-learning platform development step by step
- Meet your users
When you think of e-learning, it's very easy to limit yourself to school education. This is of course still the foundation of EdTech development, but often much more than that. Research shows that 77% of US companies used e-learning in 2017, primarily to accelerate employee training. I mention this because getting to know your users is one of the most important steps you need to take early in the product development process. And e-learning platforms are no exception.
Defining your customers up front is also important for the scalability of your application. You must be able to assess the demand for your product and predict its future growth in order to design the right architecture and choose the right technology. Did you know that over 70% of startups fail due to premature scaling? You definitely don't want to be one of them.
- Prepare a business model
There are several ways to generate revenue from an e-learning platform, and you need to consider all of them before starting the development process. The most popular solution is to charge consumers a certain rate, as in the case of Udemy. However, you should be aware that this monetization model makes it very difficult to maintain a high retention rate. Udemy has managed to solve this problem with a sales strategy based on offering deep discounts on almost every course.
Another popular model is the subscription model used by Udemy on their enterprise platform called Udemy for Business. This is often based on a monthly payment, but in some cases it is worth considering getting a 1 year contract at a lower monthly rate. If you choose this business model, you will need to create some additional benefits for users so that they will want to return to your platform and continue to use it after completing the course. A great way to motivate them is to create a different certificate.
The application of a fee-based certification model is also often used by various e-learning providers. They offer free courses and promote the idea of easy access to education for everyone. But if students want to get a certificate, they have to pay for it.
Advertising and sponsorship are other common business models for e-learning platforms. You can provide advertisers with a lot of information about the interests of your users that can be important to their marketing activities. For example, you can create a photography course sponsored by a photography company like Nikon or Canon.
You can also offer a premium account option, which is very similar to the subscription-based model. However, in this case, you can provide a very limited number of free courses for users to access. And the higher the monthly subscription fee, the more attractive the course, of course.
- Explore the landscape
Of course, Udemy is not the only e-learning platform to consider as a benchmark for your product. There are many others who have gained immense popularity and established their position in a certain niche. A recent example of the premium account subscription mentioned above is the case of Skillshare. It has become a popular name, especially among artists like directors, photographers, designers. And they achieve this by overcoming one of the biggest barriers to any e-learning platform
- Select the platform type
Once you've compared and identified your ideal customer, you can focus on choosing the type of platform that best fits your needs. You may have to ask yourself this question: should I build a MOOC or LMS platform? What is the difference between them? Or maybe it would be better to create a custom platform for my needs? Don't get me wrong - platforms should always be tailored to your needs, but in this case I'm talking about specific solutions that only you can offer, so you should have an adequate platform to work with.
How does Education Software work?
Powerful admin panel - all available courses and teacher list will be shown. Students can book an appointment with the course instructor in advance. Administrators review training materials provided by experts before they are officially published on the platform. It can add or remove students and faculty from the learning platform.
The instructor has a separate control panel - he can quickly dispel student doubts via text, audio or video. Used to show the number of students enrolled in a course and the progress of each student in each subject. Teachers can share their insights in real time via video conferencing and screen sharing.
Student panel - used to view the courses offered in a course, to retrieve a certificate of completion, to download courses and view them offline, to register for new courses and to assess the quality of courses and the level of knowledge of the lecturers.
An important feature that is part of an education software. Is
Availability of the quiz will assess the level of knowledge of the learner upon completion of the course. If they are not satisfied with their test results, they can repeat the course to improve their results. Layout tests and webinars are also offered to increase conceptual clarity.
Promotional Video Availability - Clear videos explain complex concepts in an easy-to-understand way using infographics and charts. Content can be translated into multiple languages to meet the expectations of a global user base.
Issuing Certificate of Completion - Can be used by students upon successful completion of the course. The final certificate is proof that the student has become an expert in a particular subject or skill.
QA Opportunities - Users can ask their questions in this module and instructors will instantly clear their confusion with well explained answers. This leads to increased clarity.
Free Plug-Ins - Multiple plug-ins such as video player, integration with Zoom app for video conferencing, ability to log into social media, live chat option, seamless communication between students and teachers, access to discounts and coupon codes and promotions -Tools publishing to generate more traffic on the platform.
Social sharing option - users can share their achievements with their friends, colleagues and relatives on leading social media channels after completing the course.
Drag and drop tool - Useful for students to organize their lessons and enhance their overall learning experience.
Words of Wisdom
Online education software and E-learning Software Development has a bright future for years to come as it is easy to use and better than traditional classroom learning. Wider internet penetration and use of smartphones will soon take the e-learning industry to the next level. The sector is projected to reach 9.5 million consumers, with a total value of $1.96 billion by 2021.
