The Ultimate Guide to Educational App Development

The Ultimate Guide to Educational App Development

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Without education, you cannot succeed today. It isn’t about documents confirming that you have graduated from, say, Sorbonne or Yale universities, but about real knowledge and professional skills. So educational apps are coming to the fore.

And an owner of mobile training services doesn't come off a loser too (if he thinks over the monetization strategy correctly, of course). All he has to do is to figure out how to create a learning app and follow the plan... it’s a rather risky business if approached improperly, but, luckily, we're willing to help you.

Learning Services: What Is This All About?

So what is it and why is it so popular? Why is the education market full of various tutoring apps?

Let’s see!

What is the service of learning?

Later in the article, we'll describe the types of mobile learning services in more detail, and now it's just important to seize the point.

So, educational apps for distance learning are mobile services aimed at helping users of different ages and with different skills master certain academic disciplines.

Benefits of service-learning applications

Being educated is in trend these days. That’s why good educational apps have become so popular today, which is beautifully illustrated below.

educational apps

Educational apps for adults and kids are gaining momentum in popularity. Where does such demand come from, it would seem? Well, let's figure it out... perhaps our analysis will allow you to see the reasons for the popularity of various kinds of earning services.

Reasons for the popularity of services with learning opportunities:

  1. Modernity. You must create an educational app if you want to offer a service that perfectly meets the needs of the community. In the end, modern users choose modern ways of solving problems, and mobile apps are just what they really need today.

  2. Efficiency. Undoubtedly, high technologies expand opportunities to obtain knowledge most effectively, qualitatively, and with comfort.

  3. Always at hand. Wherever the user goes, he or she always has the opportunity to start learning (if they have a free minute, of course). And it doesn't come as a surprise, since learning apps are available wherever there is an Internet (if one has a suitable device). So developing an educational application is a great idea!

  4. Saving. It is about saving time and money on teachers.

  5. Analysis of the effectiveness of training. An educational app for learning provides statistics on achievement dynamics and user level.

Main Trends of Educational Apps

When thinking of your own app for learning, you should consider the main trends in education in the mobile area. We offer to pay attention to 5 of them.

  1. The important role of video content. According to forecasts, by 2019, videos will generate 80% of global Internet traffic. First of all, entertainment content is going to be in demand, but the trend will affect the mobile education market.

  2. Certification issue. Therefore, you, a provider of learning services, have no choice but to select the lecturers very carefully. Also, you have to take good care of their reputation.

  3. Learning with a game element. Game-based educational apps for adults ensure higher user engagement: emotional perception increases the absorption of information by 9%.

  4. Increasing interest in AR and VR. Let's start with virtual reality. The VR feature helps to significantly improve the education process, make it more visual. You don't just read about, say, some historical event, you literally see it. Cool, isn't it? Now let's discuss augmented reality. It is more affordable and easier to implement since you don't need additional accessories such as special glasses or a helmet. In this case, it's enough to download a suitable educational application, without the need for additional accessories such as a helmet or something of the sort. AR has a lot of advantages, like these ones:

    1. visibility: the technology allows you to see the smallest details, bring a certain object closer, and create the illusion of interaction with it;

    2. security: you can get into the essence of things without fear of breaking or spoiling something.

  5. Microtraining. The average person is willing to devote 1% of his time to additional training. So next year the use of short videos, small text, or visual materials will be in trend. Keep this in mind when creating educational apps.

Read more about AR in our article. Just follow the link!

Types of Educational Applications

Before thinking of how to make an educational app, you need to find out what types of mobile learning services are so demanded.

#1. Kid-focused educational applications

Why not make an educational app for kids? After all, children are constantly learning something. And they do it from the earliest years. Moreover, the range of lessons can be extremely wide, from reading to arithmetic. 

Anyway, kid-focused learning services are very popular among parents who aspire to give their daughters and sons all the best.

how to create a learning app

#2. Mobile addition to the professional course

The market is filled with all kinds of courses on a wide variety of subjects. And although many of them are offline ones, such addition as educational apps won't hurt. On the contrary, the learning process will become even more successful thanks to mobile support.

P.S. In a world that has survived the coronavirus pandemic, developing an app for education becomes even more urgent.

#3. Education apps aimed at teachers & students

Another productive idea is to create an educational app for teachers and students. It can be used both in the classroom and when teaching at a distance (which may come in handy in a pandemic). 

Educational apps like these would help teachers present their subjects more effectively to students. 

#4. Reference apps

Thinking of developing an educational app of the simplest type? Then it's best to create a kind of reference resource. The application of the sort will contain various learning materials, including reference books, dictionaries, and so on.

#5. The grading learning apps

Tutoring apps have a lot of useful features, among other things, they help to assess the students’ progress. However, there is another interesting and rather promising learning app development idea, namely, the creation of a service, which is totally aimed at testing the user's skills and knowledge.

#6. Niche markets apps

Now we're talking about apps for educational purposes of a specific course such as driving lessons, medical programs et alia. The most popular programs in this regard are, of course, language learning apps.

But, surely, learning foreign language apps is by no means the only option. You can teach users to sing, play the piano, paint, whatever. There are many cool services with great learning ideas!

#7. An educational app for teachers 

Of course, you shouldn’t ignore the teachers as well. And in such a case, educational app development must be guided by other criteria, namely, assistance in making up programs of instruction, and perfecting the teaching process.

Educational App Features

Ok, the first stage is over, the very initial one. It's time to ask yourself how to make an educational app the best of the best. What features will get it to work at full capacity?

If you have any doubts, we’re ready to help you find out what is most important to consider when creating educational apps.

  1. Registration & Account Creation. Don't reinvent the wheel. Start like all your competitors do, namely, by registering a user and creating his personal account. His page is needed so that he can access his data regarding the learning process.

  2. Search. Of course, search is also a must-have of any online and mobile service, and the educational application is no exception. The user would be upset if he doesn't find such a feature.

  3. Social media integration. We spend a lot of time on social media. Even our work is often associated with the use of Facebook and other similar resources. Therefore, social media integration is a must-have. And all kinds of educational mobile programs are no exception. Among other things, they simplify the registration process in your own app for learning.

  4. Push Notifications. Well, you can't do without smart notifications either. And why give up such a great chance to captivate the user with your service? Resort to this feature to remind users of your app from time to time (just don't overdo it). 

  5. Educational content. Show your imagination to the fullest, do your best to provide educational content in a variety of formats, including audio, video, and text. The theoretical base should be supplemented by practical exercises, preferably presented in a playful way.

  6. Socialization. It's not enough to create an educational app allowing users to gain new knowledge and get various skills. You need to offer them a real network to communicate with each other. We're talking about chat, the ability to add other users as friends, and similar features.

  7. Statistics on users’ progress. We've already spoken about it when discussing the benefits of service-learning apps. By the way, you can even think of rewarding excellent students with interesting gifts, even virtual ones.

  8. Grouping lessons. If your mobile app focuses on different topics, break them down into logical groups.

  9. Convenient class schedule. When thinking about how to build an educational app, pay attention to the formation of class schedules. The student should be able to take the course in stages, from simpler subjects to more complex ones.

  10. Feedback. Reviews and Rating. Feedback is helpful to both you and your users. You can check the user experience and fix your service if needed. And other users would be happy to read an opinion about a particular lesson or course and make the right choice.

Surely, this is only a shortlist of educational app features. It's up to you to diversify it as you wish.

 developing an educational app

How to Build an Educational App

We give you a simple scheme to build an educational app of top-notch quality; surely, you’ll need additional help from outside, and we know what to offer in this regard. However, one step at a time. 

#1. Educational app ideas

It all starts with a bright idea, which is undoubtedly half the success. So the first step may seem too simple, but the impression is deceiving.

#2. Market research

And now check the originality of your idea. Don’t be discouraged if it's not unique, such a result is almost inevitable! In addition, competition indicates the relevance of your future mobile service.

BTW!

To take your rightful place among the market leaders, do your best to find a way to stand out among them. What can you offer to catch the user’s attention?

#3. Testing ideas

We've described several educational app ideas earlier, and we hope you choose one of them to bring it to life. However, before you jump into action, check the potential demand.

You probably have a certain circle of acquaintances, right? Invite them to share their impressions of the future application. Does it meet their expectations? What is missing? Use their tips when developing an app for education.

#4. Search for contractors

You'll definitely need help from educational app developers, QA experts, and UI/UX designers, and it's better that they all work in the same company. Being a well-adjusted team, they'll act in a more coordinated manner, which would lead to better results.

Though, we’re going to discuss the issue in more detail below.

Useful Tips on Educational Application Development

But it isn’t enough to know how to build an educational app, you need to know how to improve its profitability.

We’d like to give you some useful tips:

  • gamification. Learning apps shouldn't bore the user! And why, when it is very easy to introduce an element of the game into the educational process.

  • use vivid graphics & interesting sounds, which can also serve the purpose of gamification. Though some users might find loud sounds annoying and distracting, so it should be possible to turn them off.

  • lessons should be clear, short, useful, and rewarded. By the way, here's another cool gamification idea! Why don't you come up with a system for rewarding user success? He (or she) is likely to work much harder if promised a reward (even if it is virtual, such as bonus balls). Thus, mobile training services have more chances to become more in demand.

  • resort to proven educational techniques. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Moreover, creativity in teaching matters can impair the outcome.

    • This is especially true in the case of educational apps for kids.

  • compatibility with different devices. You don’t know which platforms (iOS, Android) your users prefer, so you should consider all the possibilities. But how to create educational Android and iOS apps? If you know nothing about coding, you'll need to hire a team, which employs all desired experts.

  • intuitive UI/UX. Don't forget about the interface design and ease of use of your service. And again, when it comes to children, user-friendliness is a must-have.

  • offer a free version of your mobile learning service to entice users: a trial program or a Light option (with the possibility of acquiring a full Pro service). 

  • keep an eye on competitors and follow the main trends in education. This rule is quite simple and clear: you should always be among the leaders and know what is in demand right now.

  • user experience comes first! Among other things, it means thinking of the user's needs... say, some users have devices with very small screen sizes. So, when creating educational apps, you need to ensure that your content is readable on the screens of any resolution.

  • MVP model. If you have a lean budget, but still want to make an educational app, start with the MVP model. Later, you’ll have the opportunity to improve your mobile service.

What to Consider When Developing an Educational App?

So, what should you think about if you want to build an educational app? Of course, about finding highly qualified educational app developers! It depends on them how quality and effective your mobile service will be.

Mutually beneficial cooperation with a contractor implies… 

  • Quality portfolio. Make sure the agency you choose has educational app development projects, which are completed successfully.

  • A comprehensive approach. Of course, you can hire separately developers, testers, and UI/UX experts to build an educational app for you. But in the end, the result will be far from the best. Wouldn't it be better to find a team that employs all the specialists you need?

  • Flexible pricing. Educational application development is expensive, which is natural, but why pay extra money? Let’s say, developers from the USA have extremely high rates, but they don’t work better than specialists from other countries (with lower rates).

We offer you our services with certainty that you’ll be satisfied with our mutual cooperation, as Agilie team fully meets all the requirements described. Just follow the link and explore our portfolio. Undoubtedly, such a small study will arouse a desire to join our clients.

And if we've convinced you of the benefits of mobile technology in education, contact us without further delay!

 

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