How to Create a Successful Educational App for the Android and iOS Platforms

The global customer is not unfamiliar with the e-learning niche. According to the Holon IQ report, it was growing before the pandemic, with a value of $138 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $404 billion by 2025. Education has undergone one of the most significant transformations. Even though remote learning has been around for a long time, unanticipated and forced change has proven to be a significant difficulty. Even though recent market trends were adverse for many businesses, they boosted online learning and caused entrepreneurs to take a closer look at the sector.

So, the question is how to make a successful educational app for iOS or Android. There’s no better scenario than now to address this issue.

This article shows a comprehensive overview of the e-learning industry, including the current condition of the market, niche characteristics, and the most important items to examine before creating your educational app.

1. What are educational apps and why are they so prevalent?

One approach to getting this knowledge is through learning apps. An educational app is a mobile software component aimed at assisting people with any type of remote learning. These are just a few examples of applications that teach youngsters fundamental arithmetic to apps that serve as complex professional training platforms for adults.

1.1 What percentage of people use educational apps? 

i. Children of various ages, beginning with toddlers, can master basic skills and make the learning process easier.

ii. Students, candidates, and students who require assistance with exam preparation

iii. Specialists who want to keep their current level of qualification or advance to the next one.

iv. People that decide to start something different or further their education master the essential abilities and learn new information.

v. Educational institutions to address a variety of learning issues

vi. Platforms for online courses to use such apps as a tool for market marketing.

2. Types of Educational Apps

There are innumerable ways to categorize learning apps, just as there are numerous types of learning apps.

Before you build your app, you’ll need to figure out what training your customers will require. Educational apps can be classified as follows, depending on their intended use:

2.1 Learning Platforms/Online Courses

If we’re talking about learning platforms like Udemy, Coursera, or edX, we’re talking about a well-designed, stable platform with a variety of courses and a large number of content developers.

Create a comfortable environment for taking classes in the most digestible style if you’re thinking about making this type of software. Allow course makers to load a course in sections, accept as many formats as possible, and include tests, a grade scale, and motivational aspects for future students.

2.2 Educational Games

Learning and entertainment go together with game-style apps. You should have a solid learning idea, story, and gaming situation that will encourage users to study while playing. Of course, well-thought-out and effective gamification is a challenging period of app development. However, it encourages users to continue learning in a fun and enjoyable environment. As a result, while such applications are sophisticated, they are popular when compared to other types.

2.3 Memorizing

Visuals and a flash card approach for memorizing various types of information are usually the centre of such apps. They can be utilized by students of all ages and for a variety of reasons. Users of Brainscape, for example, can make their cards or use those already on the platform.

2.4 Learning management system (LMS) apps

Learning management systems are a common form of training tool these days. Large corporations utilize such apps to bring together multiple learning topics for their staff. Employee training is carried out in a single shared place with the help of an LMS, which is easy to examine and evaluate.

2.5 Exam Preparation Apps

Exam preparation entails more than just cramming at all hours of the day and night—technology may assist students in managing their time, improving their focus, organizing their study resources, and so on. Typically, test-based apps have access to large knowledge libraries and dictionaries on a variety of topics.

2.6 Classroom Education Apps

Another popular sort of teaching app is so-called classroom applications, which focus on the management of the learning process rather than the learning process itself. Parents, instructors, and students typically use such apps to keep track of their children’s progress in one place.

2.7 Educational Apps for Kids

Educational apps can help young children develop a love of learning by providing them with just what they need: bright colours, cartoon characters, upbeat music, and so on. It’s not simply watching cartoons; youngsters participate in interactive games and acquire new skills every day.

3. Industry Trends in Education Technology

Take a look at the innovations that are shaping the future of education.

3.1 Extended Reality 

The extended reality (XR) niche encompasses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and all potential pairings of the actual world with technology.

Because of the decrease in the price of VR headsets, more individuals can participate in this type of learning experience.

This trend gives students the most engaging visual experience possible, thereby immersing them in the instructional setting. While many schools perceive extended reality to be an expensive endeavour, it can save money by reducing the need for tangible educational materials in classrooms.

3.2 Homeschooling

Even though home education is considered a traditional practice, it has grown in favour in recent years. For instance, in 2019, there were 2.5 million home-educated students in the United States, and two years later, there are 5 million.

This gave rise to new businesses aimed at making education easier for kids, parents, and teachers.

3.3 Gamification

While gamification has been around for a long time, it is currently more popular than ever owing to modern technology. Playing games is something we’ve done since we were children, and it interrupts the cycle of hard learning. When we learn new content through play, we are better able to absorb and recall it than when we spend hours reading textbooks.

3.4 Massive open online courses (MOOC)

Individuals are turning to well-known education platforms such as Coursera and Udemy to upskill and acclimatize. For example, Udemy reported a 425 percent growth in global course enrolment between February and March 2020, which occurred in less than a month.

3.5 Artificial Intelligence 

Interactive interfaces, voice control, chatbots, personalized learning profiles, and evaluation tools are just a few of the AI-based educational solutions available.

Students get answers quickly from the system (which is necessary for better engagement) and an individualized approach with these answers, while teachers can optimize the entire learning process.

4. Advantages and Drawbacks of Educational Apps

Teachers, students, and business owners all gain from an effective teaching tool (e.g., employee training). Let’s look at it:

4.1 Advantages to Students

Following are the advantages of educational apps for students:

4.1.1 Immersive education

Any lesson can benefit from technological upgrades, which will engage students on a profound level. Consider virtual tours of the peaks or historical events – the effect on the spectator is instantaneous.

4.1.2 Access to information is simple

Huge libraries can be easily downloaded to a learner’s smartphone. Furthermore, the format of the content could range from books and articles to video courses, seminars, and live forums.

4.1.3 Stress-free Learning Approach

With current tools, education is now more pleasant than ever. Students do not need to hide their phones or tablets; instead, they can continue to use them while also becoming smarter. Gamification components help pupils pass tests and learn new knowledge in a more relaxed environment.

4.2 Advantages to Teachers 

Following are some of the advantages of the educational apps to the teachers:

4.2.1 Individualized approach

Teachers have more time to concentrate on students’ development and assign them personalized activities while technology collects test results and feedback from each student. Individual plans can even be suggested by EdTech apps, with teachers merely having to tweak them.

4.2.2 More methods to keep students engaged

A classroom full of inattentive children who become disinterested in minutes must be a teacher’s worst nightmare. Combining traditional and modern schooling with technology allows for a whole new experience that captures the audience’s attention.

4.2.3 There’s room for innovation

With so many technological tools at their disposal, teachers may create unique classes that get the best results for pupils while taking into account their learning pace.

4.2.4 Transparent and Upfront Communication 

Online platforms allow teachers, students, and their parents to communicate without regard to time constraints or classroom walls.

4.3 Benefits to Business Owners 

4.3.1  An advantage in the marketplace

Employees who are well-trained and knowledgeable about current market trends become one of the most valuable resources in competitive markets. Entrepreneurs help businesses grow strategically by investing in modern educational tools.

4.3.2 Time and cost savings

Education is now available anywhere and at any time thanks to technological advancements. Owners of businesses save money on teachers and venues, while employees have unlimited access to the course and level of knowledge.

4.4 Drawbacks of Educational Apps

4.4.1 Insufficient social engagement

Any digital device reduces the social side of education to some extent: pupils are less (or not at all) involved in a conversation with teachers or one another.

4.4.2 Internet Accessibility

Even though the Internet is already a part of most people’s daily lives in industrialized countries, it remains a difficulty in some other areas. The global Internet penetration rate was 59.5 percent in January 2021, however, nations like Liberia, Niger, and South Sudan had the lowest rates (not more than 14.9%).

4.4.3 Advance Devices

The latest EdTech gadgets seem fantastic on screen and astonish consumers with their capabilities, but their use can deplete the batteries of normal smartphones and tablets. Learning becomes incomplete and fractured as a result.

4.4.4 Inadequate Mentorship

Users who choose an online course view videos and read tutorials, but there is no one to coach them when it comes to practice. As a result, people invest time in classes, but they can’t always be sure that the skills they learn are 100% accurate.

5. How to Make Money with Educational Apps?

So how do EdTech start-ups earn their money? Here are some working monetization practices to consider before you start an education mobile app.  

5.1 Freemium

Adding some extra (and appealing) paid functionality to your website is a terrific way to supplement your income. You should think of a few features that add value to your main service and go beyond simple MVP concepts.

5.2 Subscription

This is one of the most widely used methods in the development of educational applications. It’s preferable to provide a variety of membership alternatives so that users have a choice (for example, free, standard, and VIP subscriptions).

5.3 Paid Product

This implies that users just have to pay once to get access to all of the features. Offer your customers a free trial period to try out a product before they buy it to earn their trust.

5.4 In-App Advertisements

This choice may irritate people, so think about it carefully. This is the simplest way to fund free software but keep in mind advertising rules, especially if you’re developing a learning app for children or K–12 students.

5.5 Commissions

If your platform allows users to create material, such as online classes, this technique is appropriate. You have two choices: charge a commission for publishing a course or charge a fee for each course enrolment.

6. What Are the Features of Basic and Advanced Educational Apps?

A basic list of features to incorporate while developing a learning app may be found here. MVP development refers to basic functionality, whereas a combination of advanced features makes a unique program.

6.1 Basic Features

Here are some of the basic features of the Educational Apps:

6.1.1 Sign-up

 As this is the start of the user experience, keep it as simple as possible. It all begins with an email address and a password, as well as social media sign-ups such as Facebook, Google, Apple ID, and others.

6.1.2 Profile of the user (dashboard)

 Users can update their profile information (age, gender, photo, etc.), examine courses they’ve designed or participated in, check their study goals, review their grades, and more in this section.

6.1.3 Search

Ensure that consumers can quickly locate a given subject or topic. The search feature in this scenario should be easy to discover and include search filters.

6.1.4 Course (details and development)

The course development procedure should be simple and provide instructors with suggestions on what to include in the course description. The ideal situation is to have a course template that teachers can change as they see fit (for example, add or remove certain blocks, videos, visuals, or customize the background color).

As a result, prospective students should be able to grasp the page’s goals, tasks, program, and outcome when they visit it. After that, include “Payment,” “Start a trial period,” or “Start a course” buttons to assist a user in confirming their decision.

6.1.5 Payments

Users want payments to be quick, simple, and safe. Add typical payment alternatives like PayPal or Visa/MasterCard to ensure you meet this requirement.

6.1.6 Menu for the course

Students can access a menu after selecting a course to view a list of lessons, their themes, impending tasks, and grades. In other words, this is a location where the entire educational process can be organized. It should be a dashboard for the teacher, displaying the participant’s list, their performance, and class analytics. Teachers should also be able to access completed tests and evaluate them directly from this page.

6.1.7 Push notifications

Students prefer to be informed on grades and course updates, while teachers want to know about new students on their course and finished assignments. Increase user engagement by providing an opportunity to customize notification preferences.

6.2 Advanced Features

The following are some of the advanced features of the Educational Apps:

6.2.1 In-App Messaging

By including a talking option in your app, you may streamline the educational process and make it the only tool you need for effective online learning. Participants will not need to rely on third-party messengers for advice on emergent difficulties.

6.2.2 Comments and a discussion forum

It’s preferable to discuss course assignments via the app because it keeps students and teachers on the same page and saves both parties time.

6.2.3 Voice command (AI)

By including a voice command option, you can make the app’s navigation easier for visually challenged users.

6.2.4 Streaming video 

Webinars are growing in popularity, allowing students to travel hundreds of miles in a matter of seconds. Video streaming is one of the most requested capabilities for EdTech solutions because it is possible to study at the greatest colleges using only a laptop.

6.2.5 Offline Mode 

This option may be especially useful for students who live in places where Internet connection is limited. When a learner downloads a lesson once, they obtain all of the content and aren’t distracted by a lagging video.

6.2.6 AR/VR experience

Students aspire to learn and discover in immersive worlds created by extended reality. There is no other approach to provide the most realistic learning experience and examine the researched objects from multiple perspectives.

We strive to include sophisticated technologies into every product at TechDel, and e-learning apps offer breeding soil for high-tech innovation.

We’ve created AR-based education apps before since they’re the most interesting for younger pupils. Users can, for example, utilize AR models to make quizzes for their children; any object appears more “alive,” and children can rotate and zoom in on it, unlike photos in books.

7. Technology Stack for Educational App Development

Depending on the app’s goals, features, and complexity, the range of technologies required to construct your educational applications varies greatly. Your MVP’s pillars are as follows:

iOS 

i. Programming language: Swift 

ii. Networking: Alamofire 

Android 

i. Programming language: Kotlin 

ii. Networking: OkHttp 3 

Backend 

i. Programming language: Node.js 

ii. Framework: Express 4 

iii. Database: MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, HBase 

iv. API: Swagger 

Tools 

i. Signup: Amazon SES, Amazon SNS 

ii. Emails: Elastic Email 

iii. Search: Elasticsearch 

iv. Payment: Braintree and PayPal, E-wallets, Stripe 

v. Push notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Twilio, Push.io 

vi. Storage: Amazon S3 

8. How to Develop an Educational App

Before developing an app for learning, it’s important to outline your plan of action. Following these steps will save you from a lot of issues:

8.1 Determine your Objective

First and foremost, there should be a single app concept that focuses on solving the customer’s problem. Spend some time defining what your app’s purpose is. It’s great if you have a team or a partner who can assist you with researching and determining the app’s objective, that’s fantastic.

8.2 Conduct Market Research

Begin your market research by looking at two key areas: your target audience and prospective competitors.

These are the basic characteristics that define your target audience:

i. Gender and age

ii. Location

iii. Profession and education

iv. Monetary status

You can discover more about your target clients’ behaviours by browsing forums and social media after you’ve created a mental image of them. It will then assist you in determining whether platforms (mobile, desktop, or both) and operating systems to utilize (iOS, Android, Windows, or macOS).

When it comes to competition analysis, start with the following:

i. Your direct and indirect rivals’ list

ii. Their primary marketing service is

iii. Strategies for monetization

iv. List of traits that are similar to and different from each other

v. Gaps in functionality (what you would like to improve)

This market analysis can assist you in defining your concept and identifying your market niche. In other words, you’ll develop an app that’s ready to use right now for your users.

Before establishing an educational app, you can contact a professional team who can swiftly build the app’s prototype. It will give structure to your concept, allowing you to display it to your target audience and explore it with marketing and development teams.

Consider the following points at this stage:

i. Before putting the prototype in someone’s hands, write some user tests. It will help to organize and streamline the testing process.

ii. Consider all user roles, such as student, tutor, and parent.

iii. Make sure that users of various demographics can grasp the UI.

This process allows you to fine-tune the app’s concept before it is developed, and you already have feedback from real users in real-world scenarios.

8.3 Create a learning app

It’s now time to deliver all documentation to a reliable development team. You can talk about the tech stack, ensuring that the team has the necessary tools and experience to complete the project. In any case, a project manager should give you a development plan that demonstrates that these professionals can build learning software from the ground up.

The job isn’t done after development and testing; every app must additionally go through the deployment stage.

Here’s what your IT department should be concerned about:

i. Stress testing. This is a technique to see how your app will perform if a large number of users use it at the same time.

ii. DevOps process. It’s preferable to establish this during the development stage, as it will help smooth out release updates in the long run.

iii. Ad-Hoc Distribution. If your product is only intended for a small audience, you should distribute it via OS-specific means such as a link (Android) or Mobile Device Management (iOS).

9. How Much Does It Cost to Develop an iOS or Android Education App?

Every EdTech concept necessitates a unique method, but we can assist you in getting started by revealing the cost of MVP development.

Let’s start with the fundamental features and how they were developed.

Features iOS Development (in Hours) Android Development (in Hours) Backend Development (in Hours)
Sign Up 42 42 47
Profile of the User (Dashboard) 39 39 59
Search 21 21 22
Course (Details and Development) 81 81 91
Payments 35 35 45
Menu of the Course 95 95 88
Test Creation 55 55 79
Push Notifications 14 14 14
Total 382 382 445

Let’s take a closer look at the entire development process. All stages and features of the development are listed in the following table.

Work to be Done  iOS Development (in Hours) Android Development (in Hours) Backend Development (in Hours)
Project Management  190 190 162
UI/UX Design 120 120
Features 382 382 445
Admin Panel 100
Frameworks and Libraries development 20 20 35
QA and Testing 450 450 400
DevOps 70 70 60
Total 1232 1232 1202

According to Clutch, here’s a comparison chart of developer hourly wages based on different regions:

Location Hourly Rate
US 100-200
Western Europe 50-200
Easter Europe 50-100

With an hourly rate of 50–200 USD in European countries, the app will most likely cost between:

iOS Development Android Development iOS + Android
121700-243400 USD 121700-24300 USD 243000-486000 USD

10. Conclusion

The global pandemic gave the e-learning business a boost and increased its predicted growth rate. There’s no reason to stop; it’s important to keep looking for new chances and to take advantage of the current circumstances to develop new ventures and ideas. It could also be a brand-new educational application. For educational app development, you only need a business plan, an experienced vendor, and start-up funds. 

We’d be pleased to answer any questions you have about the development of educational apps and how they may benefit your business. For further information, please Contact Us.

TechDel is the best mobile app development company based in London. We have a team of talented developers and designers who can design the best iOS, Android, native and hybrid apps for your firm. For more details, please visit TechDel Mobile App Services.

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