Build an Online Learning Platform: 2023 Guide and Essential Tips | ProCoders (2024)

With many schools and universities moving to online learning during COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a greater need for digital educational resources and online course platforms like Udemy and Coursera. This has led to a surge in the development of new e-learning technologies and the expansion of existing ones and since you are here, you must also be interested in how to build an e-learning platform.

Investor interest in the e-learning industry has been high, with many venture capital firms and angel investors looking to invest in startups in this field. The e-learning market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% from 2020 to 2028, and the increasing demand for online education is expected to be a major driver of this growth.

Do you want to create your own e-learning website but have no idea where to start or how to approach the development process? Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish a clear plan and follow through, especially without proper tech support. Our ProCoders guide can help. With our years of experience and knowledge, we know all in’s and out’s of the development process and know how to make top-notch digital products without breaking a bank. Our seasoned developers can navigate in a plethora of features and choose those that have proven value, instead of chasing their own tail.

E-Learning Platform Types

There are several different types of e-learning platforms that can be considered when you want to create online learning platform. Some of the most common types include:

Pros and Cons of Developing Online Learning Platforms and Starting a Business in 2023

At ProCoders, we believe that it’s important for our clients to understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of creating their own e-learning website. That’s why we provide a list of the pros and cons of e-learning website development, so our clients can make informed decisions. Ultimately, it’s up to each individual to decide how much the pros outweigh the cons, but we always caution our customers to be aware of the potential difficulties and risks before diving in:

Must-Have Features of an Online Education Platform

An educational platform must have certain features to be successful in providing a quality learning experience. ProCoders have put together a list of must-have features that include:

Course Management:

Instructors can create, manage, and organize course materials, such as syllabi, assignments, and quizzes on their admin panel.

Student Tracking:

Used to monitor student participation, track student progress, and provide feedback.

Assessment Tools:

The development and administration of tests, quizzes, and other assessments are made possible by this function, which also enables teachers to provide students with immediate feedback.

Communication and Collaboration Tools:

Today students need more than generic pre-shot video content. Tools for real-time communication and collaboration enable educators and learners to interact and work together in real-time through video streaming, chat, and discussion boards.

Accessibility:

The platform should be accessible for all students, including those with disabilities, and comply with accessibility standards such as WCAG.

Personalization and Adaptive Learning:

These two concepts should enable the learning experience to be tailored to the requirements of particular students by modifying the content and pace of education.

Analytics and reporting:

This feature allows the instructor to gather data about student engagement, progress, and performance, and provide insights to the student.

Security:

To safeguard student data and thwart hacking or data breaches, when you create online learning site you should have strong security mechanisms in place.

Mobile App Availability:

Another feature that we feel is very important if you want to succeed in e-Learning platform development is adding applications that work with it. Some of the pros of having a mobile app are:

Convenience:

Students have the ability to access their course materials and participate in class from anywhere, at any time, and thus it can increase your audience.

Increased engagement:

Provide a more interactive and engaging experience for students, with features such as push notifications, quizzes, and interactive elements.

Offline access:

Consumers can access the learning materials even when they don’t have internet access.

Increased reach:

You can reach a wider audience and expand your student base. As the study provided by ​​Broadband Search shows, as of January 2022, mobile devices have taken the lead in terms of market share, accounting for just over 55% of the market. Desktop devices come in second, making up 42% of the market. The remaining 3% is attributed to tablets, which, while not as widely used, still play a role in the online environment. However, they often function more like mobile devices due to their operating systems.

Better tracking:

Involvement and progress may be tracked more precisely with the use of mobile apps.

Having these features in place will ensure that the platform can provide a comprehensive and engaging learning experience for students. It’s also important to note that these features alone don’t guarantee the success of the platform, but having a good curriculum, trained and qualified instructors, and a good marketing plan will also make a difference.

Trendy Features How to Create Outstanding Product

As we move into 2023, developing a website for e-learning will require incorporating trendy features that meet the needs and expectations of both students and instructors.That’s why at ProCoders we not only offer the essential features for e-learning platforms, but also recommend the latest industry trends to our clients:

Gamification:

Gamification is the implementation of game-based elements, such as points, badges, and leaderboards, to enhance engagement and interactivity in learning. For instance, Duolingo, a language learning platform, utilizes gamification by awarding users points, badges, and leaderboards upon completion of lessons and quizzes.

Virtual and Augmented Reality:

These technologies can be used to create immersive and interactive learning experiences, allowing students to visualize and interact with complex concepts in ways that are not possible with traditional methods. For example, virtual field trips, where students can explore historical places, or virtual labs, where students can conduct experiments in a virtual environment.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:

May be used to evaluate data and offer insights into student performance, as well as to tailor learning experiences and adjust to the requirements of specific students. For example, Knewton, an adaptive learning platform, uses AI and machine learning to create personalized learning paths for each student.

Video-based Learning:

Video-based learning is growing in popularity as it allows students to learn at their own pace and creates a more interactive and engaging learning experience. Many platforms use video-based learning to provide an immersive experience, such as Coursera, an online learning platform that provides access to a vast array of video-based courses taught by professors from renowned universities.

Microlearning:

Microlearning is an approach that delivers concise learning content, such as short videos, quizzes, or interactive games, designed to be highly engaging and easily accessible on the go. Online learning platforms use microlearning to provide easily accessible, bite-sized learning content to students. For instance, Quizlet offers flashcard sets and short quizzes to assist students in learning and retaining information.

Social Learning:

A type of learning that occurs through interactions with others, it can take place in a variety of settings such as online communities, classrooms and workplaces. An example of using social learning in the context of building an e-learning platform is incorporating features that allow students to collaborate and communicate with each other like discussion forums, group projects and peer-to-peer mentoring.

Top 10 eLearning Platforms for Benchmarking

Before diving into creating your own e-learning platform, it’s important to research and benchmark against the competition. By looking at what other successful e-learning platforms are doing, you can identify what features and strategies are working and make sure to incorporate them into your own virtual learning platform.

And a short checklist of their features:

Steps to Create an eLearning Platform

To build an e-Learning platform might seem like a daunting task but with the right steps and the help of ProCoders, it can be done easily. Here are some steps you can take for online learning platform development:

Stage 1: Market and Competitor Research

Before developing an e-learning platform, it is essential to identify the target audience’s demographics, popular features, competitors, pain points, and gaps in the market. Analyzing competitors’ approaches to engaging with their target audience, marketing strategies, keywords, colors, and user feedback is also necessary to understand how to create a unique platform.

Stage 2: Choosing a Working Model for App Development Model

If you’re wondering how to create an online education platform, it’s necessary to remember that the process requires careful planning and execution, including choosing the right working model for app development. Understanding the pros and cons of outsourcing, staff augmentation, and dedicated team models can help you make an informed decision and set your project up for success.

• Outsourcing can be a cost-effective option for companies that want to leverage external expertise, reduce overhead costs and in the end receive a complete project with minimal efforts. However, it may not provide the level of control and visibility you need for complex projects. You can opt for onshoring (if real-life meetings and the same time zone are crucial to you) or offshoring (if you’re on a budget and want to work around the clock).
• Staff augmentation, on the other hand, allows you to add skilled resources to your team on a short-term basis. This can be helpful when you need to scale quickly or fill a specific skill gap.
• Lastly, a dedicated team approach involves building a team that works exclusively on your project. This can provide the highest level of control and alignment with your goals, but it can also be more expensive and require a longer-term commitment.

Ultimately, the model you choose will impact how your team collaborates, how quickly you can iterate and make changes, and how you approach testing and deployment. So take the time to evaluate your options and choose a model that aligns with your needs and objectives.

Step 3: Choose the suitable platform for your app

The platform you choose will significantly impact your app’s functionality, usability, and scalability. You might opt for an e-learning website development or simply concentrate on apps, or even ambitiously venture for a hybrid model. Here are some things you need to consider:

Stage 4: Planning Time and Budget, and Hiring Specialists

When you create e-learning platform you need to plan the budget and timeline to determine the composition of your team. However, if you have no idea how to plan your time and budget, Discovery Phase can help you. It’s a roadmap with all the development stages clearly described and time and budget calculated. ProCoders have been providing this service for a long time and know how to do it the way so it is as precise as it’s possible.

If you’re not ready to call for help from someone else and want to do a discovery phase on your own, here’s what you should pay attention to:

1. Conduct thorough research into all aspects of your project to define its structure and overall strategy. Remember to conduct competitor research, as this can provide valuable insights.
2. Choose appropriate technologies for your project based on their features and scalability requirements.
3. Assess the complexity of the tasks involved to determine the level of engineering expertise required to complete them effectively.
4. Estimate the scope of work based on the selected technology and the number of tasks involved.
5. Prioritize tasks and create a plan for project development that encompasses both business and engineering considerations.
6. Use the information gathered to create a roadmap that outlines the project’s detailed processes, the scope of work, timelines, technology stack, and pricing.

However, remember: the hiring difficulty depends on the work model. For example, if you hire inhouse, you would need to organize the whole process on your own; if you decide to outstaff, all the work would lie on the vendor.

Stage 5: MVP Development

Developing a minimum viable product is a crucial step to pitching to potential investors and testing the app’s basic functions.

Stage 6: App Development

Front-end, back-end development, and API integration are the main components of app development. It is essential to consult and review reports to improve the speed and user experience while the developers work on the app.

Stage 7: Testing and Deployment

Testing the app for bugs is vital before launching it, as it could negatively impact the platform’s reputation. Once the app is tested and refined, it can be deployed, and the marketing strategy can be executed. It is crucial to obtain feedback and continue to improve the platform.

Costs and Budget of e-Learning Platform Development

The cost to build e-learning website can vary greatly depending on a number of factors, including the complexity of the platform, the number of features and tools to be included, and the size of the development team.
For example, if you are located in the USA and want to hire an in-house team, it would cost you more compared to outsourcing development to a country like Estonia. Here is a short table to give you a further understanding of outsourcing software development costs.

Reading, costs of research and development, outsourcing software development pros and cons and cost of software development would be worth it too just to get an idea of the costs in more detail. It’s important to note that while cost is an important factor, it should not be the only consideration when outsourcing to design e-learning website. Other factors like the quality of work, the level of expertise and experience of the development team, and the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with the development team should also be considered.

How ProCoders Can Help You Make E-learning Website and Save Costs?

No matter your project’s stage, ProCoders is here to help you create educational platforms to dominate the market. As a software development company, we are like a “Swiss army knife” of e-learning development, equipped to assist clients of all shapes and sizes, from small start-ups to large corporations.

Our well-established processes over the years have allowed us to hire web developers of high quality, which means that you do not need to worry about finding specialists of poor quality. We pride ourselves on our affordable and tailored solutions that fit your budget while still providing the necessary support and maintenance services to ensure that the IT side is taken care of.

If you want to build an online learning platform it is essential to know the market, the tech stack, and the features you might want to add. That’s why we recommend undergoing a Discovery Phase. During the Discovery Phase, we take the time to understand your needs and requirements and give you a ballpark budget before beginning anything. We believe in honesty and integrity and want to ensure you get the most value for your investment. That’s why we only assign the number of developers necessary to complete the project on time and within budget.

At ProCoders, we value providing the best service possible, so we ensure that all of our developers have experience in the related industry. Our developers have years of experience creating e-learning platforms and hit the ground running from day one.

Transparency and communication are key to the success of any project, and we believe in providing regular updates on your project’s progress and being available to answer any questions you may have. Trust ProCoders to help you bring your online education platform project to life, regardless of the planning phase or final testing.

Conclusion

So how to develop an elearning platform? it requires a well-thought-out strategy and a systematic approach. By following these six steps which ProCoders have provided in this article, you can ensure that your e-learning platform is a success. ProCoders can help you with all of these steps and provide you with a full-service solution to create your e-learning website.

Remember, that creating an e-learning platform requires ongoing budgeting for maintenance and updates. When outsourcing, consider factors beyond cost, such as quality, expertise, and communication with the development team.