How to Build an E-Learning Website: Essential Features and Steps

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E-Learning websites have skyrocketed in popularity and everyone wants to know how to build a website like Udemy that has more than 40 million users enrolled. If you want to build an e-learning website of your own, you have to understand exactly what you need and which steps to follow.

Features You Should Include When You Build an e-Learning Website

When you are building an e-learning platform, you want to include the most popular features that students have come to expect from learning sites. This includes:

Integration capabilities: Your e-learning platform should integrate with all the solutions you might need in an educational environment. Integration with email services and calendars can help students stay on top of their classes. You should also make sure that your platform is capable of enrollment, provides access to forums and student communities, virtual classrooms, video, and others.
Tracking: You want to track your students’ progress online just like a teacher would in real life. When you create an online learning website, you also want to create a method for reporting and feedback.
Evaluation Tools: Teachers should be able to evaluate the tests and work of their students, correct mistakes, and mark papers. These results should be recorded, securely stored, and accessible by students.
Cloud Access: Your students need to access their work and collaborate on projects, and teachers should be able to share content and lessons in an efficient way. This is where access-controlled cloud storage comes into play. Materials shouldn’t be available to anyone with the link, so security has to be strictly managed. Needless to say, these materials should be accessible via different devices and programs.
Gamification: Gamification is a great way to keep students engaged, offering their medals or even gift vouchers for achievements. It also helps students view their progress and motivates them to continue learning.
Virtual Classrooms: What is the virtual classroom experience like for students? When you build an online learning website, you can include a range of teaching tools. This can include digital whiteboards or simple video and screen-sharing capabilities.

Now that we’ve looked at the different features of a good e-learning platform, we can look at how to develop an e-learning website, step by step.

How to Create an e-Learning Website: Step by Step

Steps will vary from site to site, but here is what we typically find works best.

1. Start by Finding Your Audience

Are you building a platform that teaches hobbies or languages or technical skills that students will use in the workplace? Do you want to serve corporations that use your platform to teach skills like workplace safety? This will guide your development team and the features you need to define your audience upfront.

2. Create and Find Content

You should try to find excellent teachers and resources, like video, audio, and infographics, to support your students and teachers. Gamification is another element to explore.

3. Find Awesome Educators

Who are the best educators for the job? If you work with companies, you should engage with their trainers. If you work with amateur teachers, you should allow for a rating system so that students can review them online.

4 Assess Both Teachers and Students

You should always allow for feedback – from students and teachers – to make sure your platform is running smoothly and that all parties are happy with your platform before going to market.

5. Make Your UI the Focus

Your site has to be usable and easy to understand. Keep the theme simple and accessible for all students so that learning is easy and intuitive.

Conclusion

If you want to build an e-learning website, make sure that you have all the features and elements your users want to see. This involves a little bit of research and testing, but the payoff will be worth it.