The Trust for Social Achievement uses the VEDAMO Virtual Classroom and Learning Management System to involve 200 disadvantaged youths of ages 13-20 from across Bulgaria in English language training in traditional, online, and blended learning settings.
The Trust for Social Achievement (TSA) is a non-profit organization that aims to promote opportunities that help the most disadvantaged citizens achieve educational and economic success. They support programs in three key areas – early childhood development, educational achievement and drop-out prevention, and access to income opportunities for at-risk groups.
In the beginning of 2017, the TSA started the nationwide project, “A Step Toward Success,” that provides 200 disadvantaged youths of ages 13-20 from across Bulgaria with English language training, in addition to the compulsory school curriculum. The aim is to motivate the young people to continue their education through high school in order to improve their future job opportunities.
The project participants are divided into three groups: those who attend traditional, online or blended English courses. Thanks to the VEDAMO Learning Management System, the project coordinators can store, manage, and track all of the data from the different groups in one platform.
The project allows youths from remote and segregated communities to participate in live online sessions through the VEDAMO Virtual Classroom. They attend online English classes from their homes using personal computers and the internet. The sessions are led both by teachers from Bulgaria and native speakers from the USA.
The Virtual Classroom is also used in the blended English classes in which the students are gathered in a traditional classroom. The students participate in activities led by a remote teacher online and are supported by a mentor on site. Each participant is equipped with a computer and can work on the exercises shared on the virtual classroom’s whiteboard.
VEDAMO’s platform helps the “A Step Toward Success” project reach a larger number of teenagers who do not have equal educational opportunities. All of the participants have access to resources and qualified teachers no matter where they are located. According to the project’s team, this is a cost-effective method to teach skills necessary for young people’s development and to expose youth to communication with people in different parts of the country and the world.
