Apps have been popular for years now. They are a great way to access content on the go wherever you are.
Education has seen a lot of changes in the past years and remote learning is on the rise. This contributes to the greater popularity of most educational apps market.
There are already a large number of types of educational apps, from language learning apps to educational games.
In this article, we explore How to create an education app, what resources you need, and what you can expect after launching your app.
Who Uses Educational Apps?
Before you can start creating an education application, it’s essential to understand who is going to use your app and why.
An education app is essentially a piece of software that individuals can use on their mobiles or tablets to learn something.
From apps that work as an advanced training platform to more basic applications that teach kids math, educational apps created are always targeted at a certain audience.
Kids Of All Ages
Children of all age groups can use mobile apps to progress on their learning journeys, from toddlers to teenagers.
Students And Pupils
Older children, pupils and students can all develop educational apps to help them prepare for exams or university/college applications.
Professional Adults
Whether you are a professional marketer who wants to maintain his/her qualification level or you are an engineer who wants to progress in his/her career, training apps are a great way to keep up with trends and learn more in your field.
People Who Want To Learn Something New
There is a learning app with step-by-step guides for almost everything, so people who want to learn something new can just download the app.
Educational Institutions
It’s not just individuals who can benefit from an educational application.
Also universities, colleges, schools and other educational institutions, such as online learning platforms, can create educational mobile apps to help their students on their learning journey.
Types Of Education Apps
Before you can build your educational app, you will need to find out what type of remote learning app you want to create.
Learning Apps With A Specific Subject
You can design and create an educational app that covers only a single topic, such as science, math or language learning.
If you choose to build this type of all, then make sure that you pay special attention to how you deliver the information in your app.
The design should be bright, friendly and easy to use.
Classroom Learning Apps
These types of applications are suitable for teachers, parents and students. It allows everyone with the app to view the learning progress of students.
Learning Platforms
Online learning platforms, such as Coursera, Udemy or edX, also offer learning apps that tie in with their desktop learning.
These apps offer access to different courses and course-related material.
If you want to create a learning platform app, then it’s important to focus on the courses and make the information easy to digest.
You should also make sure that learners can access their learning materials on different devices and in different formats.
It’s also a good idea to integrate some motivational elements, tests and a grading system to track progress.
Education Apps For Kids
Kids are a big target group for the education market, so educational applications for children are very popular.
You will need to fully understand what children are looking for in an app and ensure that you add different elements that engage and motivate kids.
Educational Games
Games are an easy and fun way to learn, so they are often used in developing educational apps.
If you want to create a game-style app, then make sure that you design a strong concept with a narrative that guides learners through the game.
It’s worth saying here that gamification is one of the most challenging elements when creating an app.
However, when it is well done and you create a playful learning atmosphere, kids as well as adults can learn a lot with these types of paid apps.
Learning Management System Apps
LMS apps are learning management systems that allow businesses to create learning online courses and training programs and share them with their employees.
As all the training is on one platform, it’s a good place for businesses to evaluate and analyze the learning of their provided training.
How To Create An Education App For iOS and Android
When you are creating an education app, there are a few essential things to look out for, such as your target audience, your resources and the design of the app.
Let’s take a look at the step-by-step education app development process to get your app from concept to launch.
Conduct Market Research
Before you start planning your app, it’s a good idea to get a better understanding of the education industry as a whole.
As you will be investing a lot of time, money and other resources into your app, you need to make sure that you have an overview of what product could be a good fit.
This is the reason why market research is so important. You will need to find out what your potential customers want from your app.
Get a good understanding of what challenges a customer might face and then design an education solution to solve the customer’s problem.
You will also need to understand your new business’ revenue model and how you can make money with the app.
The best way to conduct market research is by looking at competitors and other educational apps on the market.
Test a few different apps and check what customers said about them. Make a note of all the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor apps.
You can use them to your advantage when you come to the educational app development stage.
If you don’t have any resources to do the market research yourself, then you can also hire a market research company. Look for someone with a specialization in the education sector.
This is just the first part of your market research. The second part is looking at your own educational mobile app development concept, and identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and possible risks.
Decide On The Type Of Learning App
There is a vast range of different educational learning apps on the market, and you will need to decide what type of app you want to offer.
Only when you know exactly what you want to provide to your users, then you can create features and functionalities suitable for your app.
For example, the features for a language learning app are going to be different to a math games app.
You will need to plan all the information, audios, videos, tutorials and tests ahead. You will also need to consider the appearance of the application.
When you create an app for children, then you want the look and feel of your app to be engaging and easy to use.
In comparison, building an education app for adults or professionals means your app should look more mature.
After you completed your market research and you picked an app type, you are ready to make a decision on the specific features of your app.
Decide On Features To Include
When you are reviewing competitor apps, you should make a note of some of the useful features which might work for your app as well.
In addition, take a look at any feedback of other apps. App users often share their expectations and education app ideas in the comments section on Google Play Service, Apple App Store or other app stores.
If you already have a customer base with another product and the new app is an additional service, then you can just create a poll and ask your existing customers what features they would like to see.
Some of the most popular educational apps features include offline courses, audio or video educational content, push notifications and live tutorials or live classes.
You can also add an option to record a class, track and monitor progress and integrate an in-app chat option.
Pick An E Learning App Development Platform
Do you want to develop your app for iOS or Android only? Or would you prefer cross-platform educational app development, so you just build one app that runs on different platforms?
Different platforms provide access to different audiences in the online educational app market. Android and iOS both have a significantly large number of users.
If you want to get to as many people as possible, then it’s a good own app idea to create a cross-platform app that runs on both iOS and Android.
Before you make a decision on the right educational app development platform, you should consider the development time of your app, its complexity, and the geographic location of your audience.
If you are not sure which platform is best for your app, then you can also speak to your mobile app development company who will be able to provide some recommendations.
Hire Mobile App Development Company
Once you have a concept for your app, you can approach a professional educational app development company who will help to make your app a reality.
This stage of the app development and learning process is important, so you will need to choose an app development agency that has solid experience in the education space.
In order to create an educational app for Android or iOS, you will need an entire development team, which typically consist of a project manager, mobile developers, UI/UX designer, backend developers and a QA engineer.
This is the reason why dev agencies can be very expensive. If you are just planning on a small app project, then you can also look for professional developers on freelancer websites, such as Upwork.
Whether you choose a development agency or an individual app developer, just make sure that you carefully check their portfolio, websites and their work experience.
Similar to website developers, app developers or an app development company also requires a specific brief to get started with the work.
The development time for an app can vary depending on the complexity of your educational app.
It’s best to start with a minimum viable product (MVP). This is an app that has all the essential features, and any other desired features that aren’t essential can be added later.
There should be a continual development plan for your app which means you keep adding new engaging features to your application over time.
All developers should be able to give you a rough time estimate for the launch date of your learning app.
While you may be focused on the app concept and development, it’s also essential to keep your budget for maintenance in mind.
Agencies and freelance developers will quote different maintenance packages, depending on what’s required for the app.
Launch and Market Your App
Once your app is fully developed and you are happy to press the launch button, most development agencies will be happy to make your app available on your chosen platform.
After launch, you should test the app thoroughly and make sure that everything works as expected.
Although quality testing is done before launch, there could still be things that have been overlooked, so a second check after launch is a good idea.
When you are happy with everything, you can focus on marketing and promoting your app on your website, social media and other platforms.
Also make sure that you put out a press release and send it to journalists in the education sector.
There are also some other ways to promote your new app, such as creating a landing page on your website, writing a guest blog for another website or creating an introduction video.
Depending on your marketing strategy, you can also consider providing some promotions and discounts related to your app.
Final Thoughts
Creating an education app is a great way to engage learners.
Whether you create a simple game app for children or an educational platform app for employees, learning apps should contain all the important information in a digestible format.
