The sky is blue, the sun is hot, the people learn. Some things tend to be constant. The will to learn is natural to human beings all around the world. Especially today, when technological progress demands more and more knowledge from everyone. And the educational process has also changed with the years – instead of spending hours spilling ink and being lectured, people now educate themselves online. Quite a surprise for a digital era, isn’t it?
So, when something is being done online it surely deserves an app that will let that thing be done wherever the users might be. Thus, if an organization provides any kind of online education, it is essential to create an educational app that will let all the students learn successfully (and will, of course, attract new students). If you can watch a football game or your favorite TV show on your smartphone, you probably would like to use that exact smartphone to pass some new courses, or – if you are a teacher yourself – to send schedules, tests, exams, and whatever else to your students. So, here’s our guide on how to create an educational app and how to make money on such an app.
Table of Contents
Online Learning Overview
Public and private institutions alike are eager to provide online courses these days. The number of online students grows progressively year after year. The e-learning market blooms like never before and the amounts of money involved are marvelously huge – more than $200 Billion per year. That’s why many educational institutions and commercial companies today strive to create an educational app that would work on every OS platform. An app that would benefit everyone at the same time.
For the students, an educational app has to provide comfort in everything studying-related. Instead of following a strict timeline, the students have to be offered to choose what they want to do first, and what has to be done at the last moment. Also, when it comes to taking some learning courses while you have a job to do, it is essential to have the ability to interact with other students and tutors whenever needed. It’s easy to miss something important when you’re on the shift. When there is a good educational app on your smartphone you won’t miss anything, just follow the notifications.
For companies and educational institutions to create an educational app literally means to increase profits and avoid formalities. Basically speaking, when the people you educate are learning wherever they like (preferably outside the auditoriums) you don’t have to turn on the light for them, thus cutting the electricity costs. The students also don’t use the furniture and equipment, they don’t form a line in a dining hall, use the digital copies of the books, etc. The saving gets incredibly profitable – you just have to create an educational app that will offer the students everything they have to be offered with. Or they will come for your electricity. Beware.
Types, Features, and Other Details
Apps for students:
- Educational apps – those apps provide books, video lessons, educational documents, and other kinds of scientific data required for successful learning.
- Exam apps – those apps are meant to prepare students for the forthcoming exams and tests. They provide a practice ground for eventual success.
- Apps for kids – those apps are for the youngest. They are designed to help the kids develop their skills in anything they like, while also having fun in the process. To create an educational app of this kind the developers are required to have some game-developing experience.
Apps for teachers:
- Planning apps – apps of that kind are for planning lessons, tests, exams, and personal assignments.
- Content apps – those apps are for content management. With such an app a teacher can download the necessary files and send them, or show them to the students afterwards.
- Presentation apps – easy to guess: those apps are for making presentations for students.
- Language learning apps – those apps are for the future interpreters, and for those who educate them. Just what is needed for speaking and writing exercises, and also to pass the tests.
To create an educational app today it is necessary to follow the online learning trends. Lots of interesting ideas do constantly appear and, from time to time, turn into must-have features every app is supposed to offer. If the app is meant for kids to help them learn it has to use game-based mechanics, so the young users won’t get bored (too soon, at least) and will get immersed into the educational process.
In other cases, when there has to be more practice than theory, augmented reality – or virtual reality – features must be present. More and more corporations worldwide are beginning to use VR and AR for employee training. No matter what the users learn and how old they are it is essential today to include artificial intelligence and voice assistants into the app, if it is meant for studying. These things are not only helpful – they are necessary for the app to function, since technological progress constantly enhances the existing digital base towards the use of AI. Creating an educational app without those features means losing both time and money. So, it’s not a mistake to follow the crowd sometimes.
Speaking of common features, which are essential for an educational application to exist, there are the same good things we see in apps of other kinds. When a user installs an educational app it should offer to create a profile or to log in to the existing one. The educational content has to be the base part, so the search bar along with scheduling tools has to be always present, yet shall not interfere into the educational process. All the existing exams, projects, and tests have to be on a separate list from the main educational workplace. Notifications are essential, just as the application’s social platform (to communicate with teachers and friends). Personalization tools are also a must-have feature, especially if the app is meant for kids.
Making Money on Educational Apps
Every educational app is meant to help people who strive to learn something new. Anyway, nobody said the help should be free. Most educational apps are paid. Some have a free trial feature; others offer paid certificates. But if you are kind-hearted and generous you still can monetize your free app. Creating an educational app and making it profitable is easier than it may seem to be. Just add some ads. That option is the easiest one – put the advertising of your business partners or other companies in your app and just keep on raising money. Just keep the banners under control and don’t make them annoying. That will do the trick.