Affordable Private Education Center, Inc. (APEC Schools) tapped Globe Business and Cascadeo— Globe’s recently acquired Cloud Professional & Managed Services delivery arm — to cost-effectively scale and maximize its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure to enable its students and educators from all 22 campuses to access its learning management system (LMS) from home.
The initiative to revamp the school’s digital infrastructure will create a richer, more dynamic, and more inclusive online learning experience for its teachers and students.
“Globe has really helped us weather the challenges as we adapt to the requirements of online learning. Not only were we able to seamlessly and efficiently architect our existing cloud, but we were also able to provide students and teachers with in-home access to our LMS, which holds various key learning resources,” said Mark Sy, APEC Schools chief academic officer.
APEC Schools offers junior to senior high school programs under the K-12 curriculum set by the Department of Education in all its branches spread across Metro Manila and Calabarzon. It was established in 2013 and now has a population of more than 10,000 students.
Prior to the engagement with Globe Business, APEC Schools’ LMS was already running on AWS Virtual Private Cloud, connecting multiple school branches. However, as we enter the second year of online classes, APEC Schools realized that there is a need to scale its cloud architecture and fine-tune its pivot to online/distance learning.
“We had challenges in scaling the infrastructure especially during certain peak periods such as quarterly assessments. The timing to scale was crucial to APEC Schools because we wanted our students and teachers to be provided with the same learning experience across all our campuses. Globe and Cascadeo’s expert advisors guided us through the whole process of augmenting our existing Cloud while keeping our operational costs low, even with upgraded performance,” added Sy.
With the assistance of Globe — a longtime cloud pioneer and one of the largest users in the country — and Cascadeo, the institution was able to transition to the new setup, which now allows students and educators to access the LMS from wherever they are, anytime they want.
“The Cloud is such a powerful technology, so much so that it enables not just businesses but also the very institutions that directly impact future generations. When we build Cloud infrastructures, we’re able to open the doors to new possibilities and bridge the digital divide among communities and organizations,” said Peter Maquera, senior vice president for Globe Business. “As a strong advocate of quality education for Filipinos, we aim to harness the potential of the cloud for learning. In collaboration with APEC Schools, we not only make distance learning accessible, we are able to offer new and richer opportunities for students and teachers in these changing times.”
According to the United Nations, 91 percent of students were affected by the temporary closure of schools worldwide. Locally, around 4 million students did not enroll at the onset of the pandemic. With the help of digital platforms and Cloud-enabled technologies, Globe enables continued access to quality education, aiding schools in the face of global disruption. Globe is a strong advocate of quality education and innovation, which are two of the ten United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that the company has committed to supporting.
APEC students are expected to use the new Learning Management System in the AWS cloud architecture for the school year 2021 to 2022. APEC Schools has also opened demo classes that will run every Saturday until May. To know more about these demo classes and APEC Schools’ programs, follow their Facebook page or visit their website at www.apecschools.edu.ph.