We all know that creating educational apps can often cost a significant amount of time and money. Many apps have gone on to be so successful that its founders become millionaires while others have disappeared into the ether with minimal adoption.
What sets an excellent educational app apart from the rest? How to create an educational app that rocks?
The online learning sector is more lucrative than ever before. The right educational app with a unique selling proposition can gain traction if it offers enough value. Educational learning apps can be incredibly useful to students. First, they allow students to be more engaged with the material. And experience a new level of interaction and connectivity with their material.
We all know that the classroom still exists, but technology is ubiquitous. Emerging technologies have transformed the educational sector, and some aspects of it have become forever assimilated into learning environments worldwide.
Some companies have more resources than others. When it comes to figuring out how to create an educational app without programming knowledge.
There are many factors to consider concerning educational app development. How will you motivate your student? How will your app be monetized? Are you ensuring that the educational material is presented in a clear way?
Here are some important ideas that you’ll have to consider before your organization thinks about building an educational app for Android and iOS.
Focus on the basics: Good UX
One of the most significant pitfalls with an app goes beyond whether it’s useful for a particular consumer or has better features than the competition. There are some situations in which an app fails simply because it’s poorly designed and offers too many distractions. An effective educational app should have a clear layout and establish a consistent mental model for users to navigate.
Of course, your app might be easy to navigate but this will not ultimately lead it succeed if your educational app doesn’t offer quality content. However, you should still make sure that your app is as intuitive as possible, and that there isn’t much of a learning curve when it comes to using and navigating the app. If the user gets confused, it’ll be tough for your educational app to gain traction and become successful.
Anyone can compile information and organize them into lessons, but how will you make sure that your users can actually understand what they’re learning?
There’s evidence that suggests learning apps can improve student engagement, and this can be made easier if the material is appropriately organized.
One of the most common ways to organize material is to begin with general material, then move to specific material. It also involves the idea that you first present simple ideas before you move to complex ones.
Education also often involves repetition. You’ll have to revisit concepts while still engaging with your users, and it might also require a significant amount of context. If you’re trying to get users to learn about abstract concepts, some real-life context will help to “ground” the material. Then reinforce this through intermediary recaps and quizzes.
You should also think about how you’ll motivate people that hope to learn from your app. Some might consider gamification as a way to encourage learning. For those who are unaware, gamification involves taking aspects of game design. While it will depend on the subject and demographic, you might want to consider offering points and badges for those who complete specific lessons. You could even offer an educational “leaderboard” of some kind to encourage competition.
Understanding costs
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: it costs money to build, develop, and launch an app.
If you’re focused on how to create an educational app, you should understand that some features will cost more than others. Of course, there’s also a diverse talent pool out there. You may be able to outsource your work. However, many app developers are hired for over $100,000 a year, and it’s easy to see how those numbers can add up. And this is just a developer, there are many other professionals such as Product Designers that need to be involved. Naturally all these costs add up.
Don’t forget the on-going development costs. One of the reasons that apps can become more expensive is because it can take a significant amount of time and money to continuously maintain and fix issues through the development and deployment process for your app. This not only requires work on the developer’s side but also means that your app will have to adapt to updates based on internal fixes and even third parties such Apple and Google. While it can be relatively easy once the framework is in place, it still requires time and money.
If you‘ve decided to charge users to use the app whether in subscription billing format or through in-app purchases, this can also significantly increase costs. It means that your app will take more time to create, given the implementation challenges related to setting up a payment infrastructure within your app. Good news is this means you’re capturing revenue, and now it’s just about building the right business model to be profitable.
Modern alternative and simple way how to create an educational app
2020 presents a lot of opportunities and developing an educational app from scratch is not the only one . Nowadays it’s a lot of DIY app development software that allow to put together an app as easy as you are a child playing LEGO.
M-learning is the reality and necessity, not an option. Such EdTech startups as Gurucan provide an all-in-one platform to run knowledge business and create White Label educational apps.
Two main benefits of choosing SaaS platforms are clear and significant:
- Save time on figuring out what interface is needed for the educational app. Such platforms as Gurucan already know how to create and educational app and provide best practices for you.
- Save money on developing costs and launching. Focus on your brand, product and content.
Time and money.
Establish A Business Model
Many companies have become incredibly successful by launching educational apps. Byju’s is one of the most popular educational app startups in the world and is based in India. It already boasts a valuation of around $10 billion dollars, which is a testament to the demand for E-learning worldwide. Byju’s has already raised over $1.3 billion to date. Kahoot, a Norway-based education learning startup with over 100 million games, boasts a $1.4 billion valuation.
However, there are many companies and businesses that might be unsure as to how exactly to monetize their app. Many free apps have gone on to generate an incredible amount of revenue. While other organizations might build an educational app that operates on a freemium business model. For those who are unaware, a freemium model means that users can utilize the app for free. But would have to pay extra for specific features.
If you plan to invest in an educational app for Android or iOS, you should make sure that you are somehow earning revenue. Some apps rely solely on advertising revenue or paid downloads, while other apps and games focus on in-app purchases. If you’re relying on advertising revenue, you should also be aware that there are strict laws and regulations in place regarding how and when you can advertise to children of specific ages.
There are also rules involving children and IAPs, as well. Other educational apps might choose to operate on a subscription model. Also decide to offer a free trial to entice new users.
Creating an educational app comes with a lot of opportunity and challenges. However if done right, there’s money to be made and more important the reward of making education more accessible and affordable for many across the globe.