Online Course Platform: What, Why, and When

Online course platform has been altering the environment of online education completely in recent years. Educational institutions and freelance teachers have benefitted immensely by shifting their mode of teaching to the online system, especially after the COVID-19 situation. 

If you have experienced online teaching previously, you would have realized how different it is from the conventional mode of classroom-teaching. It comprises of an online course platform and digital gadgets, which you would have not used in a typical classroom. Out of this, the online course platform is in high demand, and experts state that it is the future of the education industry. Research points out that the market for an online course platform is going to increase by 23% CAGR between 2020 to 2024.

In this blog post, we will see when to opt for an online course platform along with other details that will help you in using it for your online academy.

What is an ideal online course platform?

An online course platform has always been a marvel in the field of e-learning due to the hundreds of uses it offers. Such platforms had started taking shape in the last few years and have grown into a full-fledged teaching package today. This has not only convinced freelance tutors to opt for it but also large institutions and academies. If you are one of them and have still not adopted a platform yet, then the below checklist might help you. Here are some of the basic requirements that your online platform should satisfy for an effective teaching experience – 

Easy to use interface

The UI of any digital platform should be an easy-to-use. Easy navigation, mobility, access to all formats of content, etc. make an online course platform a highly usable one. The basic idea of such platforms is to make teaching and learning easier. Both the teachers, as well as the students should not find it difficult to navigate the platform. The success of digital technology is measured by how easy it is to use even for a layman. 

Virtual capability

The purpose of e-learning is to teach and learn from anywhere in the world. So the next feature of the online course platform points to virtual capability. Simply put, you should be able to teach your students irrespective of where they are located. Also, tutors choose online platforms over conventional teaching methodologies because there is no limit on the number of students that you can teach. 

Web-based

These days, most of the applications are predominantly web-based. This is highly preferable as the platform can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. Moreover, students can also access the course material whenever they wish. Apart from uploading and downloading content, it is also easily editable. So look for an online course platform that is web-based for a better experience.

These are the three critical requirements that an online course platform should satisfy.  Research multiple platforms and finally filter it down to the one that exactly matches your needs.

Further Reading: Must-have features of an online teaching platform

Why do you need an online course platform?

Now that you have an idea about what is an ideal online course platform and what are its basic requirement, we now move on to answer the next question – why do you need such a platform. The basic idea behind such platforms is that it is beneficial both in terms of cost and productivity compared to the conventional teaching methodologies.  Apart from this, there are several other reasons why you should make the switch – 

Ease of Management

The complete management of data starting from uploading course content, attendance records, admissions, etc. is available under one roof. Online course platform can handle all the administrative tasks of your course apart from the regular teaching.

Consistency in training

Every class should be consistent as it will help the students to learn the subject effectively. In other words, the results of your teaching lie in its consistency. An online course platform allows you to offer consistent classes to all your students and supplying them with all the course materials in a centralized manner.

Progress Tracking

Since both the teacher and the student are located in different places, there needs to be a medium that can help the teacher to track students’ progress. Online course platform allows you to keep a clean track of every student’s progress thereby facilitating the tutor to focus on those students who have a poor performance history. You can also generate detailed reports about their performances for future references.

Cost-Effective

Any new development or implementation needs a thorough costing analysis to be done. It helps to know your expenses and also cut down unwanted expenditure. In the case of an online platform, it has proven to be cost-effective, along with a great return on investment.

When to opt for an online course platform?

Since we have seen hundreds of benefits that an online course platform offers, most of us would be tempted to make the switch immediately to it. But the shift to an online platform has to done after careful planning. It will be a completely new experience of teaching and should be adopted at the right time. Here are some signs that indicate when to opt for it- 

When the distance is a barrier

When you have a large strength of students scattered around different parts of the country or world, it is better to choose an online course platform. Students who are attending classes even from remote villages can make use of this facility and continue their learning without any hindrance.

When you are bothered by unorganized class schedules

Tutors like you often put great efforts into preparing presentations and videos for the day’s class, but often they do not have any effect on the student’s learning. In such a case, LMS has proved to be of worth in properly organizing course data and class schedules. This helps in reducing your efforts to organize a particular day’s class with minimal effort.

When you are experiencing poor participation of students

Students tend to become less interactive in the class if they find it not to be interesting. This results in poor performance in your course and prevents you from marketing it effectively. An online course platform makes your class highly interesting and interactive. You have multiple features like gamification that can be made use of to increases student participation. The best part is it also increases the retention capacity of the students.

When you are incurring huge costs in your teaching

Some of your courses might not be selling very well; in such cases, you end up spending a lot on the marketing part. Such courses will end up incurring very high costs, and your academy will become a failure soon. An online course platform can help you market your courses with minimal expense, making your course a success.

When you are finding it difficult to sell your courses because it is not industry-compliant

Industry-complaint courses add more value to your course. It becomes a tedious task to sell courses if it is not compliant with industry standards. With an online course platform, it becomes quite an easy task as most of the platforms these days are developed to be compliant with the e-learning industry, with SCORM being the most common standard.

How Learnyst helps?

Learnyst is one of the top teaching platforms in the country with advanced features like a dedicated website, mobile app, mock test creator, etc. It is a dedicated teaching platform that enables tutors to make their teaching a simple and fun task.  It also comes with a free trial period during which you can learn about the platform and explore its various features and benefits.

Join Learnyst today by signing up for a free trial.