Review and tutoring center AHEAD Learning Systems said it has transitioned into e-learning platforms during the pandemic to ensure the continuation of education for its various categories of students.
Its college entrance review centers, its core service which has now gone digital, experienced a 300% increase in enrollment despite the lockdown that the government had instituted.
The first mode of education that the company established 25 years ago before branching out into other courses, the review centers are designed to prepare graduating high school seniors for the entrance exams held by prestigious universities in Metro Manila.
The company has likewise AHEAD Alpha, which is said to be the world’s first online school that combines the best methods of traditional classroom, progressive teaching, and home-school learning – also known as the BlendFlex approach.
Children are taught through a mixture of on-screen and personal interaction, with their parents actively collaborating with their teachers to ensure their progress in their studies.
“Technology and learning will always be integrally linked,” said Rossana Llenado, AHEAD’s founder and CEO. “The transition to the digital classroom was inevitable. Even before the pandemic started, we had already been innovating our courses, studying and testing the most effective ways by which our students can learn their lessons using the latest and safest technology available.”
AHEAD is also expanding its digital educational network into critical subject matter areas that were formerly taught in on-site locations.
Its ALT Teacher and Students Connect provide avenues where both educator and learner can collaborate. The Smart Super Women Online Courses for Professionals, meanwhile, teaches women entrepreneurship, management, leadership, and other important soft skills.
The AHEAD Board Exam Review, on the other hand, offers online tutorials for lawyers, certified public accountants, engineers, and real estate agents who have to pass their certified board exams to receive their professional licenses.
“The shift to online education has to be abrupt but comprehensive,” Llenado advises her colleagues in the education industry who are also going through their own transitions. “To succeed, you do have to create an environment where students, regardless of their age, can focus on their lessons although they are at home and have access to other sites on the internet. You also have to address their and/or their parents’ apprehension about online learning.”
