Must-have features of an online teaching platform

Technology has influenced the learning sector to a vast extent. With the inception of online classes, the e-learning landscape has witnessed a phenomenal development.  You will be surprised to know the level of advancements that is possible in the learning sector in the coming days. Artificial Intelligence will slowly step in to add more ‘intelligence’ to the learning procedures. Imagine yourself having a robotic instructor who can offer you personalized training on any subject. Interesting, huh?

Many such intelligent systems are ‘under construction’ that can track the thought processes of a learner and offer them exactly what they need at that moment. The day is not very far when this will happen. But today, the biggest advancements are in an online teaching platform which is also called a Learning Management System. In this post, we are going to cover some of the most important features of an online platform for teaching that can help you teach your courses effortlessly. 

Must-have features of an online teaching platform

Almost all educational institutions and individual tutors have shifted their teaching mode to the Internet. If you are one among them and want to stay in the competition, you ought to have your own online teaching platform with the following features in it – 

1. Accessibility

Modern age learners are always on the move continuously for their work. During such times, they carry only their smartphones with them. So they prefer to have their classes on their phones which provides easy accessibility to attend from anywhere. This is a simple feature but with a huge impact. Accessibility also means the course content is broken down into smaller fragments for easy viewing. Instead of posting an hour-long lecture, uploading tiny short videos makes the course more accessible.

To create an accessible course, there are 4 basic principles proposed by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. They are – 

• Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be in a perceivable format.
• Operable – Convenient navigation is of primary importance to achieve good accessibility.
• Understandable – Content should be in a simple and understandable format.
• Robust – Content should be tech-friendly so that it is supported on all operating systems.

Your online teaching platform should support the creation of content that adheres to these 4 principles. 

2. Ease of Use

Any technology that reaches the common man should be easy to use and an e-learning platform is no exception. For instance, the platform should support web-based learning as it is easier to use than app-based learning because it does not require any special software and advanced technical skills.

According to a survey by the Brandon Hall Group, nearly 44% of the educational institutions using an LMS are looking for an upgrade to facilitate better ease of access to the learners. In summary, the LMS you choose should be intuitive and facilitate ease of learning. 

3. Content Management

Content is often considered the most important component of an online class. The online teaching platform should take this into consideration and give the best output in terms of content delivered. The platform should be adaptive to any type of content format ranging from text, videos, and images to animations and gifs. The platform should also be SCORM-compliant. 

Further Reading: About SCORM

Add some quality content in the form of quizzes, brainstorming topics, mini-webinars, and so on. 

4. Brand Integration

Branding is important for your online academy and should be prominent on your course page. This is the key to attract customers to your course. The majority of the modern online teaching platforms have the facility to attach your brand name, logo, and customize your course page to match your brand guidelines. Making your brand visible throughout the course makes your learners recommend your course and your academy to others. Here are some of the branding elements that can give a more personalized experience to your course learners – 

• Logos
• Color themes
• Dashboard Banners
• Client portals
• Customized login page
• Client Communications

5. Video Conferencing

Video conferencing has become a common feature in an online teaching platform and forms the base of most online classes. You can create both live classes and record them for future purposes using an online teaching platform. Some platforms have also partnered with videoconferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and other apps to facilitate this. Live classes help in enhancing the user experience and improve the interactions in the class.

6. Progress Tracking

Performance monitoring techniques help you to assess learner progress and thereby help in their growth. Tracking will allow you to review the modules completed by the students and how they had performed in the course. An efficient teaching platform should have a progress tracking feature that also allows the generation of reports for the tutors’ easy accessibility. This in turn can help them to spend more time with students who are weak in a topic.

7. Support for blended learning and microlearning

Blended learning and microlearning are the new pedagogies in the field of e-learning. Blended learning uses online electronic media blended with traditional face-to-face teaching practices. On the other hand, in microlearning, students learn concepts through short videos and webinars. Online platforms should be supportive of both these two pedagogies since they will be the new normal in the e-learning ecosystem in the coming age.

8. Testing and Evaluation

Every course creator has to conduct tests to assess students’ knowledge of the subject. Online tests are a new way to have your assessments conducted. Most of the teaching platforms are capable of conducting the tests in a highly controlled manner where the possibility of cheating is eliminated and the test results are also out in seconds. Even the question formats can be chosen to suit your needs.

9. Social Media Integration

Social media has been playing a pivotal role in e-learning. Tutors can now market their courses on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and many others. Students also tend to use social media applications more often compared to other apps. If your teaching platform can integrate your course with any of the social media apps, your course automatically spreads like wildfire.

1o. Continuous Improvement

According to the Japanese technology of ‘Kaizen’, it is important to have a continual improvement strategy in place. In today’s competitive age, staying updated is the need of the hour. Hence, your platform should get regular updates that are in synchronization with the latest technologies. The platform should be able to get feedback from the students regularly about the user interface and your teaching methods to offer better updates.

Features supported by Learnyst

With all the features of an online platform for teaching known, it is time to know what a platform like Learnyst has in store. Learnyst offers the following distinctive features:

• Branded learning apps supported on both Android and iOS platforms
• High content security with DRM encryption
• Quiz engine to conduct mock tests and evaluate the performance
• Adaptive streaming technology for better viewing
• Payment gateway integration
• Marketing campaigns
• Fixed and transparent course pricing

What’s Next?

Sign up with to Learnyst’s Forever Free plan today to boost your teaching journey.

You can create your own branded online academy, upload, sell, and get 100% course sales credited to your bank account.

So, go ahead. Create and Sell Courses online and make 10X revenue within months.