Africa’s leading online school
Teneo: Bringing you the education of tomorrow
Covid-19 has disrupted all aspects of life, but has also accelerated new solutions and opportunities for ageold problems. The future of online education — a learning experience that was inconceivable less than a decade ago — is now a reality. For Teneo, Africa’s leading online school, lockdown was an opportunity to radically accelerate future-focused learning experiences for thousands of children who were failed by the disrupted traditional education system during the pandemic and who are keen to start learning again, in exciting new ways that will equip them for life and career success in a new, rapidly digitised world.
From humble beginnings in 2018, long before Covid-19, the school has grown from just 85 students to where it is today, with 9 000 learners in all corners of the world.
John Shaw, CEO of Teneo, says online learning solutions are not new. “These virtual opportunities have been here for years — but I don’t think people believed in them the way they do now,” he explains. “Covid-19 has fast-tracked so many processes and shaped the world to a point where remote work is the norm and the future of education is here to stay.”
Preparing for a new world and the future of work
If the world of work that children are facing will be largely online and virtual, then schooling should be tailored to prepare them for that reality. “People are working from home and suddenly it’s a real, believable solution for them,” he says. “Parents find online, timetabled schools like ours with live, interactive classes led by real teachers more convenient than traditional schooling. They love the fact that they don’t have to drive around in morning traffic to get the kids to school on time,” he says.
But the benefits go beyond just beating the traffic: Teneo also offers self-paced, synchronous (live) and asynchronous (recorded) education options that present children with much wider and more supportive intellectual, social and extramural opportunities than regular school.
Shaw says online learning equips young people for the workplace of tomorrow: “The future of work, to a large extent, is going to be virtual. So we need to ask: what are the skills that our children will need to function in this virtual world? You need to be responsible, you need to be able to take care of your own objectives, more or less independently, and you need to be able to drive your career on your own steam. When working in a virtual world as adults, that’s exactly what’s required. That is why we’re preparing students who are responsible digital citizens for the future of work.”
Soft skills and flexible, continuous learning will become important, he says. “The world is changing at such a rapid rate that fewer people will pursue three- or four-year qualifications. Short courses, immediate upskilling and lifelong learning will flourish, not only for mid-career professionals, but for scholars and school leavers too.”
Premium education will now become accessible to all
Online education, says Shaw, has the capacity to democratise education. “Online education can improve access to top quality education and level the playing field for children from all walks of life. We have no location barriers for teachers or students; all they need is a laptop and Wifi connection.” The fully online nature of Teneo also means that the cost of learning is much lower when compared to traditional schools, while standards are actually higher. Remote learning also offers a safe, relatively risk-free learning environment during a global pandemic.
Teneo employs more than 500 Sace-registered educators and expects the number to rise to well over 1 000 by January 2022 to cater to the more than 20 000 students expected to enrol for the upcoming school year.
With the current accelerated shift towards digitisation, it’s fascinating to think about what the education of tomorrow will look like: “Firstly, the number of students and educators moving online is going to increase dramatically over the next decade. This means that online schooling will become a realistic and accessible option for more parents and children, and the country’s best teachers will follow.
“If you think about it, entrepreneurship is the only solution to our country’s job crisis. We therefore have to empower our students to be confident enough to go out there, enter the workplace or start their own businesses and employ others.”
Shaw says traditional schools must be feeling the heat. Because of Teneo’s unique, synchronous learning experience, online and remote does not equate to antisocial. “We have quite a number of interventions where students interact, with live classes where they engage with each other and their teacher, exactly as they would in a traditional classroom environment. We also have a number of afterschool extramural activities, from Master Chef and robotics, to choir, sports and entrepreneurship with a Shark Tank style competition element.”
Preparing children to become flexible, ever-evolving professionals
At Teneo, children are taught to develop a changeresilient mindset. “Changes in the digital economy are only going to accelerate, so our children must be able to deal with that. They need to be flexible, adaptable and, going back to the idea of lifelong learning, they must understand that they need to keep developing, reinventing and upskilling themselves to remain relevant and sought after in the job market.”
A decade ago different life skills were needed. Today learners need to work and interact with people in a remote, digital-first world. Online education helps mould learners into responsible digital citizens. They realise that virtual spaces are not completely removed from the world they live in, and also that online interactions may have real-world consequences.
Written and verbal communication skills, analytical skills, critical thinking and problem-solving skills need to be prioritised. “We plan on offering coding, for example, which should not only be seen as a skill in certain careers, but rather as a wonderful way to build critical thinking, problem-solving, logic and reasoning skills to generate an income across all industries,” says Shaw.
Building up a digital learning treasure chest
Teneo’s digital world of ed-tech is cutting edge. World-class learning management systems and student information systems mean learners benefit from a truly fourth industrial revolution experience. “Gone are the days of zoning out in the classroom and not being able to remember what the teacher said — it’s all documented now and our content is recorded, to form a digital treasure chest of valuable content over time,” he explains. “Content is created, lesson plans are developed and made visible and bankable to students. They are always informed about what they will be doing today, tomorrow and next week.”
Online learning is here to stay, says Shaw, and instead of kicking against it it should be acknowledged as an enormous opportunity. “Online learning technology has really advanced over the last few years, despite being quite difficult and unstable prior to that.” Fortunately, he says, Teneo started small. It was, therefore, able to overcome obstacles as they arose, while growing with its students to give learners access to world-class and scalable online technologies that facilitate learning and promote a holistic educational experience.