The emergence and improvement of computers contributed to the creation and introduction of new technologies in various fields of scientific and practical activity. One such area is eLearning. It involves the use of Internet technologies in the educational process, the basic principles of which are the implementation of work on the Internet and the delivery of educational content to the user through a computer using standard Internet technologies.
As practice shows, educational software development is becoming increasingly important today. The modern educational process is difficult to imagine without the use of computer textbooks, simulators, laboratory workshops, reference books, encyclopedias, testing and monitoring systems, as well as other computer learning tools. A professional e-learning software development company like JatApp can provide all the necessary services and create unique custom developments.
Read below in more detail about the use of eLearning in the world and find out what role elearning software development plays in this.
eLearning Industry and Its Use in the Modern World
The great interest in eLearning is explained quite simply. The labor market has undergone significant changes in the last decade. The requirements for personnel have increased, IT technologies have begun to be widely introduced into almost all areas of activity, and the staff itself has become more mobile.
Such changes necessitated the creation of conditions for continuous, fast, flexible, and at the same time high-quality training. And since traditional learning systems are always not able to meet these needs, a search for alternative systems was required.
eLearning Standards and Tools
According to experts, eLearning has its own standards, which are being developed within the Instructional Management System (IMS) consortium. Chief among them is the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM, learning materials exchange model). It ensures the reuse and portability of information objects (texts, tables, multimedia illustrations, computer programs, etc.). The introduction of the SCORM standard makes it possible to ensure the use of distance courses developed by various manufacturers.
As part of eLearning, various Learning Management Systems (LMS) are developing. There are tools for creating, storing, using, delivering educational content, and managing it in a multi-user mode (Learning Content Management System (LCMS)). Many countries where eLearning is developing intensively have adopted special laws on the development of this type of learning.
Basic eLearning Forms
Numerous forms of inspired eLearning are used today. Let’s consider a few examples:
- Blended Learning (hybrid learning). If the advantages of traditional learning are combined with the presence phase and the distance phase of eLearning, then one speaks of Blended Learning. At the same time, Blended Learning combines both educational forms in a common curriculum;
- Virtual Classroom. In the case of using the Virtual Classroom, the Internet is a means of communication between geographically separated students and teachers. Thus, the virtual classroom makes a synchronous form of learning possible;
- Content Sharing. In this case, web pages are used that allow the exchange of educational materials;
- Learning Communities. Groups of people with the same goals and specific interests can create a common system of knowledge about a certain subject area. Each member of the Learning Community can supplement the system with their own materials, thus the system is modernized and expanded;
- Web-Based Collaboration. This concept involves the joint educational work of a certain group of people through the use of the Internet;
- Whiteboard. Users have the ability to co-create and analyze sketches. They have a wide range of useful tools at their disposal.
What Is Educational Software Development and What Role Does It Play in eLearning?
E-learning software development involves the creation of software that makes the learning process more entertaining and interactive.
The use of effective developments from modern educational software development companies is one of the most important and sustainable trends in the development of the global educational process. In recent years, computer equipment and various software have become increasingly used in the study of most academic disciplines. Informatization has greatly influenced the process of acquiring knowledge. New educational software developments allow to intensify the educational process, increase the speed of perception, understanding, and depth of assimilation of huge masses of knowledge.
What Actual Problems Does the Educational Software Development Solve?
The specialists of the educational software development company note that the use of modern developments makes it possible to solve the following urgent issues:
- Use the latest information technologies in education;
- Improve students’ independent work skills in information databases, and the Internet;
- Intensify education, improve students’ assimilation of knowledge;
- Make the educational process more fascinating and meaningful.
The use of software in a set with a traditional textbook contributes to the following:
- Provides a person-oriented and differentiated approach to education;
- Ensures the implementation of an interactive approach;
- Increases cognitive activity of students due to various video and audio information;
- Carries out control thanks to testing and a system of questions for self-control.
Educational software development is quite promising for increasing creative activity. The student moves away from the position of the object of study, the recipient of ready-made educational information, and becomes an active subject of study. He/she can independently obtain the necessary information and even be able to invent and construct the necessary methods of action.
Benefits of Using eLearning Software Development
Advantages of using educational software developments in eLearning:
- Increasing interest and general motivation to study thanks to new forms of work and involvement in the priority direction of scientific and technical progress;
- Individualization of training;
- The objectivity of control;
- Activation of learning due to the use of attractive and rapidly changing forms of information submission, competition of students with the machine and with themselves, striving to get a higher grade;
- Formation of abilities and skills for creative activity;
- Education of information culture;
- Mastering the skills of decision-making in a challenging situation;
- Students’ access to information banks, the ability to promptly receive the necessary information;
- Intensification of students’ independent work;
- An increase in the number of tasks completed per lesson.
Conclusion
Modernity places ever higher demands on the use of modern software in eLearning. The volume of information is growing, and often the standard methods of its transmission, storage, and processing are inefficient. Information technology makes it possible to reveal the enormous potential of the computer as a means of learning.
Software created by elearning software companies does not exclude traditional teaching methods but is harmoniously combined with them at all stages of learning. The use of information technology in the classroom can not only significantly increase the effectiveness of teaching, but also motivate students to further independent learning. There are now technologies that are breaking down barriers, making education more accessible, and encouraging many to learn new subjects and gain valuable skills.