By 2025, it is anticipated that the online education market will reach $350 billion, with the vast majority of that amount going toward mobile learning, whether through apps that are only available on mobile devices or those that offer both mobile and web versions. The market share of educational platforms and applications was expanding quickly even before Covid made in-person learning difficult.
With certification and even credit from top universities, eLearning platforms offer a wide range of educational and professional proficiency courses. Platforms like edX, Coursera, and FutureLearn are expanding every day and have been doing so for at least ten years.
Now that more than 50% of all downloaded apps are being used for learning, mobile learning is even more important. You need to be able to learn on the go, whether it’s while you’re standing in line at the dentist’s or during a brief study session before bed.
Both students and seasoned professionals who want to advance their education, obtain a certification, or change their career path should consider this. Businesses are aware of this and view eLearning as a great way to help upskill their employees. Additionally, they offer it as a service given that eLearning platforms have developed into lucrative business ventures.
Types of Mobile eLearning Applications and their objectives
Depending on the target audience, purpose, and characteristics, mobile learning apps can be of a wide range of types and varieties, including academic apps for schools and universities, corporate, and commercial apps. It’s important to remember that while some eLearning applications are designed exclusively for mobile users, many of them can be accessed on both the web and mobile devices.
eLearning app development companies in Dubai can help businesses and educational institutions create customized mobile learning solutions that cater to their specific needs and objectives. These companies have expertise in developing mobile learning apps that are user-friendly, engaging, and effective in delivering educational content to learners.
If an application was initially web-based, it almost always introduces a mobile version, later on, to accommodate and draw in more potential students. To provide you with some ideas for eLearning apps, let’s examine some of the popular platforms and educational applications:
● Platform For Mobile Online Courses
This website serves as a marketplace for accredited educators and educational institutions to offer their online learning programs. These programs typically feature video lessons that are supplemented by readings, assignments, and discussion boards where students can interact with each other and the course instructor. Examples include Khan Academy, Skillshare, Masterclass, Udemy, Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn.
Courses from prestigious universities like Stanford, Yale, MIT, and Johns Hopkins University have been featured on some platforms. These eLearning platforms do not, however, only serve students from the Ivy League and comparable institutions. In addition to individuals who are experts in their fields and want to present a personal learning course on their subject, organizations, and businesses also offer courses. Platforms for online education frequently offer certification.
● Educational Apps
These are apps for managing schools or any apps that support formal education. The apps, like Curriculum, Educreations, and Classflow, provide teachers with tools to organize the teaching and learning process. There are also apps for student grading and performance evaluation, such as Edmodo, ZipGrade, QuickGrader, and iGrade. The latter ones are tailored to the needs of the teacher in this area and focus on a particular feature, namely grading.
● Virtual Classroom Apps
The “thing” right now is virtual classroom apps because Covid makes it impossible to attend a physical class. To involve students in the learning process and simulate the aspects of learning that are missing in a remote setting, such as live discussions, in-person interactions, and the ability to ask the teacher a question right away, these apps simulate the experience of learning in an actual classroom.
The experience of a virtual classroom can be the same as or better than that of an in-person one with the use of the appropriate tools, such as online whiteboards, chat rooms, and file sharing. Examples of this could include WizIQ, Google Classroom, Virtual Blackboard, and Virtual Classroom.
● Tutorial Apps
The goal of online tutoring platforms is to link students and private tutors and support their ongoing relationship by handling things like scheduling classes, collecting payments, monitoring attendance, assigning homework, etc. Some platforms demand credentials, such as a diploma or a teaching license, from the tutor. Preply, Tutor House, Tutorful, Skooli, and Lessonface are a few examples.
● Language Learning Apps
For commercial eLearning mobile apps, language learning is a very common niche that applies to all demographics. Who doesn’t want to learn a new language, after all? Everyone makes this resolution at least once in their lifetime, making it one of the most well-liked ones. Apps for learning languages include Duolingo, Lingualeo, Babbel, Lang-8, LingQ, Memrise, and Busuu.
● E-learning Apps For Preschoolers
E-learning apps for preschoolers are a completely different category of mobile apps that primarily concentrate on creating an enjoyable and visually appealing game-like experience while teaching the child the fundamentals of math, reading, and spelling, as well as colors and other concepts. For instance, Lingokids, Kid-E-Cats, Bebi Family Games, and toddler puzzle games.
● Others
Then some apps weren’t really created with education in mind, but they have since been adopted and are frequently used by educational institutions, companies, and people to deliver webinars, knowledge sharing, learning sessions, manage homework, etc. These include
➔ video conferencing equipment (e.g., Skype, Zoom, Circuit, Join. me)
➔ apps for task management (e.g., Todoist, Trello, Asana)
➔ time management and blocking (e.g., Brain Focus, Forest, FocusBooster).
Features & functionalities that a mobile learning platform should have
Even though there are eLearning platforms that will host your course for you, many businesses choose to create their learning programs. On this basis, they can fully control the features and functionalities offered by the app, establish their standards, scale it as necessary, brand it to make it recognizable, and decide how to monetize it. This is especially true for mobile learning apps, which are quickly emerging as a popular market segment with promising long-term prospects.
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Let’s Examine some of the essential features of eLearning mobile apps that should be taken into account when developing educational products:
● Individual User Accounts
A personal user account enables the user to download the app, create a dashboard, and gain access to numerous features like progress tracking, messaging, and badge collection. These user accounts could be those of a student, teacher, administrator, or parent, among others. Depending on the user’s goals for using the app, a student account will have different features than a teacher’s or parent’s.
To conduct online classes, teachers may need to create courses, add files for students to share, and use screencasting tools, while students need to gain access to the course materials and turn in completed homework.
A parent’s user account would have fewer features because they are more likely to want to view student progress statistics and communicate with the teacher if necessary. In any case, allowing users to set up individual accounts gives the developer the chance to add a ton of fresh features, making it as straightforward or complex as they like, ultimately producing a comprehensive interactive learning environment.
● Course Information
Course details provide a general description of the course along with additional details like the lecturer, whether subtitles are available, length, level of difficulty, and certification.
● Management of Content
Because eLearning apps are so heavily loaded with content of all types and levels of complexity, content management is a feature that is a must-have. These could be articles, PDF downloads, audio files, video lessons, etc. While developing or updating their courses, teachers may need to manage the content, and students may need to upload and submit coursework for evaluation. Therefore, both teachers and students must have proper functionality for file storage and share both inside and outside of the app.
● Learning Notes
When a student is enrolled in a course, lesson notes enable them to make highlights and take notes on the material, which they can then use for revision. By including that as a feature, it is no longer necessary to take actual notes on paper or use another program for the same purpose. The ability to store all of the course materials, including the student’s notes, in one location may be more convenient for the student.
● Text Messaging And Forums
Any type of app can use text chat and discussion forums as an additional means of interaction and learning by allowing students and teachers to discuss and further explore the topics covered in the course.
● Interactive Evaluations
The main points of a lecture or piece of reading can be quickly checked by the students by using educational quizzes and other interactive assessments. These can be general quizzes at the end of a segment or checkpoints scattered throughout a video.
● Personalization
Any application can benefit from personalization, but eLearning stands to gain the most from it. As a result, a student can have a personalized dashboard with recommendations that will show him what courses to take in the future to continue learning as well as what subjects are appropriate for their interests. AI-driven personalization makes learning more engaging and rewarding by analyzing student behavior, spotting trends, and making appropriate recommendations.
● Elements of Social Networks
Any app can benefit from social network features like sharing to social media, inviting friends, and private messaging as they add a social component and replicate the experience of taking a traditional offline course where you learn with other people. This increases engagement, motivates those who prefer group learning, and makes it clear what kinds of classes and learning resources the students prefer and want to share. A snowball effect will occur if students enjoy your eLearning platform and invite their friends and friends of friends to sign up.
● Chatbots
Chatbots assist users in navigating applications and resolving problems, whether a student needs advice about a course’s curriculum or enrollment, for example.
Analytics assist in monitoring and analyzing student engagement, performance, and attendance. Knowing how users are interacting with the app, how frequently they use it, and how they engage with the materials is important when creating and later maintaining the app. Having data and analytics on student engagement and performance aids the teacher in making assessments. In cases where their statistics make up a portion of the final grade, students may want to keep track of their stats.
● Remote Access
Users can access the app materials on the go and study or work when and where it is most convenient for them thanks to offline access to lessons and lesson notes. The addition of this feature immediately improves your app.
● Notifications
Every kind of app can use notifications. These could include alerts for newly added courses, approaching deadlines, work submitted (for teachers), and messages. Automated notifications are an option, or students may prefer to set a schedule and receive reminders to use the app and complete the tasks on particular days or times of the week. This will help them stay on track with their studies.
Wrapping Up
Instead of utilizing a pre-made solution or a subscription service, creating your eLearning app is preferable because you can create something that is tailored to your unique requirements. You don’t have to make concessions and changes to adapt to an available LMS if your company already has established procedures and practices (such as onboarding, etc.).
Instead, you get to design an application that perfectly satisfies your needs and demands. Additionally, you are not constrained in what you can provide to your students when you have your mobile learning application. With a committed group of people seeking knowledge, you can design your special learning environment.
