Online Courses Platforms

Until a few decades ago, when the concept of the Internet wasn’t yet a way of daily life, the only form of education known to people was being physically present inside a classroom and taking down what the teacher was explaining or writing on the whiteboard. It is the traditional framework of education, and while it is very much still in effect, the advent of online training has been a revolutionary change in the education industry. Nowadays, most students complement their classroom education with MOOC (Massive Open Online) study, if not at least opting for a complete distance learning course.

Giving students a customized learning experience

Many online courses allow students to learn at their own pace. So, if you are a tad bit slow to catch up with certain parts of the course material, you can go back, practice, and take the course without any hurry. Plus, mostly, there are no fixed hours. Devote ten hours a day with additional learning or devote ten hours a week for the basics, it’s all on you. Besides the flexibility it offers, you can choose from a wide assortment of courses. You may be learning data science in your classroom course. Yet, when online, you can do some courses in web development, business English, photography, or anything under the sun at various levels. You can find paid and free courses on these online platforms. Sometimes, they will also offer a diploma or degree certificate once you attend the required number of hours and complete the assignments, and you wouldn’t even need to set your foot on the campus or go out of your room for that matter.

Effective learning with less investment of time and money

As compared to in-person education, online course platforms offer an affordable learning method. Not only will the price be less than the traditional classroom course (bonus if you can find a free course or get financial aid), you also save money that would otherwise go into commute and buying books. It will also save you time. You wouldn’t need to wait for the tutors or other students to arrive. You can power on your laptop, connect to the Internet, and start studying on the course platform any time of the day. Even a half an hour break during your lunch hour at the office can be your study time. There’s no need to apply for leaves to study at home for a morning class.

Building an online school community

For teachers, this means being able to teach students your university classroom. Even if you are not a professor but have in-depth knowledge in the field of your work, you can become an online educator with an online course platform. Whether it is physics, yoga, cooking, or coding, an online course platform will help you share your knowledge and build your own school community. Students can interact with each other, just like in a conventional classroom. You, as their teacher, should also be able to assess your students’ performance, give them feedback, and answer their queries. Analytics such as course enrollments, learning patterns of students, course drop-outs, etc. will help you understand your students better. You can then rework your course structure according to the majority’s needs and, in turn, build a stronger community.

Essential features of any online course platform

Now, with thousands of platforms to choose from, you should lookout for a few essential features before you launch your course on the platform. See how intuitive the interface is. You shouldn’t need to learn the A to Z of coding to operate an online course platform. The same should be valid for your students too. Opt for a cloud-based platform so that your course material is accessible anywhere and everywhere. This way, the changes you make in the content should be reflected across all student accounts. Although we are talking about an online course platform, students may not have a reliable internet connection round the clock. So, it’s better if the platform allows them to download some content and go through it even when offline. A white-label platform would enable you to customize and add your own branding to add more value to your teaching without the provision of unauthorized downloads and reshares (content security). Add interactive elements such as quizzes, simulations, videos, bookmarking capabilities, and discussion forums to keep your students engaged.