How to Create an Educational App: Process And Strategies
Digitalization has revolutionized the modern education. Covid-19 sped up the shift to online learning and expanded the boundaries of educational opportunities. Education is now possible with online classes, interactive modules, webinars, virtual classrooms, training videos, and digital assessments.
By 2034, the global e-learning app market will reach US $470.1 billion. So, the industry is still actively growing with a CAGR of 5.8%, according to FactMr studies. They say the growth is now limited by the higher need for self-motivation on the part of the learners. Other sources are even optimistic, such as Global Market Insights, which expects a CAGR of 14%. So, today, we’ll find out how to make an educational app and seize a piece of this pie.
Why Learning Apps Are Popular
The pandemic of COVID-19 caused the whole world to need to learn about the conditions of the global lockdown. So, in the crisis, people had to quickly reinvent their way of learning. Technology has become our routine in the high-tech world. More than that, the learners have adapted to the new technologies and started to seek convenience. The key focus now is to tailor educational approaches to meet each generation’s unique needs. That’s why various types of learning apps are in demand, and people are increasingly turning to online learning.
Education through technology makes the process faster, easier to understand, and more convenient. This has given rise to many educational apps and e-learning platforms. These technological solutions allow institutions to lower the cost of operations. They also provide higher efficiency and easier management and bring other business benefits.
Learning application creation is the third most popular category in the development world. In 2022, education ranked third among the Apple App Store’s most popular categories. It comprises a whopping 9.75% share, and these apps are still soaring in popularity. So, let’s check how to create an educational app and start with the key features.
Key Features of a Successful Educational App.
In every product, there are always essential features that determine the functionality. They engage the users and enhance their learning experience. For an educational application, they are:
Course Catalog
That is the structured list of courses and modules offered in the app. This feature makes browsing and selecting courses simple and convenient for the users.
User profile
A user profile contains personal credentials, the courses studied, and the progress achieved. There should also be a dashboard allowing learners to view all the info relevant to the course, class, or subject they are taking. It should include linked teachers, class and exam schedules, and lists of projects or tasks.
User Progress Tracking
This functionality allows a learner to monitor progress in the course or module and stay on track а what has been learned, what remains to be learned, and the deadlines. Progress tracking helps estimate learning achievements and motivates and encourages students to complete the course.
Notifications
Notifications are the means of bringing a user back to learning. They remind us of upcoming courses, modules, lessons, deadlines due, platform updates, and much more. So, they keep the user informed of everything important about their learning.
Feedback and Ratings
This feature is valuable for both learners and educators. It enables users to provide feedback and rate their learning experience. Course creators can improve the quality of their courses based on the valuable insights they get from user feedback.
How to Create an Education App in 6 Steps
To better understand how to build a learning app, we have listed below the 6 successive steps of educational app development. Let’s check them one by one.
Ideation
The first stage, and the one that determines your app’s success in the future, is the ideation of how to build an educational app. You need to research the target audience, their needs, and pain points at this stage. With this in mind, brainstorm ideas on how those needs can be met and problems handled. It’s vital to think about how users feel about the application. The target audience also determines the look and features of mobile educational apps, so consider this. Different age groups require different approaches. Different courses require different realizations.
Research
The next step is competitors and market studies. Look for opportunities and mistakes other market players make to understand the present-day mobile app education landscape. Based on existing strategies and market trends, you can spot gaps in the market and improve your app concept. Form your Unique Selling Proposition and write down the ultimate goals.
Creating UX/UI design
The app should appeal to users, so crafting a user-friendly and engaging app for learning is crucial. This stage is devoted to creating UI/UX and designing visual elements. It involves prototyping, wireframing, and creating a style guide.
Development of a Learning App
The development stage involves programming, coding, integrating the necessary features and third-party services, assessment tools, and social learning. Carried out by professionals, this stage guarantees your app’s success. Professionals can build your app and suggest important technical nuances for making a learning app more efficient.
Testing
Testing and quality assurance are vital steps in software solution development. At this stage, you can thoroughly test your solution and ensure its functionality is consistent and the app is bug-free. Beta testing, user testing, and quality assurance testing help you release a product of high quality and faultless operation for your users’ learning pleasure.
Deployment
The world needs to know about your app in education, so you should deploy it to Google Play, the App Store, and other online marketplaces. Create an app store listing and optimize your solution for search engines. Think over a marketing strategy to promote your software solution.
The process of education application development may seem challenging and time-consuming. Yet, with proper planning and careful execution, it can be a rewarding endeavor that will transform the way of contemporary learning.
Educational App Development Best Practices
The software can significantly enhance learning experiences. To make a solution engaging, user-friendly, and effective, incorporate the best practices of educational app development. Let’s look at some most popular:
- User-centered design
An educational app should be designed with a target audience in mind: students, tutors, or educational establishments. Consider their age, educational background, learning style, and challenges. Use beta testing feedback to ensure the app is simple, intuitive, easy to navigate, visually appealing, and meets the actual needs of its users.
- Gamification
Gamification is an effective modern technique for motivating learners. It makes the educational process fun and engaging. Points, badges, and leaderboards increase engagement and make studying more enjoyable and rewarding.
- Interactive content
Incorporating interactive quizzes, puzzles, storylines, and other elements will keep users engaged. More than that, it will help reinforce the material through active involvement.
- Adaptive learning
This approach adjusts the educational experience based on the learner's ability and progress already achieved. By implementing adaptive learning, you can personalize the learning experience and provide the audience with content relevant to their level of knowledge.
- Social learning
This collaborative approach presupposes group activities, forums, discussions, and peer feedback. Thus, you can foster a sense of community, which often supports learning interests. Besides, it encourages students to learn from each other.
- Assessment tools
Assessment tools help learners understand their progress and see the areas that require improvement. So, providing the tools for progress measuring and immediate feedback allows students to gain insights into their strengths and weaknesses and guides them on their learning journey to make it more effective.
- Scalability and security
Keep in mind that your app's user base will grow, and ensure your mobile solution can handle increased loads. Maintaining data security should be your supreme focus for any app size and user base. So, implement robust security measures and create your solution with scalability in mind.
- Educational value and outcome focus
Educational outcomes should be your top priority. The content and app functionality should serve the overall learning goals and align with your app’s educational objectives. To better understand and keep the focus, let’s deal with the types of apps for learning.
Types Of Educational Applications
Various entities and organizations create educational software solutions.
Educational Institutions
Modern schools, high schools, colleges, and universities craft e-learning applications to supplement traditional studies. These apps provide remote learning opportunities for students and enhance their educational experience. Such apps organize students’ learning materials. They allow them to track their progress and stay on top of their coursework and deadlines.
These solutions offer interactive learning modules, personalized learning paths, assessments, and interactive games. They also allow communication and collaboration in groups, making the learning experience dynamic and engaging.
EdTech Startups
Startups in educational technology develop software as part of their business model. Their specific goal is to create solutions and approaches that disrupt traditional learning and offer innovative ways of acquiring knowledge.
Non-Profit Organizations
Charities, foundations, and NGOs create educational applications to promote education. They increase access to learning opportunities for underserved populations. They also deliver training to their staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries. NGOs increase their impact and improve their programs' outcomes with the apps' help, making them a part of their mission.
Government Agencies
They may be the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, or other agencies. They create educational apps to promote learning and development and encourage innovation.
Governmental e-learning solutions may provide ongoing professional development opportunities or deliver compliance, safety, and security training. These applications can ensure that the staff is skilled and knowledgeable enough to serve the public effectively.
Corporations
Organizations have many reasons for creating educational apps. First, they help them provide training and professional development to their employees. Second, they increase the skills and knowledge of other workers, providing experiences relevant to their job functions.
What is more, learning apps can be created for clients to give them a better understanding of the company’s products and services. It increases the user satisfaction and loyalty.
Key Benefits of Learning Apps
Some benefits of mobile learning apps are already quite clear, and others are not so obvious. So, let’s sum this matter up a bit.
The major benefits of an educational application that should be mentioned are:
Accessibility
The very concept of e-learning is that it allows access to knowledge and education from any part of the world and at any time, regardless of the physical location of teachers or learners. A user downloads an app and gets easy access to educational material from many devices. This has become possible due to cloud storage. Modern mobile solutions often allow offline access to their content, so one can study even if temporarily offline. A mobile app allows one to communicate with people worldwide and learn the best from them.
Permanent Source of Education
In the continuously developing world, people require continuous access to knowledge. That’s exactly what mobile devices can provide. A student can have all the handy materials at their disposal and complete work at any time. Mobile applications make uninterrupted training and learning possible in regions of military conflicts and even catastrophe zones.
Improved Customer Engagement
Well-built solutions crafted for the target audience and best practices of educational app development keep users interested and engaged. It’s often difficult to keep students’ attention in class. However, there is often no problem to make them use computers. The app engages with interactive tasks, images, PPTs, storytelling, and videos.
Diversified Content
Today, lots of content is available online. Educational apps are also abundant, so users can choose their favorite platforms to study. But there is also a chance for you to create unique content and stand apart from the crowd. Content is king, but your software solution should be innovative and user-friendly.
Interactive Learning
Customization and personalization make the learning process interactive. They are the secret of motivating students and not forcing them into the app. At the same time, applications allow learning at the student’s individual speed, in the most suitable format, and in comfortable conditions, at home or wherever. Virtual learning has brought the interactive approach to quite another level.
Round-the-clock Availability
Most online classes are recorded lectures with all the necessary materials stored. They are available at any time, and users may return to the lesson whenever they choose. This facilitates a more relaxed way of studying and releases the tension from managing education, life, and work. Education can be held at any time convenient to you and not according to a strict timetable.
Cost Effectiveness
Online learning is cost-effective. You are online and do not need space and conditions for studies. You record and create materials once for the course and use them later. You also do not need to pay salaries to employees all the school year-round but cooperate on win-win conditions.
Systematic and Improved Learning Ability
Educational applications are smart and systematic, and the content is well-organized in a specific manner. So students can follow a logical flow without much effort. Mobile apps are much more environmentally friendly than “old-style” learning, which requires tons of paper, multiple pens, pencils, and other stationery.
Educational App Development Trends
Let’s now pay some more attention to trends.
- Personalization
Everyone adores being unique, so the trend for personalization seems to be evergreen. Personalization in e-learning allows educators to adapt the study process to the user’s skill level and learning behavior. AI and machine learning help tutors and developers deliver personalized learning experiences through their apps.
- Customized courses
Another way to increase engagement in a learning application is to tailor content to match learners' specific interests and needs. This allows educators to create a more relevant learning experience for the students. What is more, the integration of virtual and augmented reality helps to craft immersive learning environments.
- Gamification
Gamification creates thrills and chills from learning. The original intention of using all the rewards, badges, puzzle-style activities, and leaderboards is to cause a specific state of a learner’s mind to increase their motivation to learn and engage.
- Social Learning or Forums for discussions
Forums are a means of communicating, interacting, and collaborating with other students in the learning community. Fostering a sense of community through discussion forums, peer-to-peer communication, discussion boards, or collaborative projects can encourage students to learn from each other. So, do not underestimate the sense of community and the benefits it may bring you.
- Offline access
Nowadays, offline access is a crucial factor. Learners should be able to access the course materials even if they do not have internet access for some time.
These are the key trends that evolve and help educational apps transform the way people learn. But what about the monetization options for educational apps? — Go on reading to find out.
Education App Development: Monetization Strategies
Marketing an educational app and monetizing it is an important step for gaining revenue. While the strategies for mobile app monetization are more or less similar, we’ve picked up some of the best and most workable e-learning solutions.
- Freemium
The model presupposes a free version with limited features available for everyone and a paid variant for those who want more and are eager to pay for additional features.
- Paid subscriptions
It’s access to premium features for a regular fee. Subscriptions can also vary according to the learner's level, the period of subscription, and the number of features offered.
- In-App purchases
You can offer your users additional content created by you and cooperate with vendors and sellers of educational services and goods, real or virtual.
How Much Does It Cost to Create a Learning App?
Nobody can ever answer the question of how much it costs to make an educational app without an accurate estimation of a specific project. The type of application, the tech stack, and the level and location of developers are the factors that influence the cost.
The cost of an educational solution will most likely exceed $100K. However, a rapid prototype can cost about $20K. Then, you can proceed to MVP and finally develop a full-fledged product based on your users' interests and feedback.
Conclusion
The sphere of online education has tremendous potential nowadays. Yet, to engage learners and make them loyal, you should develop a really cutting-edge product. So, do what others do not. The best option is to turn to a professional development team. Experienced developers know how to research to detect the weak places of your competitors, the pains of your potential clients that are not yet closed by the existing solutions, and the market trends to implement the best.
With all these facts, they can also prompt the best and most effective tech stack to craft your custom educational app cost-efficiently. Stfalcon does all these for clients. You can stop here and contact us today to discuss your opportunities and perspectives in learning application development.
FAQs about creating a learning app
What is a learning app?
It’s a software solution that facilitates virtual learning, an online platform to study content, pass tests, and be assessed.
How much does it cost to create an educational app?
To answer this question, you should know what education application you want to develop. The approximate budget for a rather simple yet functional app can start from US $100000. However, it’s better to begin with prototyping and MVP development. It’s 4 or 5 times cheaper, but you will test your solution with real users and get feedback. With the insights gained, you can then proceed to the development of a full-fledged solution.
How long does it take to create a learning app?
The average development time for an educational app is 3–5 months. However, the work continues after that as you add content, fix bugs, add features, and stay current.
Originally published at https://stfalcon.com.
