Personalizing Education Software

No matter who your demographic is, the potential for initial and ongoing learning is unlimited. From business and corporate training to self-guided development, remote learning for preschool through high school graduation, vocational schools, and university courses. Digital learning provides flexible solutions not only for the education field but also for healthcare or real estate, for example. When designed with the latest e-learning trends can personalize and improve the learning experience. Your goals and options are endless. Some e-learning website’s primary goal is to expand learning to anyone who wants to learn, while others are provided by schools, or for self-guided learning—for free or for a fee.

Top Online Education Technology

Even before COVID-19 forced students around the world into remote learning, education software was rapidly increasing in popularity. Digital classes play a vital role in both primary and secondary education. Statistics from the OECD show that if every child met midline targets in science, mathematics, reading, and problem solving—that the GDP of upper-middle-income countries would be 16% higher over the next 80 years. The GDP of lower-middle-income countries would be on average 28% higher over the next 80 years. Digital learning expands access to and improves the quality of education.

Online education has come a long way since it’s conception. From bland and boring text to visually engaging learning, that with the right strategy can be more effective than traditional classroom learning. Not to mention, the convenience of learning from anywhere in the world with internet access, any time of day or night. If you are wondering how to develop an app, you must first consider what features your software will deliver. This goes beyond whether you offer both live-stream classes and at-your-own pace courses to leveraging the top technologies in the education field. This currently includes:

• Intuitive & User-Friendly Design—your website, access-only student dashboard, and all content must be well-laid out, organized, and easy to navigate. The graphic elements must be visually appealing and designed to engage the demographic. Maybe more colorful for kids and more formal for corporate.

• Interactive elements—digital learning software should be an experience far beyond reading text on a screen. Your software should incorporate visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learning to stimulate the senses, in turn improving learning and retention. It should include graphics, motion images, video, audio clips, music, and more.

• Automation & AI—artificial intelligence combined with automation work together to track learner progress, measure overall subject retention, gather learner insights to improve your courses, create custom reports, and more.

• VR and AR—when courses are fun you accelerate learning and improve retention. virtual reality and augmented reality can be used to create interactive games often referred to as gamification. Or learner experiences, such as taking a tour of a real-life museum, school campus, or lab. Gamification often supports group learning which can make students feel more connected and engaged.

• AI Chatbots—smart chatbots do more than just answer student FAQs, but they get smarter with every question, helping you minimize how many questions your instructors must answer. Chatbots may not eliminate instructor engagement, but it provides after-hours and 24/7 student support, improving the learning experience—especially when a student is stuck and can’t move forward without assistance.
• Open Source Textbooks—online education doesn’t necessarily limit the need for traditional textbooks. With open-source textbooks, your school or learning app can greatly expand learning resources. Open-source textbooks are free or fee-based and are open to teachers, students, and the public in print, eBook, and audio formats.
• Personalized learning—not every student learns the same way. Some can comprehend and learn well reading text while others learn better with visuals or gamification. Some students need more visuals and interactive elements in some subjects, but less in others. Learning pace varies from one student to the next, and one subject to the next. With the right AI assessments, you can personalize e-learning to the individual student.

Tips For Selecting Your Education Software Technology

More is not always better so you must determine which e-learning trends are of most value to your students and instructors. For example, if your target audience is corporate or self-guided learners it is unlikely that you will have a high demand for textbooks. However, don’t make any of your decisions without proper research. For example, you might not think that AR or VR could improve the learning experience, but your students may not feel the same way. Is it their needs you are considering, or what you believe will be faster, easier, or less of an investment? Or that you have never experienced AR or VR learning so aren’t sure what it has to offer?

To remain competitive, you must be open to implementing modern technologies. These tips will help determine what technology is right for you. Understanding student needs—Be strategic and perform market research, with the goal of gaining an in-depth understanding of student needs. If you are upgrading your current education software, survey your current students. Otherwise, a firm can perform your market research for you.

Define what success looks like—Next up, you need to define what successful learning looks like. This goes beyond your goal of generating new students, to the quality of your learning. Do students feel confident in what they have learned? What is their retention rate? Did they enjoy your class or course? Identify quantifiable metrics so that you can track your success and fine-tune your courses as you go. This should include allowing students to provide their own feedback or review.

Develop your e-learning strategy—an e-learning strategy should map out the learning goals for each class, often including test results at the end of each section, and again at the completion of the course. If your e-learning app serves a wide range of demographics, your strategy may vary from one course to the next. Finally, you must consider how you will market your new software, often targeting a variety of demographics by their individual needs. Digital marketing is a must, even once you start to generate referrals.

e-Learning Websites You Should Know

If this is your first e-learning endeavor, it’s a good idea to test a few other education software sites. Even once your app is established, you must keep an eye on the competition, both for inspiration and to ensure you remain a worthy contender. Here are a few of the top e-learning websites:

Udemy

Udemy is a global learning website where any coach, instructor, or expert from around the world can add their own video-based content. Even you! Courses span the range of Business, Design, Photography, Development, Marketing, IT & Software, and Personal Development. Several courses offer a certification of completion, some of which can count toward accredited requirements—but most are not accredited certifications or credits. Search for several of the topics you might explore on Google, but expect the classes to be at a much higher level of detail. There are countless instructors for each topic so read the course details and consumer reviews.

Coursera

Coursera instructors are a bit more exclusive than Udemy. You can stream countless lectures from professors, industry experts, and topic experts. This includes free and greatly discounted courses from Universities and Corporations such as Illinois, Duke University, Google, University of Michigan, IBM, Imperial College London, Stanford, Penn, and many more. More than just classes, you can obtain accredited certifications and degrees for many of their courses.

Open Yale

Open Yale provides direct access to video, audio, and text transcripts of pre-recorded classroom lectures from Yale professors. No credits, certifications, or degrees are provided, as the goal of this project is to expand access to education for all who wish to learn. This gives the everyday person direct access to some of the most brilliant minds in their field.

Online Learning Consortium

Founded by leaders and innovators who work together to create modern and engaging digital curriculums. Online Learning Consortium and similar sites have become increasingly popular since COVID-19. This is a collaborative community designed to help teachers in their transition from classroom learning to full or part-time remote learning. Since most teachers had no experience with online software or online education pre-pandemic, Online Learning Consortium™ and similar sites have been vital for the 2020 school year.

Summary

Wondering how to develop your e-learning app? As you can see, there are many factors to consider. You’ll require more than your average website designer, as your software will need to be built from scratch. It will need to be accessible via small mobile screens as well as notebooks, laptops, and desktops. There will need to be advanced internal and external features and functions, such as the ability to upload homework and assignments and two-way communication. So, you must hire a team of developers who is well-versed in e-learning.

The StarNavi team is experts in developing proprietary technology and education web apps. We work with you to determine the unique features your app will deliver, as well as the branded, intuitive, and visually appealing design.  Reach out to StarNavi today to discuss your custom education software!

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