Online education solutions – the key elements

Web-based training (WBT), which consists of remote learning via the Internet or an intranet, is constantly growing in popularity. In the coronavirus era, it has become indispensable.

Let’s take a quick look at the elements that usually feature in a remote education platform.

Component elements can basically be divided into two groups:

• content components, namely educational materials, methodological descriptions, training plans, etc., which make up the teaching layer;
• IT solutions ensuring the efficient functioning of the solution as a whole, which make up the technological layer.

The teaching layer usually contains planned, hierarchically designed courses with suitably organised content. Diverse forms of teaching, including all kinds of multimedia solutions – like audio and video files, forums and blogs – can be further enriched with the use of games, simulations of natural training environments, and the latest developments in augmented and virtual reality. The use of methods of artificial intelligence, machine learning in particular, enables the creation of simulators that are both enjoyable to use and effective for learning, thanks to intensive multimodal interaction.

Every educational platform can be designed to support self-learning and automatic progress checking. A well-prepared system of automatically graded tests enables continuous monitoring of students’ achievement, so that decisions can be taken to move them up to the next educational level.

Remote training can naturally be designed to enable both individual and group communication between teacher and students. Dedicated technical solutions are employed for this purpose. Videoconferences and messengers allow people to stay in contact. In turn, forums, blogs and knowledge bases are extremely useful means of asynchronous communication.

In the technological layer, appropriate platform architecture supports the necessary functionality and processes, ensuring that the system as a whole operates reliably and achieves maximum performance. Use is made here of ready-made solutions known by the names LMS (Learning Management System) or LCMS (Learning Content Management System), which enable the efficient implementation of complex remote learning projects.

An especially important aspect of online learning systems is the optimum organisation of content. Most commonly, a division is made into teaching units. SCORM, a popular standard for constructing e-learning materials, stores these units in the form of SCOs (Sharable Content Objects). This way of organising teaching materials enables effective communication between the content layer and LMS/LCMS solutions.

The division of content into SCORM-compliant teaching units within an LMS/LCMS-class system architecture enables the simple management and use of repositories, effective searching within them with the use of advanced filters, and easy expansion of the system. A well-built educational platform makes it very simple not only to create, but also to add and publish successive materials – including those based on previously available resources.

Compact teaching units also enable very precise planning of student progress checking. This can be done using automatically graded single- or multiple-choice tests, or with sets of open questions where the answers are checked by teachers, trainers or mentors.

A well-designed education system, containing all the essential functionalities of VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) systems, can be fully integrated with other solutions used by the organisation. The effective and secure integration of the learning system into the organisation’s existing set of processes is another of the important factors in the deployment of an educational platform.

With our business experience, scientific knowledge, technical innovativeness and technological independence, we can work with you to design and build a unique system tailored to your specific requirements and meeting your needs. Our practical experience in building education systems, as well as in natural language processing and automated translation, allows us to create solutions that are implemented effectively on an international scale.

Let’s talk about your expectations, and work together to build what it is you are thinking about, in a way that meets your needs.