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Create a Video-based e‑Learning Platform like Udemy [Step-by-Step Guide]
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Considering creating a custom video-based e-learning platform? Or are you curious about how to build a website like Udemy? Fortunately, Softermii is here to…
Considering creating a custom video-based e-learning platform? Or are you curious about how to build a website like Udemy? Fortunately, Softermii is here to shed light on this for you. We are experts in implementing video in e-learning platforms, as demonstrated by our Polyfish project demonstrates.
project. Both public and private schools have recently established virtual classrooms, experts have begun sharing their lectures on online platforms, and universities have introduced a mix of free and paid online courses.
Read Also: How to Create a Voice Chat Application from Scratch
With this sudden growth of virtual learning, e-learning platforms have become tremendously profitable, such as the case with Udemy, which has grown to become one of the most prominent online video learning solutions with over 50 million users and 196,000 courses in 75 languages.
This interest in online learning is only expected to increase. Its global market will reach $457.8 billion by 2026, with rising demand driving industry expansion well beyond that date. As a result, new learning platforms with innovative and unique approaches are still needed. And that is why eLearning platform development is so in demand today.
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Generate AI SummaryHide summaryA step-by-step guide to building a video-based e-learning platform like Udemy — market trends, cost savings, and key features.
Executive Summary
The growing use of e-learning technologies in businesses and schools is propelling the market forward at a rapid rate.
Online classrooms and video conferencing software are seeing strong adoption rates, and many new startups are joining the e-learning industry to take advantage of the increased demand. Many people are also wanting to know how to create a video-based learning platform and how they can get started.
Therefore, in this article, we will look at:
- how a video-based learning platform may help your business save money,
- the market trends,
- critical features of a video-based e-learning platform,
- how to build a custom learning platform,
- the cost to create a video-based e-learning platform,
- our own personal experience in building online video education platforms.
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Hire a teamHow a Video-based Training Platform May Help to Optimize Expenses
We must admit that video has emerged as the undisputed winner among all types of content to engage viewers. It is the time for business owners to make training videos to prepare their employers.
Building an eLearning platform based on video can bring significant financial advantages for businesses. See how such a platform will help you optimize expenses.
Reduce the Cost of Training
Traditional classroom-based training programs are costly, including travel and hotel lodging expenses besides education fees. However, these costs can be cut by switching to online learning and repurposing content.
A company that could significantly optimize its expenses was IBM, which converted 50% of its training to e-learning and saved $579 million within the first two years of its switch.
Similar savings can be seen with Microsoft’s integration of its internal video portal and animations, which decreased classroom training expenditures from $320/hour per individual to $17/hour per individual.
Save Time
Live teaching is always more time-consuming than e-learning because a video-based platform reduces the need for repetitive training. Shifting to a virtual classroom decreases the time experienced employees spend on training, allowing them to spend that time on more productive duties.
Make Virtual Schools Less Expensive
Traditional brick-and-mortar schools incur various costs, including heating, maintenance, and rent. Because a virtual school does not have the same expenses as a physical one, extracurricular school businesses can cut expenses by going online.
Market Trends for Online Learning Platforms
According to a recent report by Global Market Insights, the global e-learning market it is anticipated to grow to a staggering $1 trillion. North America alone will account for 40% of the worldwide market.
The United States appears to be actively promoting e-learning. For example, about 77% of American companies already use online learning tools, and 72% believe that such training gives them a competitive advantage.
Furthermore, e-learning will expand since it has many supporters, including both businesses and regular people. More than 75% of employees choose video-based learning over reading information. And 90% of students will prefer e-learning to visiting a classroom.
Other Types of e-Learning Platforms
Various e-learning platforms similar to Udemy use video communication and content for educational purposes. There are also other options aside from video-based ones. Let’s discuss the leading online training solutions in greater detail.
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)
These are courses that anyone may access through various e-learning platforms. MOOCs can be paid and free, and their cost depends on the certificate issued upon training completion. Such courses usually have no time limit, allowing more students to enroll. Hence the name — massive. Education mostly takes place in the form of webinars and video-based content.
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
A virtual learning environment is an e-learning platform usually integrated with educational institutions. It offers tools that make the organization of distance learning easy for teachers and students. These video-based learning solutions provide, in particular, the ability to plan lessons, monitor student performance and activity, and create courses and test assignments.
Visual Instructor-led Training (VILT)
Visual instructor-led training is another type of online learning. Its primary characteristic is that teaching is conducted in real-time through video conferencing platforms like Zoom.
$457.8 billion by 2026
The E-Learning global market will reach $457.8 billion by 2026 , with rising demand driving industry expansion well beyond that date.
Discussion Boards
The discussion board is a digital tool used in e-learning. It consists of forums on various topics, where everyone can ask questions or express their opinion in text format.
eLearning Forums
E-learning forums are similar to discussion boards, yet when the latter may come in handy in different fields, the e-learning forums are created solely for educational uses.
eLearning Podcast Platforms
These platforms present audio educational content on various topics. In this way, everyone can join and listen to the topic that interests them most.
Read Also: Benefits of Digital Transformation For Education
Key Features of A Video-based Elearning Platform
If you want to develop your own e-learning platform based on video, figure out how it will operate first. Consider the following e-learning platform features that you can add to your product.
Administrative Panel
This section will allow you to manage your platform, including viewing user insights, sending push notifications, adding new content, and making modifications.
Course Creation
Teachers should be able to develop video and PDF-based courses. They should also be able to access guides, instructions, and advice on developing a visually appealing and engaging course through your platform. In addition, interactive features must be included so that teachers can create quizzes and tests.
Dashboard
A student should be able to view the classes that they are currently enrolled in and pick up where they left off right away. Teachers should be able to see information about their courses on their dashboard, such as the number of students registered, ratings, traffic, and conversions.
Filters
Filters should be simple to access and use. Users should be able to find courses using category trees and filters rather than having to know the actual titles. Duration, language, level, price, topic, and ratings are some of the most used filters.
Gamification
By allowing teachers to modify their courses to become game-based, they may design fun awards and levels to motivate their students to finish the course and complete all assignments.
Notifications
Students can be reminded to finish their classes, be informed of new courses, and be notified of new features or services. You may want to use rich push notifications that incorporate media like images to increase the open rate.
Onboarding
It should be simple and quick to sign up for your platform. Allowing users to sign up with their Facebook and Google accounts simplifies the onboarding process and establishes trust between them and your product.
Course Page
Each class should have a profile that includes information on the teacher, the course’s length, content, desired outcomes, needed skill levels, and user reviews. It should also include an introduction video in which lecturers give students an overview of the class and explain its features.
Payment Gateways
The payment gateways you choose should be based on your target location, audience, and unique requirements. Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Stripe are some of the most popular payment methods.
Personal Profiles
Users should be able to see the courses they’ve saved and purchased along with their class progress, payment history, and payment methods.
Recommendations
Recommendations should be displayed on your platform’s main screen or dashboard. To make this feature effective, you will need to create an AI-learning algorithm that gathers data based on user behavior and then recommends the most appropriate types of courses.
Reviews
It is standard to integrate reviews and star ratings. They should be simply and quickly viewed on course pages and thumbnails with visual ratings. In addition, users should be encouraged to give feedback as they progress through the course and once it is completed.
Content Management System
Your video-based learning platform requires a content management system or CMS so that users can upload, modify, and manage video and other content.
File Uploading
Add this feature so that teachers and students can easily share files. Make sure your users can upload files in various formats: text documents, images, audio, or video.
Search with Autocomplete
Users should not be presented with an unending list of irrelevant options when looking for a class. By using a predictive search function, they should be able to find their desired courses.
Text and Video Chat
Teachers can utilize a more personalized approach to teaching with a video chat feature, allowing them to deliver one-on-one classes. Teachers can also use the text chat feature to engage with their students and build a sense of community among them, such as creating a homework discussion group for them to mingle in.
Video Player
You must ensure that your video player can play and support all new and old video formats, such as Dash, HLS, and MP4. It would help if you also used CSS. Style your video player to fit the design of your platform.
Video Streaming
It is a more advanced teaching method that allows instructors to live-stream their courses. Previously, we have already talked about how to create a video streaming platform.
Read also: Livestream Commerce Technology Explained
Augmented and Virtual Reality
If users are allowed to use AR and VR in their classes, teachers can visualize their materials while students can have a more realistic classroom experience by using virtual whiteboards.
Pay Close Attention to Video eLearning Platform UI/UX Design
What do you need to do to make your user enjoy using your video-based e-learning platform? First of all, pay attention to the video and its processing speed. Students are unlikely to appreciate the ever-crushing pixel image.
Likewise, make communication on your platform as easy as possible. By adding text and video chat and notifications, you can let your users share information effortlessly.
An e-learning tool that seems visually challenging and burdensome can also repel your users. So, of course, your platform can’t do without a simple and minimalist design. Such e-learning platform design includes clear typography, visual hierarchy, and uniform colors.
40%
North America alone will account for 40% of the worldwide e-learning market
eLearning Platform Development Tech Stack
If you aim to learn about eLearning website or app development like Udemy, you should understand the technology involved. The tech stack must be efficient, robust, and scalable for video-based platforms.
Your tech stack will include the following components:
Frontend
You can choose the following technology stack for the frontend of your website: JavaScript, HTML, CSS3, and ReactJS.
Backend
For the backend, we suggest you choose one of the available tools. For example, it could be PHP, Python, Node.js, or Go.
Database
You may decide between popular databases, such as MongoDB and MySQL.
Mobile Technologies
To understand how to create an online education website like Udemy, you also need to make the right choice among mobile technologies. You can choose Kotlin or Java for Android applications and Swift or Objective-C for iOS. React Native or Flutter is suitable for cross-platform apps.
Video
We recommend WebRTC if you want to integrate video into your product.
Step-by-step Process to Create a Video-Based Online Learning Platform
How to create an e-learning platform based on video step-by-step? Let’s now get straight to the point.
Steps
Identify Your Target Market
Before you do anything else, you will need to conduct market research and establish who your intended audience is. E-learning systems, after all, benefit more than just high school and university students; they also benefit employees and individuals looking for new job prospects.
You will also need to consider your users’ demographics, major objectives, and learning preferences. If you have a defined user portrait, you will be able to develop an eLearning platform and effectively promote it.
Develop Your Vision
Your vision should include the look of your product and its primary functions. At this stage, you should also start thinking about what features are essential and what your product specifications are.
Your vision is incomplete if you can’t articulate your product and goals to a group of developers, designers, and investors. Ensure that you can answer all of the questions on how you want your product to work and run.
Create a Business Strategy
Your business plan will assist you in budgeting and forecasting future revenues. You may require a professional consultation to explore your expectations and conduct a market analysis.
It would help if you also considered the monetization model for your platform at this stage. Decide whether it will be subscription-based, charge for premium accounts, enable users to pay for individual courses, or be a corporate collaboration.
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In addition, you should make both optimistic and pessimistic strategies so that you are prepared for both the best and worst scenarios. Once you have completed your strategy, you can now create an online learning platform based on video.
Find a Development Team
It is one of the most crucial elements in video-based learning platform development like Udemy because it will determine its functionality and reliability.
Rather than creating an in-house team, it is highly recommended that you outsource your development to a software development company. It’s since building an in-house team is a time-consuming and expensive process, whereas outsourcing is significantly less expensive and quicker.
It can be challenging to choose the right development team, but you should base your decision on their level of expertise and knowledge in how to create an online learning platform based on video.
A professional software development vendor can help you select the best technologies for your platform and assist you throughout the development process, from planning to release.
Create a Development Strategy
If you have chosen the right team, your software development vendor will be able to assist you with this stage. For example, their business analysts may help you develop a technical specification, which is a precise explanation of your project’s features, technological stack, and stakeholders.
Each development plan stage will require your approval, ensuring that you maintain complete control over your project. When you are done, you can start the development process.
Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
An MVP is necessary to evaluate your product without having to spend a lot of money or effort and test the waters. You and your team will go over the entire list of features you’d like for your platform to determine which ones to release first and which are vital for a competitive edge.
For example, having a comprehensive search function is critical, while face recognition is not the first necessity. The features that you do not choose can then be added later. Your development team will also be creating the technical diagram, designing the UI/UX, hosting, testing, writing code, and launching your platform in this step.
Review and Revise
To create a website like Udemy or even better, it is necessary not only to develop it, but also to improve it. Following the launch of your platform, you will begin to get feedback. You can rapidly learn which features your users use the most, how they’ve found your platform and their degree of interest by using analytics to track user activity.
With this data, you can determine which features to improve, which aspects of your platform are working well, and detect any issues. Even after the first month of gathering and evaluating feedback, you should continue to be attentive to your users and regularly upgrade your platform to stay competitive.
The Cost of Video-based Learning Platform Development
Unfortunately, the cost of developing a video-based e-learning platform is not fixed. It depends on various factors, including the design complexity, hourly rate of your development staff, number of platforms, and size.
However, estimates for how long each feature and product can be made are based on general expectations. As a result, the following data is founded on $50/hour and the average number of hours required to create a video-based learning platform.
The Price of Features
| Features | Average hours for either web or mobile app | Minimal Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Admin Panel | 125 | $6,250 |
| Authorization and Security | 70 | $3,500 |
| Course Creation | 125 | $6,250 |
| Course Management | 65 | $3,250 |
| Course Page | 95 | $4,750 |
| Home Page | 80 | $4,000 |
| Notifications | 30 | $1,500 |
| Payment Gateways | 40 | $2,000 |
| Reviews and Ratings | 70 | $3,500 |
| Search and Filters | 60 | $3,000 |
| User Profiles | 40 | $1,600 |
| UX/UI Design | 40 | $1,600 |
| Minimal Cost | $41,200 |
Keep in mind that these prices are solely based on the feature. Thus they do not reflect the entire cost of the final product. After all, quality assurance, management, and other processes are also required.
However, by utilizing the above features, like the essential requirements that your platform must include, we can have a more accurate estimate of the total cost of creating your own e-learning platform based on the video.
Faster Software Development
The final cost of e-learning video software development may vary depending on platforms and features. The industry average is $80,000 - $120,000, and the development process lasts for about 6-8 months.
With Softermii’s VidRTC engine, you can save up to 2 months of development time and cost. VidRTC is a customizable engine with basic features for video-based apps on board: appointment management, video streaming, and chats.
Company Experience
Softermii has over seven years of experience designing software platforms of varying sizes and complexities. We are also well-versed in the difficulties and challenges of developing video-based learning systems like Udemy.
As a result, we offer various unique services that enable us to create custom video-based learning platforms with long-term collaboration processes that ensure that our clients are happy, even after the development process is finished.
We are pleased to report that we have completed numerous successful projects that include cutting-edge technology for smooth video playback and streaming. The accomplishments listed below are only a few of our most notable video-based achievements.
Polyfish
Polyfish is an app-based e-learning platform that connects teachers and students through real-time video streaming. We have merged video conferencing and text messaging for quick and easy communication, allowing users to teach and learn without delays.
Through this platform, users can meet and speak with people worldwide with only a few clicks. With a user-friendly layout and expansive search filter, we exceeded client expectations by completing this project within two months.
My Health Explained
My Health Explained is a personalized and educational platform available on both the web and mobile devices. This software recommends specific programs with video content and utilizes a highly personalized approach tailored to the user’s specific profile.
Users can effortlessly follow the program, resume where they’ve left off, and receive suggestions based on their own needs. It has received high reviews from healthcare workers and is used by over 11,000 diabetics.
Read also: How To Make An App Like TikTok
Create Your Video-based E-learning Platform with a Professional Team
Video is the most widely consumed kind of media on the internet. Therefore, it is no surprise that the best and most successful online learning platforms rely heavily on videos to educate.
As the market grows and expands, online education is more vital than ever for businesses, educators, and students. As a result, many startups have been developing online learning platforms to begin a successful video-based education company.
However, to beat the competition, you will need to understand the market that you’re entering, employ the best practices, and hire a dedicated development team that knows what they’re doing.
Softermii ensures that you are well-informed about the industry and development process, allowing you to create a product that stands out from the crowd. We will assist you in identifying your e-learning company’s potential and translate your ideas into the digital platform you desire. Just drop us a line!
Contact us for a free consultation so that we can help you become fully equipped to enter this hot market and create your video-based e-learning platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of creating video eLearning websites like Udemy?
By creating a platform for e-learning, you get significant financial benefits. It is possible because virtual learning is more affordable and less time-consuming than traditional.
How do I build my own video-based e-learning platform via Softermii?
Creating your own e-learning platform includes the following seven steps:
What are the main types of e-learning platforms?
The main e-learning platform types include massive online open courses, virtual learning environments, visual instructor-led training, discussion boards, e-learning forums, and e-learning podcast platforms.
What is the cost of creating a video-based training platform?
Based on your platform’s features, its minimum cost will be $41,200.
What are the main features of video-based e-learning platforms?
The primary features of e-learning platforms based on the video are video streaming, video player, admin panel, course creation, course page, user profiles, dashboards, etc.
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CEO & Co-Founder
Slava Vaniukov is the CEO and Co-Founder of Softermii, with more than 10 years on the front lines of software development. He has spent that decade helping founders and enterprises turn ambitious ideas into products that ship — and that perform. Apps built by his teams have been featured on multiple “Top 10 Best App…
