Happy 2nd Anniversary, Eskwelabs! To all our learners, from the ones we've upskilled in our bootcamps and free courses to those we've had the pleasure of training in our corporate upskilling initiatives, thank you for trusting us with your learning journey.

What we've learned & How we’re moving forward

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Learning Remotely

Prior to the pandemic, we were using a blended learning approach in our bootcamps. But COVID-19 happened and we had to switch to a fully online set-up in just the span of a few days. Here’s a couple of things we’ve learned:

ONLINE LEARNING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LONELY

We may be physically separated but efforts like Zoom homeroom "kamustahan or how are you?" sessions, virtual games, group socials, and 1-on-1 check-ins make the online space more safe and warm. Up to now, we're continuously researching different ways to keep our learners motivated and connected in this post-COVID world.

ONLINE LEARNING IS GREAT FOR ACCESSIBILITY

We used to conduct our face-to-face classes in the Asian Institute of Management building in Makati, Metro Manila. Transportation is just one of the many factors that can be a frustration for our learners. Now that we're fully remote, we have reached learners from the Philippines in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, as well as other learners abroad. We're continuously learning how to improve the accessibility of our learning experiences whether it's by considering language preferences, time zone differences, strength of internet connection, the format of materials, and even the context of our content.

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Working Remotely

Eskwelabs' physical headquarters was in Makati before the lockdowns in Metro Manila. We used to sit with our desks side by side—"open plan office" style. But in the past year, we've been meeting in virtual spaces like Google Meets and Discord instead. Cheers to the united residents of Zoom!

BEING INTENTIONAL ABOUT YOUR TEAM

It's been more than a year since the whole team has been complete in one physical room. There are days when loneliness can seem too much, and there are days when we get overstimulated with so many notifications and pings. What we've done so far and will continue to do is to revisit our conversations on the ways we work on a regular basis. We have shared with each other our working styles, our best hours of working, and more. Open communication is key!

FINDING YOUR WFH SWEET SPOT IS WORTH IT

We've experienced the empowering effect of tools and tech in the past year of working remotely. We've actually created a list of all the tools we've tried but use no more. What's important is that we find that sweet spot. Is it Jira? Is it ClickUp? Is it Notion? Finding our groove in the remote working environment is both an art and a science.

‍The past 2 years have been a journey! If you want to see a more comprehensive story of how we've arrived at these realizations or learned these lessons, we recommend that you download our very first Progress Report, a yearbook-style PDF for our alumni, instructors & mentors, partners, and community.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PROGRESS REPORT