The online education market is getting saturated due to remarkable developments in the technology sector as the entire education industry moves towards digitization. Technology has continuously transformed various industries. The most recent and prominent example is the e-commerce industry. The current value of Amazon and Ali Baba is more than 2 trillion USD. Contrast this with conventional business, where many resources are spent on middlemen; therefore, it saves costs, increases profits and is beneficial to end users.
Progress in the field of education is also taking place at a very rapid pace. The e-learning market is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2027. Open source is the future of e-learning platforms, and Open edX is one of the major players in the field, making it a highly competitive market. Open edX’s unique features and attributes make it very powerful and resourceful for eLearning platforms.
What is EdX?
edX is an open-source learning management system (LMS) that enables organizations worldwide to design customized and engaging online learning platforms. The edX platform provides the massively scalable learning software technology behind edX.
EdX powers several e-learning platforms by offering useful features that make online learning much more accessible and convenient. Being open-source, it is constantly evolving and improving its offerings with the help of a strong group of technology partners. Harvard University and MIT created EdX for the well-known educational platform edX, and Google and Microsoft were quick to support it.
What is unique about EdX?
A successful eLearning platform has its specialty and uniqueness that help it stand out. EdX differs from other open source eLearning platforms in the following ways:
1. Scalability
edX describes itself as a free and open course management system that is used to host Massive Open Online Courses worldwide, along with hosting smaller training modules. It is designed for self-paced learning and can also cater to multiple students on the platform at once. The ability to host and manage many students has helped edX network with universities, corporations, and government institutions.
2. Interactive and flexible
Unlike other eLearning platforms, edX can go beyond simple online classroom interactions using xBlock plugins. These xBlock plugins provide edX users with an immense amount of flexibility. Course authors, administrators and staff rate them highly as xBlocks, which enhance their authoring experience and make it easier for them to design a pioneering eLearning platform.
3. Powerful tools and integrations
The edX community shares useful information on advanced topics that attract higher education institutions and universities. edX LTI tools can be used to communicate with external software; in addition, the APIs used by edX further enhance the user experience.
4. Global recognition and branding
With prestigious institutions like Harvard and MIT behind the platform, edX is recognized worldwide. It has a huge user base and big giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and IBM are a major part of it. Top universities in North America, the Middle East and China are also using EdX to deliver engaging and interactive learning content for their students.
5. Innovative
EdX’s powerful open source interface enables the world’s brightest minds to contribute to the platform; therefore, innovation is ongoing. The cutting-edge interface and healthy experience on EdX is much more mature and modern than competitors.
6. Student-Centric
The platform supports learning in a variety of ways, such as using surveys, wikis, social media, videos and exercises. A wide variety of content types allows content creators to design content that enhances students’ skills and competencies.
7. Powerful analytics
Statistics and analytics give Open EdX a comprehensive edge over its competitors. Reports can be generated to reveal problems faced by students during the course. The insights provided in the reports can be used to improve the course and can help course creators by providing real-time feedback.
To wrap it up
EdX gives you the opportunity to build your eLearning platform where you can create and deploy online courses of your choice. It is an economical alternative to other open-source LMS platforms with its unique and powerful features as mentioned above.
You can experience a fully managed and branded experience through the monthly subscription model that EdX service providers offer.
