STEM certification platform for the US eLearning giant

One of the leaders in the USA EdTech market

EdTech

USA

Education

Since 2014

16K+	users
11K+	certificates Received

Challenge

The project is a part of our STEM Educational Ecosystem. That’s why we needed to be careful when implementing it. We made sure that it didn’t violate the integrity and structure of the ecosystem.

Teachers can get STEM certifications on our platform. Ultimately, we help teachers maintain and improve their qualifications.

Users can study both individual courses for specific disciplines, or get certifications that include multiple disciplines.

STEM Certification Platform provides certification not only to individual users but also to entire educational institutions.

Requirements

Create a STEM certification platform
for both individual teachers and educational institutions
Provide a wide product range
from small courses to entire certifications
Integrate with STEM educational ecosystem
and 3rd party software. This includes a user control system, financial system, partner systems, and their educational projects, etc.
Make a course builder to manage different types of content
audio, video, interactive tasks, questionnaires, and quizzes. The course builder should be easy to navigate even for non-tech savvy teachers.
Add gamification elements
The goal was to make it appropriate for educated teachers, who may find games redundant. Gamification should also not distract users from the main educational goals.
Create a custom certification builder
Admins should be able to create custom certificates that unite a sequence of courses.
Develop a system of analytical tools
It should cover user statistics and their learning progress.
Build a reporting system
The detailed reports should be based on large data arrays. The system should generate multiple report types so that each user role would receive appropriate reports.
Create a portfolio builder
Users should be able to create portfolios that include both internal progress and 3rd party certificates.

Solution

To meet the requirements, we built the platform with the following modules:

Certification management
This part allows the user to select and pass the required certification, be it a single module within a certain subject, or a set of certificates covering the whole discipline.
User management
A user will automatically have certain permissions depending on the user’s role. Admins can also grant or restrict permissions to users individually.
Certification of educational institutions
This component is designed to certify entire institutions. It includes School Project Management, Evaluator Assessments, Reviews, Guide Management, etc.
Content management
Users can create and manage courses, submission forms, and assessment tools.
Certification partners
Helps to register partners in educational programs and training. The module manages all the workflows with them.
Journals & reports
This part covers order operations and additional system features such as email newsletters, reports, etc.
Dashboards
Visual statistics with the ability to configure widgets for each user role.
Portal management
Allows to exchange information with users at the scheduled time thanks to the Announcements & Surveys setup system. To make it easier for users, the module offers tutorials and support videos.
Customer support
This functionality ensures uninterrupted requests flow and prompt feedback from platform users.
Payment system (Incl. invoice management & payment history)
This module provides secure payments within the platform. In addition, the system allows users to issue invoices to instructors depending on the number of students and tests.

Screenshots

Tools & technologies

Apache

MySQL

PHP

Redis

CSS3

HTML5

jQuery

Figma

Gitlab

Jenkins

Jira

TestRail

Roadmap

2016-2017. Development & release
- Designed the architecture and the main modules of the application
- Built a basic set of roles
- Pre-launch testing
- Released the product
- Launch the first certifications on the platform
- Collected initial statistics
- Built a roadmap for future product development
2018-2019. Improved functionality & new features
- Implemented new project management methods (Agile, Scrum)
- Added demo access options
- Added new authorization mechanisms (SSO, OAuth 2.0)
- Built a network of announcements, surveys, and notifications on the platform
- Added tools for user collaboration and team notes
- Implemented widgets with useful and informative statistics
2020-2021. Major project improvements
- Added the support of educational materials, courses, and certifications by third-party educational institutions
- Improved the security methods and made necessary architectural updates
- Added features to overcome COVID-19 restrictions: retake policy, project pause, project renewal, auto-check (auto-scoring), free registration & free courses
- Design improvements. We designed a modern interface for the platform. We also created branded materials for email newsletters to meet the design trends
2022 & ongoing. Maintenance & support
- Our support team has been carrying out user requests on time
- Added minor improvements to make the user experience even better

Team

Full-stack developers (PHP) x8
Business analysts x2
Project manager x1
QA engineers x4
DevOps engineer x2
UX/UI designers x2
Architect/Team lead x1

Results

We built a multifunctional system for both individuals and educational institutions to plunge into the certification process as comfortably as possible.

The platform meets all customer requirements, from the choice of certification, training format, and content submission to testing and maintenance.

The platform gained an audience and has been operating smoothly for several years. We’ve been changing and modernizing the product to handle market demand.

Benefits For The Client

- A stable platform, built as an organic addition to the huge educational ecosystem.
- The system is customized for different groups of teachers and educational institutions. Each group has different permissions and options to use the platform.
- An automated platform to organize and manage the full cycle of the teachers’ certification process: from choosing the necessary certification to managing accounts and analytics of user statistics and educational materials.
- All-in-one solution for connecting partners and third-party providers.
- Extended updates to strengthen the functionality of a platform: gamification, manual and automatic verification of passing tests, built-in integration of payment systems, etc.
- Opportunity to create users’ portfolios based on the certificates they’ve got. Moreover, they can interact with portfolios both within the platform itself, and provide portfolio access to third-party users by adjusting privacy settings.

STEM certification platform for the US eLearning giant

Challenge

Requirements

Create a STEM certification platform

Provide a wide product range

Integrate with STEM educational ecosystem

Make a course builder to manage different types of content

Add gamification elements

Create a custom certification builder

Develop a system of analytical tools

Build a reporting system

Create a portfolio builder

Solution

Certification management

User management

Certification of educational institutions

Content management

Certification partners

Journals & reports

Dashboards

Portal management

Customer support

Payment system (Incl. invoice management & payment history)

Screenshots

Tools & technologies

Roadmap

2016-2017. Development & release

2018-2019. Improved functionality & new features

2020-2021. Major project improvements

2022 & ongoing. Maintenance & support

Team

Full-stack developers (PHP) x8

Business analysts x2

Project manager x1

QA engineers x4

DevOps engineer x2

UX/UI designers x2

Architect/Team lead x1

Results

Benefits For The Client

Similar project idea? Discuss it with us!