In many schools and universities, gadgets are prohibited, perceived as something cheating and distracting attention. However, this is not at all true. Each student and an adult can use a smartphone as a great way to learn a variety of things. There are many educational apps. Diksha is the top learning platform from India, which has become very popular recently. Using his example, we will consider what you need to know to create your own educational app.
What is Diksha
Diksha is a portal and a distance learning application that has become another example of the development of IT-sphere during a pandemic. Amid the spread of COVID-19, in India, as well as around the world, all educational institutions were closed. During the difficult times when the students are missing out on studies, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), together with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), has launched a digital learning initiative. The platform was called Diksha, which in Hinduism means the rite of initiation into disciples.
The goal of this initiative is to help teachers and students continue their studies as usual but in a different format. The platform is designed for all students: from pre-primary grades to senior secondary. Diksha is a huge step towards development for both students and teachers because this is a completely new format and work experience.
Benefits for everyone
The application from the platform is available for Android and iOS users, it can easily be downloaded from the store. The mobile app is not only created for teachers, but it is also designed for students and parents.
For teachers, the application provides lesson plans, resources, and teacher information. Pupils receive training in an interesting interactive form due to the preservation of lessons, practical exercises, and means of checking their work. But during the development, they also thought about the parents of the students, who can monitor the success of students. All this makes Diksha an integrated platform for all parties.
Key features and functions of the Diksha application
The Diksha application provides many opportunities for productive and comfortable learning at home. To create the same effective training application, you need to know its main functions and capabilities. You can use everything, choose specific ones or add your unique features to stand out in the market. The Diksha mobile application allows you to:
- use the application as a guest or anonymous user;
- register and log in to your account;
- use the content online and offline;
- get access to the necessary materials by scanning a QR code or entering a code from textbooks;
- search for content from the storage;
- download content from the storage;
- browse resources from the library;
- find content that was previously downloaded to your mobile device in offline mode;
- sign up for available courses and pass them online;
- upload and verify certificates;
- edit user profile;
- share content with other users;
- view and evaluate educational content;
- set digital ratings;
- send notifications to users;
- import files by choosing an approved format: .ecar, .epar, .gsa, and .edar.
The platform and the application have another important advantage that should be taken into account in your application — multilingualism. In addition to the local languages of India, such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and others, the app supports English. Add the most popular world languages to your application so that people in different countries can use it.
3 design rules for a good educational app
Good training materials are important. But the basis for the success of such applications is a fascinating user interface and design that will correctly immerse you in learning.
Active participation
Active learning takes various forms: kinetic (touch, movement, swipe), voice interaction (repetition, singing), cognitive (interpretation and manipulation of symbolic systems), etc.
So, it is important to support numbers, notes, geographical maps, and other symbolic systems, with the help of design, representing physical objects, for example, melody, pictures and so on. Active participation also means total concentration and control over what is happening on the screen.
Sequence
In contrast to memorization, when knowledge doesn’t linger in the head for a long time, consistent learning builds the correct order and structures new material. Build gradations from simple to complex, repeat material for speedy memorization and visualize concepts for building associations.
Interaction and motivation
Participation in training takes place at different levels: behavioral, emotional, cognitive. Application design should balance educational content and motivational elements:
- Responsiveness. Conditional interaction occurs when the student receives an answer to each action. Then the user feels control and continues to interact, so responsiveness is the basis of the user interface design.
- External motivation and feedback. For example, right/wrong signs, motivational messages “Great job!”/“Try again!”, sound signals and animation. This helps students measure their progress.
Monetization
Of course, Diksha is a free application that was created by the government to provide its country with a quality educational resource. But we understand that it is very difficult to develop and improve the product without the monetization. For beginners, the free model is ideal for attracting users. At the start, this is the only option, because the competition is very high. At the very least, give users a free trial to get familiar with your application.
Creating reliable sources of income is part of the success of the application. There are several monetization models for such an app:
- Subscription. The monthly subscription is the most popular monetization method for the training application. In addition, you can enter various user plans for access to special functions.
- In-app purchases. Invite users to buy special files, open paid topics, and lessons, etc.
- Freemium. Many free educational apps make money with paid features.
- Commissions. When your application reaches audiences, you can engage educational portals and online schools to collaborate to host their content in your application. So you will receive a fee for posting material.
- Advertising. Advertising in the application is annoying, so use it carefully and in moderation. If children will use your application, be sure to check out the advertising policy, which is very strict for children’s applications.
Cost
When developing an educational app, it is necessary to take into account many factors to assess the cost of the project. For example, will your application support play audio, video, game content for interesting learning? Besides, such an app must be created for Android and iOS, since students will use devices on different platforms.
Localization and use of different languages will increase the cost. And the integration of technologies such as VR or AR for unique user experience will add more than one hundred dollars to the cost. But if you consider the development of an app with basic functions, the project will cost you about $ 48,000 or more. It all depends on your plans and the choice of functionality.
Conclusion
Education is an important part of every person’s life. For both schoolchildren and students, and for every adult, new knowledge is what helps to grow and reach heights in life. New technologies and applications allow you to get useful skills at any convenient time, place, and format. Therefore, online education is a profitable niche in the market that is actively developing. Technologies have long been used in educational institutions. Create a new useful product that will become the future of the educational sphere.
