KINGSTON, Jamaica – One on One, a leading provider of customized e-learning solutions in the English- speaking Caribbean, is making a ground-breaking investment of over a quarter billion dollars to roll out the Teacher Availability Solution (TAS) in 100 schools for the upcoming school year. This leading-edge solution leverages technology, expert teachers, and facilitators to deliver highly engaging and quality lessons to classrooms across Jamaica, with plans for expansion into other countries within the Caribbean in the near future.
The TAS, an integral part of the One Academy ecosystem, has been meticulously developed over the last twenty-four months, in collaboration and consultations with various principals, teachers, and other education stakeholders and agencies islandwide. This investment reflects One on One’s unwavering commitment to addressing the pressing teacher shortage challenge that has been widely reported, and to transform the classroom for our nation’s teachers and students. Furthermore, it demonstrates the company’s dedication to fulfilling its promise to stakeholders and shareholders, by channelling its IPO proceeds to the local education infrastructure that will drive the evolution of our overall education system.
About the One Academy for Students and Teachers
One Academy has been designed to connect students, teachers, and schools in an immersive learning environment – online and in the classroom – to maximize learning outcomes while helping to stem several gaps within our current education system. By harnessing its network of expert teachers, instructional content designers, and advancements in technology, One Academy aims to deliver a learner-centric approach to education.
Through differentiated learning, the solution will offer personalized instruction tailored to each student’s unique needs and learning style, fostering an individualized learning experience. Students are empowered to take ownership of their education journey, developing self-learning skills that encourage critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. As teachers become more so facilitators of learning in the classroom, they will be able to create engaging and interactive classroom experiences, adapting their teaching methods to cater to diverse student needs, while ultimately fostering a generation of lifelong learners, equipped to thrive in an ever-evolving world.
About the Teacher Availability Solution (TAS)
The TAS, which is a part of the One Academy ecosystem, is a leading-edge innovation developed to address the pressing teacher shortage crisis experienced in multiple schools across Jamaica. With a strategic focus on providing high-quality, uninterrupted education for students, One on One fast-tracked the development of the solution, making significant investments and leveraging various resources over the past few months. While currently available in secondary schools, the solution is expected to expand to all levels of education in the medium to long term. The mechanics of TAS involve expert teachers delivering high-quality, streamed lessons from a centralized, futuristic classroom, equipped with state-of-the-art cameras, and streaming technology, allowing the expert to engage with students in the classroom via an on-the-ground facilitator.
Participating classrooms at each school will be provided with 86-inch smart interactive whiteboards, One on One’s classroom in a box device, dedicated internet connectivity and equipment to address any instability in internet, and electricity. To ensure reliable internet connectivity, One on One has partnered with Cable & Wireless Business Solutions to enhance each school’s infrastructure. As part of its comprehensive approach, One on One will provide all essential elements of the solution, including an on-the-ground facilitator, expert instructors for various subjects and necessary technological equipment to participating schools, further solidifying its commitment to addressing the teacher shortage crisis and elevate education standards across the region.
President and CEO of One on One, Ricardo Allen, and his team, have been working on the concept of the solution for several years. He said, “I am extremely proud to see the culmination of years of hard work, research, and dedication with the launch of our truly transformative Teacher Availability Solution (TAS). As early as 2019, we had an initial idea to simply connect people to large university lecture rooms with the hope of reducing the cost of tertiary education. This quickly evolved into implementing a centralized approach to education delivery for primary and secondary schools. It is truly remarkable that we can place an expert teacher in a centralized classroom with all the equipment and tools necessary to deliver next generation lessons to all schools. We firmly believe in the potential of our first-class teachers in Jamaica, and our vision is to leverage their expertise to benefit every educational institution, regardless of location or technological infrastructure.
“The timing of our IPO last year could not have been more fortuitous, as it provided the capital needed to focus on perfecting this solution. Of the J$358M made available to the public in our offer, a reserved pool of J$30 million was designated for teachers to invest in, through our partnership with the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA). Teachers have always been key partners in our endeavours, and they are again at the heart of designing this ground-breaking solution. The anxiety stemming from the migration of teachers at the start of the last school year further emphasized the urgency to bring the TAS to market. Our commitment to enhancing the education system using technology has driven us to work tirelessly on this evolved approach to education”.
In addition to the centralized classroom and in-class experience at each location, students, teachers, and schools will be provided with access to One Academy online where they can engage in self-directed learning for lessons done within their classroom, assessments/homework and peer-to-peer discussions and group work. Participating schools will be provided with access to a comprehensive gradebook, skills gap analysis, as well as tracking capabilities for course programme and completion, homework and assessment, and student engagement and activities.
Pilot, Testing and Development
As a part of the development process for the TAS, One on One secured a grant of J$14M from the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) via its Bigge Innovation Grant Fund in 2021. These funds were used to design the concept of the solution, which was piloted in 10 schools. The participating schools had diverse characteristics, were from various regions, with different resources and exam success rates, over a 5-month period. The pilot programme played a significant role in helping to improve the solution’s adaptability. During the twelve-week programme, where over 200 hours of content was delivered to over 100 students, stakeholders, including principals, administrators, teachers, and students provided valuable feedback and suggestions that allowed for updates and improvements to the solution. The Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC), through some of its seasoned
expert teachers, helped with working through details that improved the functionality of the solution. This process resulted in the development of an innovation that will be compatible and effective for ongoing use in participating schools.
According to Wayne Robinson, Principal of Jamaica College, which was one of the ten pilot schools, the solution enhanced the classroom learning experience. He said, “We are very much looking forward to this solution to enhance our learning delivery in September and we only hope that this is just the beginning and that we can expand to multiple classrooms”.
While the company reports an overwhelming demand for the solution, One on One plans to roll out its implementation into 100 schools over the course of the next school year. To this end, the company has been actively engaging those institutions that are experiencing a staff shortage through demos and presentations.
While there are aggressive plans to expand the subject offerings, those currently included in the solution are: Mathematics, English, Spanish, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Information Technology. The company urges schools that are mostly in need of the solution to reach out immediately so that their installation can be prioritized for August 2023, in time for the start of the new school year.
About One on One
One on One [JSE: ONE], which began operations in 2013, is the leading provider of customized e-learning solutions in the English-speaking Caribbean. The company targets clients that include government agencies, corporates, and individuals alike to educate, upskill, and train through the company’s award-winning Learning Management System (LMS). Over the years, the One on One Team has provided digital learning solutions for over 150,000 learners through its easy-to-use platform. The company is headquartered in Kingston.
