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Thames Faculty’s Rapid Response to the New Normal in Education

Thames Admin June 29, 2020 Community 0

Thames Faculty’s Rapid Response to the New Normal in Education

By: Carlo Rivera, Academic Coordinator

Having been implementing Blended Learning in its classes since 2018, Thames International was able to rapidly transition to the new normal of Full Online Teaching when it started its Spring Term last March 2020. This academic term coincided with the start of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in NCR so to ensure the effectiveness of this transition, our faculty members honed their online teaching skills with a Designing Engaging Online Learning Experience (DEOLE) workshop early on in the lockdown in April-May, followed by an Admin Console Training and Google Classroom Training last June 27.

The DEOLE Training, facilitated by Akadasia Singapore, was designed for our faculty members to deepen their understanding of course design for online platforms. The training also developed their skills in using different technological tools to enhance their teaching interactions into full online. On the other hand, the succeeding Admin Console Training and Google Classroom Training, provided by Q Software Research Corporation, equipped its participants with the knowledge and skill set to effectively utilize classroom-based tools and techniques  on their specific organizational needs.

The workshops have empowered our faculty to deliver content online with a forward-facing outlook. One insight that came out was that the online environment can in fact be a useful venue to develop essential skills among our learners in this current state of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Our Associate Dean, Ms. Sheila Lo Dingcong, shared: “Our lecturers’ retooling and upskilling were necessary to appropriately respond to the needs of our students for quality and relevant education that is delivered online. Learning by doing continues to be part of the process for our teachers to fully grasp the ropes in online teaching and learning. Together with our students, the Thames model of virtual education continuously evolves but remains grounded on the mission of leaving no student and teacher behind, in this time of the pandemic and beyond.”

On top of this, students report that their experiences online have been meaningful as well as educational. Thames Entrepreneurship student, Joe Sto Domingo, shared: “I appreciate my professors this term in understanding the unique challenges of online learning and adjusting to help students.”  Truly, Thames has become one of the first few educational institutions in the country that effectively provided online learning in this time of pandemic. And in the spirit of “Bayanihan” Thames International continues to actively seek other educational institutions in the country that need training and development as regards online learning. 

 

Thames is committed to helping in nation-building through providing teacher training for schools and other organizations that need further help in adjusting to our new normal. For any inquiries on this matter, feel free to contact the school via inquire@thames.edu.ph. 

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Thames International and Globe Telecom Partner Up to Lead Research on Online Learning

Thames Admin June 15, 2020 News 0

Thames International and Globe Telecom Partner Up to Lead Research on Online Learning 

by: Hannah Magdangal, Thames Undergraduate Student

The impact of COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. The emergence of the pandemic has taken a toll on everyone – we have all faced unexpected changes and had to make sudden major adjustments to our lives. Students have been greatly affected; most have struggled to cope with the demands of online learning. More so, the limitations imposed required a shift to a virtual format for learning institutions.

With the abrupt changes and rocketing levels of uncertainty, many students fear that their education may have to be put on an indefinite hold, with some even opting to take a gap year. In an effort to bridge this gap, Thames International, with the support of their project partner Globe Telecom, conducted an action research project on online learning effectiveness to Senior High School (SHS) students in the Philippines entitled Learning Enrichment Program (LEP), implemented from May 25 to June 6, 2020.

The LEP was a two-week-long project intended to test the effect of full online learning on the quality of the learning experiences of SHS students in the Philippines during the pandemic. This study implemented an online Learning Enrichment Program in six subjects for two weeks with the help of 156 senior high school student volunteers. The students were given an opportunity to learn from Thames lecturers, all trained in online teaching by Thames and Akadasia Singapore. Thames was able to observe the students and conduct surveys in order to gather information on the basic demographic of the participants, their technological capacities, learning preferences, and expectations of online learning.

The study results revealed that Senior High School students belong to a generation that is accustomed to the digital environment, have high technological skills and adaptability, and are able to learn effectively both independently and in groups. They desire connection with their peers with common interests and pursuits and are highly capable of creating change in society with their capacity to become creative problem solvers. While they desire to discover the world on their own, they still seek mentors for proper guidance.

As the educational system in the country transitions into an online format, all areas of both learning and teaching require exploration and experimentation in order to keep education effective for students. The results of the study call attention to the necessary factors for the provision of quality education and desired learning outcomes for students and lecturers. With these addressed, online learning can certainly fill the gaps imposed by social distancing  requirements and the suspension of physical education, and allow for the preservation of students’ education.

The implementation of this program offers institutions with senior high school students a reliable basis for formulating policies and guidelines for online learning, and paves the way for a more inclusive and effective approach given the nature of learning in the new normal.

Thames International is committed to building a new order for the world by giving talented students and entrepreneurs the tools to thrive and lead the way in a world beset by rapid change. If you’re interested in augmenting your skills and making connections with some of the brightest minds in business education today, please take a look at our future-proof programs.

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Thames is proud to showcase the success of its first term of 100% online learning!

Thames Admin June 8, 2020 Community 0
Thames International is proud to showcase the success of its first term of 100% full online learning!

The volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of a world going through a fourth industrial revolution has only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. But even as learners all over the world grind to a halt and take stock, Thames students continue to follow their dreams without delay.

Thames is a tightly knit technology-enabled community and adapted rapidly to the pandemic by leveraging the expertise of industry partners and our own pool of online savvy industry practitioners. Classes continued. Instead of anxiously pondering their fate, our students integrated risk assessment theses into their curricula and paid heed to their own self-care by joining our wellness webinars, workout programs, and art showcases.

Nine out of ten of our students say our online education is an effective alternative to face-to-face classes during the lockdown. Who are we to doubt them? After all, they’re the best.

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The Shift to Online: How DTI and Thames are helping MSMEs

Thames Admin May 6, 2020 News 0

The Shift to Online: How DTI and Thames are helping Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

by: Dani Marcelino, Thames Undergraduate Student

The Department of Trade and Industry E-Commerce Group has chosen Thames International as its learning partner in launching the first phase of a series of free webinars targeted towards MSME owners who need to transform their business digitally. The webinar “CTRL + BIZ: Reboot Now!”, held from April 29 to May 2, 2020, brought together some of the biggest businesses from across the entire e-commerce ecosystem as partners. Representatives from Wunderman Thompson, Food Panda, GCash, GlobeMyBusiness, Lalamove, Google, Lazada, PayMaya, QuadX, Shopee, Grab, SIMM from Singapore, TransUnion, UnionBank, Zalora, and LeadMore shared their expertise and experiences on how to take advantage of the digital space.

The start of the “New Normal” came with unwelcome disruption to businesses of all scales. Most businesses were eager to shift to the digital space in response. With online operations as the only way to go, the webinar brought timely relief to micro, small, and middle-scale businesses as they struggled to keep afloat while navigating the digital world.

As a pioneer in entrepreneurship education dedicated to developing entrepreneurs and professionals to drive positive social impact, Thames International was trusted as the learning partner for the webinar. Thames hosted Zoom webinars and provided the framework and curriculum for the 4-day course, while the content and discussion was at discretion of the invited partners.

One of the participants, Eliza Mae, commented that it was “relevant to the changing times as all businesses transition to the new normal.”

The program, attended by more than six thousand via Zoom webinar and tens of thousands via Facebook livestream, proved to be a success based on an exit survey which resulted in 98.5% of the attendees indicating that the webinar was beneficial.

Participant Louel praised the program saying “This is an amazing initiative! As part of the MSME community, I am grateful that we are given this webinar to help us navigate our business particularly in this time of crisis. I wish we had more time to hear more from panelists. Regardless, the session was very informative and we wish to utilize all of these online platforms for our businesses. Way to go DTI!”

Another attendee, Ken, said that the “DTI Reboot Package will help us grow our small business during these hard times by learning new things about e-commerce. Thank you for supporting us.”

The webinar’s success can be attributed to Thames International’s successful online program. Thames selected core areas of upskilling, such as Marketing Essentials, Principles of Digital Marketing, HR Management and Leadership, Operations Management, Risk and Building Strategic Business Models, and Selling and Customer Service.

The result was what participant Neil remarked as “one-of-a-kind with substance.”

With Thames International at the helm of the learning component, the program will continue to aid MSME business owners and eventually foster competition in the market. The field is now more level, as more companies have the opportunity to fully utilize the digital space and are equipped with the knowledge to remain resilient in the new normal.

Thames International is committed to building a new order for the world by giving talented students and entrepreneurs the tools to thrive and lead the way in a world beset by rapid change. If you’re interested in augmenting your skills and making connections with some of the brightest minds in business education today, please take a look at our future-proof undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

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Online Learning Week 1

Thames Admin April 9, 2020 News 0

President’s Message

March 22, 2020

Dear Thames Community,

As I mentioned in my message to the community last March 12, 2020, the institution will transform itself and operate as a Virtual Campus as a response to the Global Pandemic and the Lockdown by the Philippine government. Our focus was to ensure no delays in the education of the Thames Students DESPITE COVID-19.

Thames started operating as a Virtual Campus on Monday March 16, 2020 with 100% online classrooms and with the administrators and lecturers working and teaching from home.

The results for our first week were the following:

  1. 71 % of all students were able enroll thru our payment system. Special arrangements will be made for those who do not have access to banks.
  2. 85% of all enrolled students are now registered with Freejoo, our new Learning Management System(LMS).
  3. 96% of all lecturers have been trained on the LMS. We will have weekly trainings to ensure we all get proficient quickly to being “online lecturers.”
  4. 73% of online classes have started.
  5. We piloted three (3) full days of an online workshop for the ICE postgraduate participants and received good feedback.
    “Thames did a good job of “humanizing technology”. The online class experience went really smoothly and beyond my expectations. The quality of learning that we received was no less than what we could have received if the classes were done in a face-to-face setup. “ – Angela Garong

Our deployment is not yet perfect and we will continually strive to improve in the coming days and weeks.

We are also glad to announce that starting Monday, Student affairs will begin all the virtual activities for the students ranging from Study Habits Online, Wellness & Fitness Sessions and other fun & learning activities. This will allow the students to constantly be engaged with their friends and classmates in Thames while we are all under quarantine.

We continue to adjust as we learn. I however believe that we achieved the most important objective which is to ensure no delay in the education of the Thames Students DESPITE COVID-19.

Let me express our sincerest gratitude to the hardworking and dedicated administrators and lecturers. We would also like to thank the parents and students for your support and patience.

We are all in this together. God Bless you all!

Sincerely,
Jaime Noel (JOEL) Santos, President
joel.santos@thames.edu.ph

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and He delivered them from their distress”
Psalm 107:6

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Full Online Learning during the Community Quarantine

Thames Admin March 16, 2020 News

Full Online Learning during the Community Quarantine

A message from our School President and Co-founder, Mr. Joel Santos, as Thames International moves to full online learning during the community quarantine.

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Thames Memorandum on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Thames Admin March 13, 2020 News

Thames Memorandum on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

March 12, 2020

Dear Thames Community,

Over the past few months, our leadership team has closely monitored the growing impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak both internationally and locally. Our first priority is to ensure the health and well-being of our community, while also making sure that our students are able to complete their courses and advance their progress toward graduation, while preparing contingencies to ensure the functioning of our campus operations.

Due to the increased spread of the coronavirus throughout the National Capital Region and the announcement today by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease to suspend classes until April 12, 2020, we have decided to implement the following changes.

  1. Face-to-face classes will be suspended in all undergraduate and postgraduate programs BUT will shift to full online learning. The management met with the faculty and discussed how content and instruction will be moved to online. A separate email will be sent to the students on the implementing guidelines of our online delivery.
  2. The institution will only allow virtual meetings among students, faculty and staff during this period.
  3. All planned domestic and international study yours by faculty and students are suspended.

Disruption in the academic journey of our students is the price we have to pay for the sake of the welfare and safety of the community. We are however fortunate that discontinuing in-person instruction is something that Thames International has been preparing for when we saw the trend overseas. The institution has also been piloting our Blended Learning Programs (online and face-to-face classes) in the past few trimesters. The transition to full online teaching is a challenge, and we are committed to providing the necessary resources to equip all faculty for success in this mode of delivery and to assist students adjusting to this mode of learning.

At this time, we are planning on how to ensure that the school operations will proceed normally given the global scenario. Additional information about the impact to other school operations will be communicated in a separate memo.

We will provide regular updates to the these plans over the coming weeks. Well in advance of April 12, we will announce to the community the plans for the remainder of the semester.

Finally, we are developing and will shortly distribute a set of Guidelines for September Completion to help faculty, staff, and students to think through how to ensure we are able to complete the academic requirements this semester.

I would like to have a zoom call with parents and students next week to discuss individually how we can ensure each student’s success in this time of adjustment. Please schedule with Emman Santos at essantos@thames.edu.ph

We appreciate all the work that has already been done to prepare our community for this possibility. We are grateful for all that each of you will do over the coming weeks to adapt to these changes. We are convinced that Thames International community will come through this trying period stronger than ever, and we look forward to having everyone back on our campus as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Jaime Noel Santos
President

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Great Education Opportunities in the UK Brought to you by Thames

Thames Admin February 27, 2020 News

Great Education Opportunities in the UK Brought to you by Thames

Globalization has taken root in various fields of our daily lives and learning is of no exception. Everybody is seeking to have a global mindset, and what better way to achieve this than to expand one’s horizons with an education abroad? Too afraid of expenses and being too far away from home? Don’t worry, with Thames’ 2-1 program, anybody can take two years of their degree in the Philippines and one year abroad, with the availability of four prominent schools situated in various parts of the United Kingdom to choose from Regents University, Northumbria University, De Montfort University, and the University of South Wales. With this program, studying abroad isn’t just a pipe dream as Thames International, together with the British Council and the British Embassy, led by no other than Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce collaboratively make this seemingly impossible dream become a reality.

 

With the help of the shared experiences of Mrs. Shaina Regina “Magic” S. Darmawan, a Thames alumna of the Thames 2-1 program, and of Mr. Eric Bergara, a parent who sent three of his children to the same program, questions and concerns were put to rest. Whether you’re an incoming undergraduate student fresh from high school, or someone looking to transfer for new and better things, or even an aspiring postgraduate student seeking a Master’s degree with only the very best, all these opportunities are ready and waiting for you here at Thames and what better way to look out for your own future than by spending it here.

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Donation Drive for Taal Volcano Victims

Thames Admin January 15, 2020 News

Donation Drive for Taal Volcano Victims

Due to the recent eruption of Taal Volcano, thousands of people were without homes and resources. Thankfully, without a moment’s hesitation, both our fellow countrymen and our very own students here at Thames lept into action to help these people. With hearts full of eagerness in every step, our two weeks of productive packing and sorting of goods have been a humbling experience. On behalf of the school, thank you for these acts of kindness and generosity, and thank you for keeping the ‘bayanihan’ spirit alive in these trying times.

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Happy Thamesgiving: A Holiday Bazaar Special

Thames Admin December 7, 2019 Community

Happy Thamesgiving: A Holiday Bazaar Special

The season of giving is upon us, and what better way to prepare for such a time than to have visited Thames’ first-ever Christmas Bazaar! Organized by our very own Business Leaders’ Society Student Organization, Happy Thamesgiving offered an assortment of goodies from trinkets and baubles to bags and shoes. Combined with local merchants and our very own budding students, bazaar-goers were treated with a variety of items to choose from, and a selection of food as well as performances that were sure to have kept them entertained. An exciting day for sure, and the first step to bigger and wider events in the near future. The holidays may have just started, but Thames has got you covered.