• September 22, 2020 2:34 pm
• by Ajanth

Before you choose or build an e-learning platform, these questions can probably hit your mind, “What are the raw ingredients that go into an e-learning platform which makes it engaging and effective?” “What are the best practices involved in the instructional design phase, and how should you go about putting them in practice?” “What will your learners know after they have completed your course?” To understand these, let’s learn some of the best practices that you should follow during e-learning software development:

#1 Develop engaging content:

When building a new e-learning platform, you have to develop content in a way that is engaging to students. Below are some of the ways for authoring highly engaging e-learning contents:

• Define your objectives and goals.
• Figure out how to evaluate these objectives and goals.
• Author content that’s relevant to your objectives and goals. (helping your learners answer the

By following this approach, you can access two main benefits. First, it allows you to concentrate only on sharing content that complies with the course objectives. Second, it helps you to keep your courses effective and more engaging.

#2 UI/UX:

When building a new e-learning platform, UI/UX matters! UI/UX of an e-learning platform usually includes three major components viz; Instructional design, graphic design, and visual communication. Usability plays a vital role in helping students be interested in what they’re learning. While designing an e-learning platform, you should take extra care to ensure that you are maintaining a minimalist layout, all elements in the courseware are easily accessible and careful in the placement of website elements. Keeping unnecessary elements throughout your e-learning website can distract users and will affect their focus while they progress through the course. For delivering a seamless user experience, you must choose high-quality images, videos, transitions, animations, and human-centric designs for your online evaluation areas within the platform.

Here are some UX rules to follow:

• Get a better understanding of your audience and set a clear goal
• Keep your sentences as short as you can and get straight to the point.
• Aim for a course length of ten to twenty minutes
• Use informative images and videos
• Use active voice
• Gather feedback, via poop ups or comments
• Use a rating system for retrieving learners opinion about your course

#3 SME and ID Consultation:

Great e-learning platforms can only be delivered to end-users with support from skilled Instructional Designers, Subject Matter Experts, and content curators. Subject Matter Experts are the ones that deliver authentic information and data that are core to an e-learning platform. During the design and analysis phase, they usually collaborate with the instructional designers to develop user flow, content structure, and evaluation strategies. Whereas, Instructional designers curate the overall instructional strategy, standardize and integrate e-learning material in the platform.

#4 Follow E-learning Standards:

While building e-learning platforms, make sure you follow international e-learning standards. These standards can be used as a reference guide for developing content and deploying it across multiple platforms. E-learning standards can be classified into two categories namely technical standards and design standards.

Technical Standards: Technical standards are in place to ensure the usability of e-learning courses over multiple platforms such as devices, browsers, etc. SCORM, WCAG, AICC, and GDPR are some of the examples of these standards.

1. SCORM: Sharable Content Object Reference Model, which is abbreviated as SCORM is a compliance model developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative for defining the interaction of learning management systems with e-learning courses. Adopting this compliance model makes it easier for you to record important data related to assessment score, completion time, tracking information, etc.
2. WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a set of guidelines that are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium to ensure improved accessibility of web content to disabled persons.

Design Standards: Instructional design, assessment standards. visual & media design collectively comes under design standards.

#5 Analyze your Target Audience & Competitors:

Analyzing your target audience and competitors are one of the best practices that you can follow while building your e-learning platform. The age, hobbies, and interests of your target audience can also be used to craft audience-specific content for your target audience. Finally, Take a look at what platforms are trending among e-learners and what your competitors are offering. This will enable you to find their strong and weak points. Additionally, you will also get more insights about functionalities that can be improved in your current platform.

#6 Find a Reliable Software Development Vendor:

If you are planning to build an e-learning platform without having a solid technical background or doesn’t have the resources who can build it in your inhouse facility, It’s better to consult a reliable software development vendor who has expertise in building e-learning solutions. However, if you plan to build one based on existing templates. That doesn’t leave enough room for customization. But if you don’t want to go for an off the shelf solution, the best option is to hire developers from an offshore software development company in India rather than in hiring a vendor from your country.