If you are now looking to implement a more comprehensive and seamless Learning Management System (LMS) for your school, here is a helpful guide to get you started.
If you are like most schools, you probably had to implement an e-learning solution for your school on short notice in response to the pandemic. Most Schools deployed third party solutions on platforms like Zoom, Google Meets, etc. If you are now looking to implement a more comprehensive and seamless Learning Management System (LMS) for your school, here is a helpful guide to get you started.
Online learning has become in high demand because of Covid-19. To stay competitive and offer parents’ choice, most schools now offer options for online learning in combination with in-class learning in some form of hybrid offering to cater for the needs of parents and regulations requirements. To get started, key elements to consider include;
- Identify Your Audience
- Re-design Your Website
- Develop Your Cornerstone Online Course
- Develop Integration Tools
- Market Your Platform
These elements are further explained in the following sections.
1. Identify Your Audience
First off, identity the audience you want to teach. Is it just your current enrolled pupils and students or do you want to expand your offering to cater to other demographics? Online learning transcends borders, so your potential students could be anywhere in the world. It may sound obvious but it’s worth digging down into the characteristics of your ideal students. You have to consider the following:
- What is the age group?
- Where are they located mostly, like Western Europe, Middle East, North America?
- What type of curriculum do you want to offer online?
- Why do they want to learn this specific skill?
Such questions will help you zero in on the students/audience who are willing to pay for your online courses. Also, this information will help you to:
- Set prices
- Create courses
- Market and brand your platform
2. Re-design Your Website
You probably already have a website for your school. But if you are going to offer e-learning then it is worth considering to re-design your website to seamless integrate an LMS and showcase curriculum and course offerings in a user-friendly interface where users can easily enroll and participate in courses. While re-designing the website, pay foremost attention to the landing page, brand identity, logo, changing themes, and colors.
Your official website will speak a lot about your professionalism and that’s why we recommend you hire services of a web design company to avoid facing any coding or technical issue.
Ask them to complete the outlook of your platform which should include the following features:
- Students’ profile
- Single or multiple payment options
- Admin and discussion panels
- Login in functionality
- Host audio/video contents
- Upload any type of media
- Push notifications
- Anonymous feedback
- Blogs
- Supports multiple languages, and so on.
3. Develop Your Cornerstone Online Course
Once your website is up and running, develop and upload some learning content on there. At the outset, develop courses that contain the core skills you’re going to teach. Do things that attract new students and bring value to the course.
Don’t forget the needs and wants of the changing times and update the courses regularly. With time, also include affiliate and minor courses and plan your lessons accordingly.
4. Develop Integration Tools
Every online learning platform has certain integration tools that help the managers automate repetitive tasks, administer and evaluate various aspects of the platform, and improve its productivity. It may include:
- Affiliate marketing tools
- Application Programming Interface
- Analytics software
- Productivity software
- Email marketing software
5. Market Your Platform
Digital Marketing is a must if you want your platform to gain traction and hit those high subscription numbers you desire. You need to market your e-learning platform to potential students. Gather all the analytics using integration tools and evaluate the performance of your platform based on brand exposure and website traffic – and tailor your marketing strategies accordingly.
A well-planned Google Search and Display campaign can help you target the right audience at the time they are most interested and most likely to make a subscription for your e-learning programs. You can also use social media, YouTube, and mailing lists to promote your platform.
E-learning will increasingly play a more dominant role in our education system and the winners in this space are schools that embrace the latest technologies available to offer seamless solutions for students to enrol in online courses which can be integrated with in-class curriculum. If you would like to learn more on the subject, our team at Fitch Technologies is on hand to provide consultation to guide you on the best solutions to implement for your school.
