No matter who, or in some cases what, is trying to learn something, there is a software to aid them in achieving their goal of education, knowledge, and better understanding.
The software that helps them achieve this is learning software and there are literally tens if not hundreds of types.
Below we will walk you through some of the most common uses and types of learning software, so you can hopefully decide on which one is right for you.
Learning software is software made to aid in teaching a person (or even a machine) knowledge or skills through study, task completion, or guided understanding of a topic (teaching).
In short, learning software aims to teach a specific skill, while educational software is any software used in the educational setting and encompasses learning software as well as many other software.
For example, language learning software, guitar learning software, and piano learning software, would be used to teach a language, the guitar or a piano. Educational software would include learning software, but also classroom management software, course registration software, and assessment software (to send students their grades).
The purpose of learning software is to allow users to quickly, effectively, and efficiently learn a given skill or subject matter in place of, or in combination with, standard teaching or studying methods.
This is especially useful for people who respond well to a visual and interactive learning style.
1. Learning Management Software
Also known as a learning management system (LMS) is a software that allows for the administration, assessment, grading, tracking and reporting, and other features needed to provide educational classes, courses, or learning and development programs.
2. Educational Software
Educational software is a broad range of software describing any application used in an educational setting, including but not limited to: courseware, classroom aids, assessment software, reference software, corporate training and tertiary education, specific educational purposes, educational video games and learning gamification.
3. Language Learning Software
Language learning software is exactly what it sounds like. It is a software that helps someone learn a new language, often through listening and repetition, new vocabulary introduction, speaking exercises, and testing of comprehension.
4. e-Learning Software
e-Learning software is a type of educational or learning software whereby the lessons, courses, grading, etc., all take place online. Just as e-mail is electronic mail, e-learning is electronic or online learning.
5. Accelerated Learning Software
Accelerated learning software is software that is used to help students get a degree, diploma, or certification in less time than it would by going through a traditional process. For example: a degree that takes 4 years and has 15 hours of classes per week (5 class X 3 hours) could be completed in 2 years at 30 hours per week. This software is part of accelerated learning educational programs.
6. Skill-Focused Learning Software
Skill-focused learning software is any application that allows you to master a skill through software. This ranges from learning an instrument (guitar, piano, cello), to learning games (chess), to learning typing and other skills. Usually these software serve as a guide that replaces a typically instructor.
7. Machine Learning Software
Machine learning is a subset or AI (artificial intelligence) that takes structured data and processes it in such a way that insights can be gathered without human interaction. Machine learning software is any application that helps run, apply algorithms to, or otherwise management machine learning systems.
8. Deep Learning Software
Deep learning is a subset of machine learning, with the key difference being that if data is not structured, it can still be taught to gather insights from it. So if machine learning takes data structured in columns and rows to find patterns, deep learning could take unstructured data (images or videos or speech) to find similar patterns.
Almost everyone. Whether you are taking online classes, passing your driving exams online, taking a LinkedIn skills assessment, or following a tutorial on how to use an app you just downloaded, you are using a type of learning software.
