According to UNESCO's 2017-18 Global Education Monitoring Report, an additional $39 billion (€33 billion) per year would improve the quality of the world's schools and give the world's 2.2 BILLION children equal access to learning.
At onlinelabseries, education, skills training & development is something that we hold dearly above many other things. With so many other different online learning platform out there in the world today, how do we create something that will make a huge impact on this world? By that we also mean, how do you have an idea that will allow you to reach more people in the world all at once? We didn't want to create something that others are already doing, but yet not making a big enough impact. We wanted to make something that can potentially and seriously bring about change in a much larger way.
Educational/Learning Content at the Highest-Quality
You can say that it is a bold idea that we have when we founded onlinelabseries. We wanted to create educational/learning content of the highest quality, and then bringing that standard of content to everyone around the world.
In most cases, most people tend to associate high-quality education as something you have to pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to experience. For example, we know of some preschools here in Singapore, who literally charges $10K a month per child that is enrolled. I used to work for a boss who send his kid to such a preschool. But how many children in the world can afford going to a preschool, or even an elementary school later on in their lives? Without that access, they would have no access to some of the best educational and learning content. In some cases, because those children can only attend a really run-down preschool, there is a limitation in the amount of learning materials and teaching materials. And as a result, these children actually don't get to experience what other children whose parents are paying $120K a year for their preschool.
At onlinelabseries, we don't want to just provide high-quality learning content for those who can afford it, we also want to provide that same learning content to those who have no money or access to it. It doesn't matter what you are in the world right now, we certainly hope that one day in the near future, we will have a way of reaching you, and so you have a chance to learn what others are also learning in a proper school, or workshop on the weekends.
At onlinelabseries, we don't want to just provide high-quality learning content for those who can afford it, we also want to provide that same learning content to those who have no money or access to it.
Free for All, FOREVER
Another thing that is really important to our mission is to create a learning platform & community that makes education & learning free for all. It doesn't matter if you are poor and living in home shelters, or in some remote village somewhere, you will have access to the education that is provided through onlinelabseries. You never have to pay a single cent, that is our promise and commitment.
It doesn't matter if you are poor and living in home shelters, or in some remote village somewhere, you will have access to the education that is provided through onlinelabseries. You never have to pay a single cent, that is our promise and commitment.
When this platform was created slightly more than a month ago, we never for one second stopped to think about what we stand to gain from doing this. Instead, all we had in mind was to make the best learning content available to anyone, anywhere in the world.
You can think of us as the facilitator of the best online education experience possible. We bring the best companies and brands together and we help them to deliver their content to the rest of the world, in exchange, they only have to provide us with free access to their products (for the sole purpose of lab content-creation).
Skills Training/Development (Product-, Brand-focused)
Seeing that we are currently entering the next Industrial Revolution of this Digital Age, we have to address the big yellow elephant in the room. As technology progress around the world, without better access to skills training & development, it also means one thing - more people are going to find themselves unemployed. It could be because of organisations needed to restructure themselves, to shift their corporate focus, to reallocate resources and people into different departments.
As technology progress around the world, without better access to skills training & development, it also means one thing - more people are going to find themselves unemployed.
With any great change and progression in the society, one thing always follows - unemployment. We took a chart from the "The World Bank" website. According to their most recent statistics, as of 2017, we have a total unemployment rate of the world at roughly 5.5%. Now, let's do some calculations shall we?
Reference: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?end=2017&page=5&start=2007&view=chart
According to the worldometers website, the total population as of 2017 is 7,550,262,101 which is roughly (7.5 billion). If we were to take 5.5% of that number, this would be what we get:
0.055 x 7,550,262,101 = 415,264,415.555
After re-calculating it twice, we have confirmed the numbers to be correct. As of 2017, the total no. of adults that are unemployed worldwide is standing at 415 million. 415 million is honestly a very huge number if you ask us.
As of 2017, the total no. of adults that are unemployed worldwide is standing at 415 million.
What are the Main Causes of Unemployment?
Being in the technology industry, we have observed trends and changes through the years, from a time when all we needed were PCs and Laptops, and then the Smartphone came, and now we are moving on to the Internet of Things and AI. Like the very famous Jack Ma said, "AI will always be smarter than people. But we should not be making AI replace people, we should be making AI supplement them."
"AI will always be smarter than people. But we should not be making AI replace people, we should be making AI supplement them." - words of Jack Ma (not the exact words)
But the fact and truth is, we cannot deny how progress in technology usually leads some people to losing their jobs in the process. Some of the main causes of unemployment through the course of history comes because of a few reasons, but we will just name two of them here:
Because the world of technology and innovation is progressing so quickly, it can be very challenging to keep up with what is truly relevant right now, or will be relevant in the years to come. As a result, many people end up learning about the wrong things. By the time they are done paying thousands of dollars for a course, they find what they have learned no longer useful or relevant. Now, they do not have anymore funds to actually go learn something else.
There are those that have been in an industry for maybe 8 years, 10 years or even 20 years and one day, they get called into the manager's office. Without any warning, they are told that they are no longer needed in the company. They have to pack up and leave. What just happened? Well, there are a number of reasons. Sometimes, it's mainly because of the company's direction changing. It's reality, every organisation has to transform themselves digitally and technologically speaking. If they don't, they will become obsolete themselves. But along with these transformations, it is also unavoidable that many people are going to themselves out of a job simply because the skill that they have for the last decade or so is no longer in demand anymore. Now they have to find a way to be relevant again. Things become even worse if they have a family to feed, house to support, and so on. Many families fall apart because of this reason too.
Getting Trained/Re-equipped with the Right Skills
Hence that is a large part what onlinelabseries is about. We are about bringing together the brands and products that we believe are the most relevant right now as well as in the future. Why? We understand what a pain it can be to spend thousands of dollars on a skill programme or degree only to discover after you leave school that what you have learned is no longer of value. It can make anyone feel lost. Worse still if you are already 45 or 50 right now.
But that is also where the beauty of STEM education and recent increase in demand for IoT-development programmes for those who got retrenched. Thanks to devices and makers like Arduino, they have made it possible for anyone or any age group to come together and learn about electronics (the foundational building block to modern day Internet of Things applications.)
Thanks to devices and makers like Arduino, they have made it possible for anyone or any age group to come together and learn about electronics (the foundational building block to modern day Internet of Things applications.)
At onlinelabseries, we want to do all of you a service, and that is to help you isolate and identify those brands and products that we believe are going to continue staying relevant in the near future. What that means is that after you have picked up some knowledge & hands-on learning from our platform, you will be able to have a much higher chance of finding a job wherever you are in those skills. That is our promise and dedication to those who joins our community.
What that means is that after you have picked up some knowledge & hands-on learning from our platform, you will be able to have a much higher chance of finding a job wherever you are in those skills. That is our promise and dedication to those who joins our community.
Fighting Against Commercialised Skills Development Programmes
We will not go into who they are here, but there are many skills development programmes in the world that are so commercialised that they base their curriculum on products and brands that have "paid" them something and using their educational platform as a way to market and advertise their products. And to make it even worse? They are marketing the wrong products, products that are both old and obsolete. There are even some local educational institutions here in Singapore where we are based, they are still providing courses in skills that are out-of-date.
At onlinelabseries, we like to maintain our independence from brands simply because of one reason, we want to maintain the ultimate power to choose and decide which brands we really want to partner with.
...if we do not think that their brand and products will be relevant in another 5 years, why do we want to educate/train others in it?
At onlinelabseries, we like to maintain our independence from brands simply because of one reason, we want to maintain the ultimate power to choose and decide which brands we really want to partner with. Truth is, they can offer us a million dollars to take on their brand, and we will still say no. Why? Well, if we do not think that their brand and products will be relevant in another 5 years, why do we want to educate/train others in it? We think it is important to make this strong emphasis. Just because you have been a successful company over the last 20, 30 years, it doesn't guarantee that you will still be successful in another 5 to 10 years. You might have been successful so far only because what you have been creating has been relevant so far. But as the industry changes and shifts itself, if you are not changing, you will be obsolete by tomorrow.
Just because you have been a successful company over the last 20, 30 years, it doesn't guarantee that you will still be successful in another 5 to 10 years. You might have been successful so far only because what you have been creating has been relevant so far. But as the industry changes and shifts itself, if you are not changing, you will be obsolete by tomorrow.
Thus, we are going to go as far as to say that onlinelabseries is truly an exclusive platform. A privileged platform for your brand to be featured and showcased in a dedicated lab series, or even in a bunch of lab series in the next few years to come. If we are featuring you, it really means without a doubt that you will be a leader both in your industry as well as helping to create more jobs around the world. You will be at the forefront of making an impact on the lives of millions around the world. Wouldn't you want to be a part of that?