Like a lot of things that gained traction owing to the wave of digitization, E-learning is here to stay. And, its popularity has only grown with the onset of social distancing during the ongoing global pandemic. Students and professional around the world are turning to online classes and distance education as social distancing and quarantines become the new normal. Interestingly, E-learning has been around for much longer than what many would expect; it dates back to 1999! And here we thought, it just happened a while back. So, what makes E-learning so appealing? For starters, it is convenient; all you need is a smartphone and internet to start learning right where you are. It does not matter what your age is or what skill level you are currently at, there is a course out there for everyone who is interested. However, if you want to venture into E-learning as business and develop your own offering, then you need to keep a few pointers at hand. Here is a list of a few Technical aspects to keep in mind when you want to develop your own E-learning application. In this article we will see the checklist to build a successful e-learning application.
Learning Management System or LMS LMS is an important and technically complex aspect that you need to pay special attention to. An LMS helps you design and prepare courses that offer a good learning experience. While selecting and customizing an LMS, you need to keep in mind how you want your courses to appear and the structure of each module and sub-module in the flow of the entire course. The LMS tool should be able to help you edit and revise your courses as you move along. The LMS also needs to be secured to prevent any data on it from being compromised.
Hosting options To venture into the E-learning business, you need to figure out where you will be hosting your offering. There are two options to consider: A hosted LMS or a cloud-based platform. The decision depends on the budget and technical expertise at hand. If you want to host an LMS, then it will be installed on the company’s server and the entire data will be stored in-house. This is a time-consuming option that is equally complex. Before you deploy the hosted LMS, the compatibility of the system with the existing network and software architecture should be thoroughly tested. Otherwise, the system will crash, leaving you without a working model. In many cases, the systems need to be integrated as well which can easily take about 3 to 6 months. The other option is a cloud-based platform. This is the easy selection as the platform is hosted on the web itself and you can get the LMS up and running in no time. Many E-learning offerings opt for cloud-based solutions as it is quicker and cost-effective. In whichever choice made, the software architecture needs to be robust to protect against data hacking and crashes.
Integration with other systems Once your E-learning application is up and running, the next important aspect to tackle is integration of different software and offerings with the application. Integrating services like HR software, BI systems and Customer Relationship Management system helps you cover the different aspects of running a successful E-learning offering. You need to list down your requirements and figure out the best solution that is compatible with your model.
Video Asset Protection For an E-learning application, videos and course material are intellectual property. It is therefore, crucial to ensure that the application does not allow for the unlawful downloading of learning course videos. There are many services in the market that can help protect videos from being downloaded through Digital Rights Management or DRM encryptions. This helps secure the videos from being pirated and prevent against unlawful usage of the same without the owner’s consent.
Payment Processing And finally, we have payment processing. So many times, people find what they are looking for online and make it to the cart checkout and are faced with a payment fulfilment issue. There is a big chance that they will drop the cart after a few attempts. Making sure that payment gateways are properly integrated on your E-learning offering is the key to bringing the money in. Hassle free checkouts are important for your business’ conversion rates.
‘The market for E-learning is blooming.’ As more people sign-up for digital learning and skill enhancement, the demand for E-learning solutions will only grow bigger. It is important that online learning solutions learn to efficiently cater the needs of the varied demographics turning up at their digital door. Learning is evolving and so should the industry.
