Custom eLearning Courses Development: Full Guide 2024

Developing a website for an eLearning course is a big undertaking, but with the proper planning, tools, and expert team like Onix it can be an easy process. We have in-depth knowledge of the eLearning industry since we have worked in this sphere for more than 20 years so far. One of the projects we’re proud of is Learning Pool, a set of tailored-made solutions for eLearning.  

In this guide, we will discuss what you need to consider when creating your online course website and some of the best ways to build it. By following our recommendations, you can create a website that will look great and function flawlessly for your students. So without further ado, let's get started!

 

 

Why Should You Customize Your Online Courses Website

There are plenty of good reasons to customize your online courses website. A custom website can help you overcome the competition, increase conversions, and show off your unique customer experience.

 

Custom Website Makes You Stand Out from the Competition

With so many online courses available, it can be hard to make your courses stand out from the rest. A custom website can help you do just that. By creating a site specifically designed for your courses, you’ll be able to highlight what makes your courses unique and attract students looking for something specific.

 

Attracts More Students

A well-designed website can help you attract more students to your courses. A custom website lets you showcase your courses in the best light possible and provides potential students with all the information they need to decide.

 

Gives You a Platform to Show Off Your Unique Teaching Style

Your teaching style helps to make your courses unique. A custom website gives you a platform to showcase your unique teaching methods and attract students looking for a specific learning experience.

 

Allows You to Offer More Services

A custom elearning website can also be used to offer additional services, such as private tutoring or course material downloads. This can help attract even more students and make your courses more valuable.

 

Makes It Easy to Keep Your Courses Up-to-Date

When you use a custom website for your courses, it’s easy to keep your courses up-to-date and make changes as needed. This ensures that your students always have access to the most current information and helps you avoid any potential course disruptions.

 

Customizing your online courses website is a great way to make your courses more successful. By creating a custom site, you’ll be able to attract more students, offer more services, and showcase your unique teaching style.

 

 

Features for Your eLearning Courses Platform

Your eLearning courses platform should have several must-have features to make it easy for you to create and deliver your courses. Here are some of the most essential features to look for:

 

1. Easy course creation: The platform should allow you to easily create your courses without having to be a tech expert. Look for a platform that offers drag-and-drop course creation and templates and themes that make it easy to get started.

 

2. A robust content management system (CMS):A good CMS will allow you to easily create, edit, and publish your course content. It should also provide ways to manage learners and track their progress.

 

3. Gamification can make learning more fun and engaging for your students. Look for a platform that offers built-in game mechanics, such as points, badges, and leaderboards.

 

4. Mobile compatibility: With more and more people using mobile devices to access the internet, it’s crucial that your courses are compatible with mobile devices. Look for a responsive design platform so your courses look great on any device.

 

5. Engaging content: The platform should offer various engaging content types, such as video, audio, quizzes, and simulations. This will help keep your students engaged and learning effectively.

 

6. Comprehensive tracking and reporting: The platform should offer detailed tracking and reporting features to see how your students progress. This information can be used to improve your courses over time.

 

7. An intuitive user interface (UI): The UI should be easy to use and navigate so that students can focus on learning, not how to use the platform.

 

8. Customer support: When using an eLearning platform, you’ll likely need some help from customer support at some point. Look for a platform that offers 24/7 customer support, so you can get help when you need it.

 

But there are far more enabling features for eLearning websites; you can read about them here. 

 

Tech Stack for Online Course Website Development

Many technologies can be used to develop an online elearning course website. The tech stack you use will depend on your specific needs and requirements. Some of the most popular technologies used for online course development include:

 

-HTML/CSS: These two languages are used to create the basic structure and style of web pages.

 

-JavaScript: JavaScript is a programming language that can add interactivity to web pages.

 

-PHP: PHP is a popular scripting language used to develop dynamic websites.

 

-MySQL: MySQL is a database management system often used in conjunction with PHP to store data for website applications.

 

-Linux: Linux is a popular operating system often used to run web servers.

 

-Apache: Apache is a popular web server software that can be used to host websites.

 

Choosing the right tech stack for your online course website development project will depend on several factors, including your budget, skills, and the specific needs of your project. Working with a professional web development company can help you determine the best tech stack for your project.

 

Using Machine Learning for Your eLearning Courses Platform

With the abundance of data available today, it's no wonder that machine learning is becoming increasingly popular in a variety of industries. And eLearning is no exception. Machine learning can be used to personalize the learning experience for each student, recommend relevant course content, and even identify areas where students may need extra help. Here are a few examples of how machine learning can be used to improve the eLearning experience:

 

• One way machine learning can be used in eLearning is by providing personalized recommendations to students. Machine learning algorithms can suggest additional courses or resources that may interest the student based on previous coursework, learning behaviors, and other factors. This helps ensure that each learner gets the most relevant and helpful content possible.

 

• Machine learning can also identify areas where students may need extra help. By analyzing patterns in student data, machine learning algorithms can flag areas where certain students are struggling. This information can then be used to provide targeted interventions or additional resources to those students.

 

• By analyzing a learner's submission for similarities to other content, machine learning can be used to detect plagiarism. This can help prevent cheating and ensure that learners present original work.

 

• Automated grading - Using machine learning, eLearning course platforms can automatically grade essays, short answers, and other submissions. This can save instructors time and ensure that submissions are graded fairly and consistently.

 

• Learning path customization - Based on a learner's goals and preferences, machine learning can customize a learning path's order and content. This helps to ensure that each learner is presented with the most relevant and useful information, resulting in a more effective learning experience.

 

• Finally, machine learning can be used to monitor student progress and identify when they have mastered certain concepts. This information can then be used to adjust the pace of the course or provide students with more challenging material. This helps to ensure that each student is always challenged and engaged in their learning.

 

As you can see, there are a variety of ways that machine learning can be used to improve the eLearning experience. By using data to personalize content, recommend relevant resources, and identify areas of weakness, machine learning can help make eLearning more effective for everyone involved.

 

 

8 Steps for an Online Elearning Courses Development

 

1. Need analysis 

Start with defining your target audience and why they need this online course or training. The wider the audience, the better for the project. Flexibility and convenience for every learner are the core principles of eLearning. 

 

The needs analysis can range from simple interviews to an in-depth analysis of data from years of workforce training. The needs analysis reveals not only what users actually need but also hopefully how you can meet their needs and get positive results.

 

Try to answer the following questions:

 

• What problem should your online course or courses solve?
• How can it potentially improve the users’ skills and knowledge?
• What are they interested in learning, and what interests them?
• How will your eLearning product help your organization/clients meet their business goals?
• What do you plan to achieve?
• How will you know whether you have reached your goal? 

 

2. Research your audience and subject matter 

Everything matters: the learners’ age, income level, existing knowledge, technical capabilities, expectations, available time, how they will use the new knowledge and skills, and even their interests and hobbies. For example, their favorite online education tools will provide ideas and inspiration. You can receive valuable insights via surveys, polls on social media, interviews, etc.

 

You also need to study your niche market to understand what solutions are popular, how they are generating income, and whether you can offer something unique to learners. 

 

All this info will support you in developing relevant, practical, and engaging educational content. Knowing when and where your audience will be learning also influences the future course design. For example, if they do it on the go, a shorter course with easily digestible content and quick assessments is preferable.

 

Take the problem defined in Step 1 and collect information that addresses it specifically. Evaluate your existing source material and identify what you’re missing. If needed, engage a subject matter expert (SME) or experts. Most successful eLearning websites partner with universities, museums, celebrities, and others to amass rich content on various topics and present it interactively, so it may be high time to contact someone.

 

Read more: 8 Data Mining Techniques for a Successful Business

 

3. Formulate SMART learning objectives

Define the information or skills that learners should obtain by the end of the course. 

The SMART goals should also be aligned to your business objectives.

 

Try to break down the existing content into manageable chunks according to the expected outcomes. This will help in creating online learning modules, the building blocks of your course: each module should teach a topic or a skill. Clear learning objectives will also prevent your eLearning content from swelling and digressing.

 

Read also: How to Create a Chatbot: The Ultimate Development Guide

 

4. Develop the plan for your online course

The plan should be based on the project requirements, learning objectives, and the identified topics. Group the learning modules to devise a step-by-step learning experience. For each concept that students wish to master, they will watch video tutorials, read recommended materials, answer questions, etc. In the end, they would take a final test to prove their mastery and receive a certificate of completion, if applicable.

 

Have your SME or content writer put down the course plan considering the following:

 

• The type of content that best meets the learning objective and the learners’ individual needs
• What is the best way to make each learning module meaningful and relevant?
• How to make sure each learner masters the objectives?

 

The plan is not limited to a curriculum of sorts. The content of each learning module should be designed to support the learner’s intake and retention of critical information. Elaborate on the way the educational content will be delivered. It’s critical to hold the learners’ interest from one module to the next. The concept of waypoint is important as well. A course should be designed in such a way that users can pause anywhere and continue at any time without losing track. Even if busy learners don’t complete a course, they should still be left with some knowledge and general understanding, so they can easily resume learning when they need to.

 

Besides a user-friendly interface and engaging and relevant content, a proper assessment and rewards systems are important. You can also add a leaderboard system to make the experience more competitive. The best-performing learners may earn a discount on other courses or verified certificates upon course completion.

  

The stakeholders and SMEs should approve the plan.

 

5. Define the look-and-feel of the product

This task goes beyond choosing the images, colors, fonts, or animations. The learning experience should feel cohesive. Every element of the user interface (UI), user experience (UX), and learning content should support the overall idea and purpose of the course and create an emotional connection with every learner. For example, the tone of the voiceover in tutorials should match the ‘voice’ of the content writer. If you are creating elearning content for senior citizens, you may choose a formal tone and a slower tempo of instruction, include more explanations, and so forth. If it targets children, the style will be completely different. 

 

The assessments are part of the plan too. If instead of plain marks users can learn about their strengths and weaknesses, track their performance, and get rewards, it will motivate them to study and sustain an emotional connection with your online courses.

 

Although the visuals will be addressed later, start thinking about them now. The style of the future webpage, images, and printable materials should match the target audience’s tastes and needs, and so forth. 

 

 

6. Design individual learning modules

Each eLearning module is a sequenced collection of subject-related materials and usually contains:

 

• 2-4 learning objectives for the module
• directions for use
• learning materials to help users understand or learn something
• learning activities to help them practice or apply the knowledge
• assessments

 

The learning outcomes are typically formulated like “learners will be able to: classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, etc.” Once they have been nailed down, think about the ways to verify whether the learners achieved them. Assessments can occur at any point in a module, not necessarily at the end. Pop-up tests, quizzes, and exams are an interactive way of testing learners on the material they’ve covered thus far, but also breaking up the modules, keeping the learners’ attention, and motivating them to continue. Encourage the users’ feedback as well.

 

Describe the learning materials and activities for each module. If you are using a textbook, include the assigned readings from it. The trick is to transform the subject matter into something engaging, enlightening, and entertaining. Carefully select the content formats to use in each module: videos, webinars, charts, worksheets, and so forth. Besides conveying the ideas or explaining concepts most effectively, they should fit the learners’ needs and preferences. The  variety of media, along with gamification, can help you engage learners and gain more users.

Storyboarding may be helpful at this stage. A rough visual outline will help you map out how text, videos, activities, quizzes, and other elements will look on a webpage, find out any gaps or parts that don’t fit together right, and so on.

 

7. Create or curate learning materials and activities for your course 

This is the most complicated and time-consuming phase, the key areas including texts, graphics, video, audio, animations, interactions, and assessments. Luckily, there are plenty of free and paid authoring tools and resources that can help you with creating eLearning content. If your experience with programming and graphic design is limited, opt for a tool that features pre-made templates or a graphics library. Otherwise, choose software with advanced features and functions.

 

Some of the free and simple instruments for producing charts, infographics, or visuals are Canva, Gliffy, and Google Charts. Ardour, Voki, and vozMe are examples of free audio tools to help record, edit, mix, and download content for your online courses.

 

Use screen capture software like CamStudio, Free Cam, Free Screen Video Recorder, or ShareX to create videos easily. Camtasia, Screencast-O-Matic, and Snagit are some of the free tools to assist with editing and animations. Keep the video, audio, and graphic elements simple and straightforward: this will not only save time but also keep the focus of the course on what is truly important.

 

If there is no opportunity to develop custom multimedia elements, you can embed links to videos, presentations, or other online resources. It will still be useful and look professional; for example, videos from YouTube can be played directly on your course’s webpage.

 

For the creation of eLearning interactions and assessments, some of the accessible options include Easy Test Maker, Formsite, and Google Forms.

 

When you are writing or editing eLearning scripts and texts for the future webpages, try to avoid large blocks of text, write short sentences, and use bolded subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists. If you are aiming at an international audience, follow a multi-lingual approach.

 

Arrange the materials and activities into a coherent sequence, as if guiding learners through them step-by-step. Include due dates, tips, and comments about how the content of this module is going to be useful and relates to the previous and future modules’ content. If you are asking users to read articles or view videos, supply guiding questions and instructions. Tell them what to look for, what to write down, and so forth.

 

8. Select the eLearning software, assemble a cohesive course, and publish it

Every element you include in the final product should serve the primary learning goals and business objectives.

 

Several free software programs provide all the tools you need to create screens, add graphics or video, include interactions, and ultimately compile your course. Easygenerator, iSpring, LCDS by Microsoft, SmartBuilder, and Udutu are good examples. Sometimes, layout templates can be customized to include branding, but it’s always best to pick a minimalistic theme with easily accessible UI elements.

 

Before compiling your online course, it is highly desirable to build a prototype of one learning module. A prototype defines the representative look-and-feel of the entire course and allows testing out its technical functionality. Advanced eLearning software enables course designers to make and discard multiple versions quickly before the best one is approved.

 

Once your online learning modules have been built and packaged into a course, you need to share it with your SMEs, company stakeholders, and clients, if any. Let them review it, suggest any changes, and ultimately approve. After that, you can move the course to one of the cloud eLearning platforms or learning management systems.

 

For example, at the Udemy platform, before publishing a course, you would have to submit it for quality review. Educators identify their ownership rights to the course, provide their legal name, DOB, country of residence and address, and go through a short verification process. After that, Udemy’s team reviews the course and, if no fixes are required, publishes it in the marketplace.

 

Alternatively, you can design an entire eLearning course with a learning management system (LMS). This software covers all your needs of administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of online education.

 

After the publication, determine how effective your course has been. Collect statistics, analyze the learners’ feedback, reviews, and ratings, and otherwise try to learn what is more interesting, useful, and convenient for users, and what isn’t. Look at the return on investment, performance, and other key performance indicators as well. The continuous improvement and updates to your online courses are another task for LMS to handle, so let’s take a closer look at this software.

 

Learning Management Systems

Modern LMS offer reliable and convenient course-building and prototyping tools for individuals and organizations. Even without any instructional design knowledge, you can sign up with a platform like Docebo, SAP Litmos, or TalentLMS and access a wealth of capabilities. They will help you create a course structure, integrate your eLearning content and additional resources, drag-and-drop graphics and multimedia elements, integrate quizzes and exercises, leverage live streaming features, create calendars with assignment deadlines and learning events, and more. 

 

When selecting eLearning authoring tools and LMS for your project, look at reviews from online course creators, available features, and costs, since many cloud-based LMS charge monthly fees. As for eLearning platforms, they would typically take a commission based on the number of learners enrolled for your course or charge a percentage of its cost. In the process of providing LMS development services, we were convinced of this more than once.

 

Choose the software that best suits the needs of your audience and your organization’s preferences and needs. It’s time to look at new aspects of your online course development:

 

• How many users will be accessing the program simultaneously?
• Will it require any applications to be installed?
• Will the course be accessed on the company’s or the learner’s own devices?
• What is your plan for backing up information and security?
• What kind of support system will you offer?

 

A good LMS will help your courses look good in different web browsers and on smartphones and tablets. Consider this feature if your learners value the ability to access content and attend live classes on the go, without being always connected to the Internet. If you plan to charge fees, choose an eCommerce-enabled platform that will facilitate transactions and ensure the security of sensitive information.

 

WordPress, one of the most popular technologies, can help with the latter solution. Besides offering a plethora of plugins for virtually anything, from building a basic website to managing a video library, WordPress will require little to no tech expertise.

 

For example, Tutor LMS is an all-in-one solution suitable for individual educators, institutes, and eLearning platforms. It comes with a user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop system for eLearning course development, rich assessment options, and more. The entire course, regardless of its size, difficulty level, and the volume of content, can be created from a single page of the back-end course builder. You can attach worksheets and practice materials to download, add topics with quizzes and assignments, embed video sources or paste links to YouTube videos, and more. Tutor’s unique Frontend Course Builder allows new course developers to create quizzes and access all the back-end options right on the frontend. Tutor LMS also makes it easy to control course enrolments, add multiple instructors, and award custom certificates. It’s possible to create a website from scratch using the plugin’s free version only, while the Pro features will take your LMS to the next level.

 

If you plan on monetizing your eLearning content, the VooPlayer video hosting platform provides a solution for the secure storing and distribution of premium video content to subscribers. WooCommerce is a free and convenient eCommerce plugin for managing the sales of your online courses. As for the look-and-feel, WordPress offers various paid and free options for your LMS platform apart from the default theme.

 

With open-source LMS, you can further customize online learning experiences, certification programs, reporting and monitoring tools, and use a plethora of other useful plugins. Some of the examples are Canvas, Chamilo, Learning Locker LRS, Moodle, Open edX, and Totara Learn.They let course designers add their own features and integrate with other software.

 

Most of these cloud-based eLearning platforms claim to be easy to set up and use. Some are mobile-friendly. All are free. However, if you don’t have experience with programming, you might need to hire a web developer to help with:

 

• setting up your learning modules
• fully customizing the tools
• best implementation and integration
• setting up additional tools and pay-to-use features
• preventing problems with proprietary software
• some cluttered code
• bug fixes 

 

One of the places to look for cutting-edge solutions is the Learning Technologies conference. Annually, in February, at the ExCeL center in London, 8,500 participants can attend 200+ free seminars and see 200 exhibits. Leading companies are preparing for the event throughout the year to showcase their achievements, so that you might explore the latest technologies and ideas and spy on innovations and development trends for the next year. Learning from the most experienced and successful entrepreneurs, you may increase the odds of success for your own eLearning project.

 

Custom Development of e-Learning Websites

If you are not content with any of the existing solutions and revenue models or wish to start a brand-new online courses marketplace, you may create e-Learning website like Udemy from scratch. It’s highly recommended to start with a minimum viable product (MVP).

You may complement this minimum with whatever unique features you envision. With the current advances in technology, such as AI or virtual reality, learners are increasingly selective and demanding of online education. Only websites and applications with at least one ‘killer’ feature can stand out from the crowd of competitors and retain learners.

 

Read also: AR and VR Technologies for eLearning

 

Data privacy and security features may become one of the competitive advantages. If the vital features are designed right from the concept stage, the product development will be more cost-effective, UX better, and the path to market safer and smoother.

 

A successful eLearning project is actually never complete. Its life cycle may span 4-5 years and more, and to stay relevant, it should be constantly improved and reinvented. New features are introduced, while outdated and unused ones disappear. A project with a rigid plan may take 18 months to complete, after which the product is already outdated and nobody wants it. That’s why an MVP and Agile approach are the best for eLearning development. 

 

Final Thoughts

Elearning development process can be roughly divided into two parts. The first pertains to the development of specific content according to approved online course design. It requires familiarity with instructional design and content authoring tools, but little, if any, programming skill.

 

The second part requires that you should choose and leverage technology solutions for the publication and distribution of eLearning content and possibly revenue generation. For example, with the right learning management system, you can easily scale and deploy various online courses and corporate training programs. However, even the best eLearning platforms are quite complex, may require a significant learning curve, and often call for the assistance of professional eLearning software developers.

 

For most entrepreneurs, a DIY approach isn’t worth the time, effort, and even money. Besides learning how to create content and design e-Learning websites, they and their employees surely have other business needs to attend. It’s more reasonable to concentrate on generating income while a trusted expert handles everything about your eLearning product, from devising a long-term strategy to fixing bugs. Moreover, if you opt for outsourcing the project, you can cut its cost dramatically.

 

 

At Onix, we know that building effective eLearning solutions takes work, cutting-edge technology, creativity, and years of experience. Our offshore software development services  range from consulting to full custom UI/UX design and development of eLearning websites and mobile applications. Our specialists can also work as an extension of your in-house team. Whatever help you may need, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

 

 

FAQ

 

What are the benefits of developing an eLearning course website?

There are several benefits to developing an eLearning course website. First, it allows you to deliver content to students in a flexible and convenient format. Secondly, it provides a platform for student interaction and collaboration. Thirdly, an eLearning course website can be a valuable resource for both students and instructors. Finally, an eLearning course website can save time and money by eliminating the need for printed materials.

 

What are the requirements for developing an eLearning course website? 

In order to develop an eLearning course website, you will need a domain name and a hosting account, as well as a content management system (CMS) or authoring tool. You will also need to create content for your courses, which can be in the form of text, audio, video, or other media. Once your courses are created, you will need to add them to your website and make them available to students.

 

What are some tips for developing an eLearning course website? 

1. Use a responsive design so that your site can be accessed on any device. 

2. Make sure your site is easy to navigate and user-friendly. 

3. Use multimedia content to engage learners and keep them interested in your courses. 

4. Use interactive features such as forums and quizzes to encourage learner participation. 

5. Keep your courses up-to-date with the latest information and resources.