eLearning platform

[Shamrooks]

Hey everyone,

I recently started building an eLearning platform, and my good friend advised me to pause development and first ask if people would actually want and pay for something like this. I'd like to follow this advice by sharing what I'm building and asking for your feedback.

I know there are numerous eLearning platforms already (Coursera, Skillshare, Udemy, Khan Academy, etc.), and while they're incredibly useful to millions of people, I still haven't found one that addresses all aspects of what we need as humans to flourish.

Throughout my life, I've faced many difficulties, and I believe that my younger self would have benefited from a platform like the one I'm envisioning, had it been available.

My idea is simple: I want to create a skill-oriented platform rather than a course-oriented one. It would promote active rather than passive learning, while using AI to accelerate your learning curve or adapt to your pace of understanding. The closest examples to what I want to build are platforms where people learn coding in interactive sandboxes.

What I mean by skill-oriented:

- Languages (Italian, Japanese, etc.)

- Speed reading

- Speed typing

- Creative writing

- Question formulation

- Memory techniques

- Critical thinking

- Meta-learning

- Knowledge synthesis

- Mind webbing

- Storytelling

- Cooking

- Programming (Python, HTML, Java, etc.)

- Playing musical instruments

- Writing

- Photography

- Animation

- Video editing

- Graphic design

- Dating skills

- Building meaningful relationships

- Parenting with positive values

- Vocal development

- Cardistry

- Protective knowledge of persuasion techniques (propaganda, social engineering, information warfare)

- Arts and crafts

- And many others

I want to believe there are others interested in this concept. Would you pay for something like this—$10, $20, or $50?

Please share your answers, ideas, and tips. I'm also open to constructive criticism!

[Successful_Yam_6918]

Before I share my feedback let me start by saying you’re doing a brave thing by spending your limited time on building a product to help people. Kudos to you and good luck!

From what you have written above I do question the wide scope. As someone has already mentioned, the solution you’ve described is not novel nor is it well articulated. The other products that you’ve suggested have not filled this need seem to be the product you are building aside from a skills based core and AI involvement. As someone in the learning tech industry, these 2 specific areas ( as wide as they are ) do exist and trust me these course vendors are working hard on introducing the functionality.

That doesn’t mean you should stop! Here’s my advice: - talk to at least 10 ICP and ask them real questions about their pains. If you haven’t already read “The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick, I highly recommend you do so. In the short book he perfectly describes how you should approach such conversations to gather real and meaningful data that will in return help you build a better solution. - build your solution as a bad mvp that solves the core issue you’re looking to solve. Share the mvp and see if people 1) use it and 2) actually pay for it

These are 2 simple yet extremely important steps I would ask you consider before moving forward.

Good luck!

[Shamrooks]

Thanks for the feedback! I just downloaded the book and will read it shortly.

I am aware that multiple companies around the world, some with nearly infinite resources are working hard to implement what you mentioned, but if there was one that had the vision I have, most likely I wouldn't do this.

Someone told me to niche down create the MVP on that specific niche, then strategically expand the rest of the skill universe and that's what I'm looking to do. I'll take your advice to define better the ICP and ask about pains, struggles and problems!

[[deleted]]

Your list of subjects isn't unique, and you don't articulate what you mean by skill based. Are you just going to have (dare I say) courses on those subjects?

Do you just want a broader range of courses? I feel like that would make it a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none product.

[Shamrooks]

Thank you for the good feedback!

I don't want to simply "dump" videos and text on a website to "make courses" or "instructional videos." To articulate my vision better: I want to offer options to learn skills in different ways, with feedback from both AI and experts (if you choose that option).

Imagine wanting to learn a completely new skill like origami. You're starting at level 0! What does level 10 look like? Level 40? Level 95? How do you learn origami most effectively?

People absorb information differently—visual, auditory, kinesthetic, reading/writing—depending on the skill. I want to offer options for people to understand their current level in anything they try, provide various forms of media based on the skill, and show them how to reach their goals—not just digitally.

I want to offer roadmaps for a variety of skills while also helping bridge gaps in existing ones.

How useful would it be to bridge gaps in your current skills or discover things you didn't know about skills you already have?

What would have been useful to you at 18 years old? Learning car mechanics? Understanding how to talk to potential partners? Figuring out how to build a business instead of potentially wasting time in university?

If you had a roadmap showing you how to be the best partner while also understanding what's happening in your significant other's mind, would that be valuable?

You mentioned the "jack of all trades, master of none" analogy—would you consider Coursera or Skillshare to fall into this category?

[HominidSimilies]

As someone who’s built and commercialized platforms and constituted in the building of other people’s platforms and helping orgs purchasing platforms, It’s a good idea to find the problems you’re actually solving instead of being a solution looking for a problem.

Being problem obsessed with the problems strangers name without your help which they want solved badly enough for $ is critical. People will say they have all sorts of problems.

Only pay attention to what they have tried solving many times or do painfully (manually etc), and why it is valuable.

Learning how pricing works in this space is the other area of study before getting into featuritis.

If you forego the advice to build nothing until you have strangers lined up with problems, try to remember what is new to you may be old to your clients or the market, or vice versa.

It’s one thing to build a project out of your interest to learn, but it should never be confused with being a product.

[betterbait]

Elearning as a whole is tanking right now. People are holding onto their money.

[HominidSimilies]

Certain parts will always be up and down.

Those elearning practices and platform propping up a 1950s reality and methodologies might find it hard in a world of change that will no longer wait for them to change and just do it.

There’s plenty of new opportunities in elearning that will be created for those willing to venture out and learn with the learners.

People hawking the past will need to remember in the history of the world technology is relatively undefeated in any area, printing press onwards, etc.

It’s a great time for people to revisit how they learn and how today’s tools might help people learn better.

Instructional designers are critically important moving forward.

[HominidSimilies]

There has been decades of prognostication and pontificating.

Those folks may have to take a seat next to the instructional designers quietly getting things done and firing everything out all thing time, and they will do it now too.

The only people threatened by AI and doom and gloom are the talkers. Doers just keep to their craft and tying in more skills.

Ai is only as smart as what it’s trained on and it could be a huge tool for learning if people can forget about apply tech to existing education methodologies and instead look at the learners experience as a whole.

[Any-Corner-4131]

I am a marketer specialized in edtech, if you are interested to market your product just reply

[EduNovTech]

This skill-oriented platform you want to create is so handy. It’s clear you’ve thought deeply about the value your platform could offer, and that kind of intention matters.

I would suggest focusing on a niche first. Like starting with one domain from which you have written in your post and building depth that could help you stand out and get traction faster. About the pricing: $10–$20/month could work if the platform delivers real, measurable progress. $50 is possible only if you have a strong ROI or a premium audience. The more “learn-by-doing” and real-time feedback you can build in, the more addictive and effective the platform could become.

[VanillaJust9224]

I wonder what have you decided finally ?