Last night, Learning Technologies announced the winners of their 2017 awards at a glamorous ceremony in London. AVADO were shortlisted for no fewer than four awards and were delighted to win two Gold Awards.

We were awarded the judge’s highest awards for Best Online Distance Learning Programme for our ground-breaking ACCA courses and Best Learning Technologies Project – international public & non-profit sector for the United for Wildlife MOOC in collaboration with ZSL.

We were also delighted to be shortlisted for Learning Technologies Company of the Year and receive another nod in the Best Online Distance Learning Programme category for our online HR courses, exclusively developed in partnership with CIPD Enterprises.

Transforming online accountancy training

The Gold award for Best Online Distance Learning Programme for ACCA reflects the extent to which we are fulfilling our mission to deliver a high-quality alternative to traditional classroom teaching and change perceptions of online learning on a global scale.

The judges said of our programme: “This submission answered all the key criteria for this category effortlessly. It fully demonstrated the effectiveness of design, innovative features, high learner engagement, tutor support and student satisfaction. This entry endorses the use of online learning by showing how a traditionally dry subject can be converted into a fantastic online learning experience.”

Some of the stand-out results that impressed the judges include:

• 83% of currently enrolled students would not have enrolled if the programme was not offered online
• 10% higher pass rates than ACCA global average
• 30+ Net Promoter Score for every cohort since launch
• 80% average engagement
• 100% of students in accountancy roles have applied learning in the workplace
• 100% satisfaction scores for tutors

John Cunningham – ACCA Regional Head of Education – Europe & The Americas said “We have been really impressed with AVADO’s ability to design digital ACCA programmes that cover complex accounting principles in a light and engaging way, no mean feat! AVADO are helping to bust old myths about e-learning. Congratulations AVADO!”

Amy Crawford, Managing Director of AVADO Professional added “We set out to create a programme that disrupted the online accountancy training sector – and we’ve done just that, creating the most engaging, learner-focussed programme we can, that focuses on practical skills and developing the accountants of the future.”

Online learning to inspire the next generation of conservation leaders

The Gold award for Best Learning Technologies Project – international public & non-profit sector went to ZSL and AVADO, under United for Wildlife for the online learning platform providing free, massive, open, online courses (MOOCs) accessible and available to all. The aim is to inspire, engage and train a young global audience in conservation to address practical conservation issues. Find out more: https://learn.unitedforwildlife.org/

The judges said: “The learning makes appropriate use of appropriate technology and languages to reach the countries where bandwidth is an issue. Collaboration is a key part of the project, plus achievement levels within the course make it a highly motivational – and free – course to complete. It is based on professional and inspiring storytelling that leads to learning and behavioural change that is changing lives and the impact humans have on the environment.”

Some of the impressive results include:

• 10,400 learners in 210 countries
• 2770+ completions
• 4% of learners said the course met or exceeded expectations
• 96.5% of learners would recommend the courses
• 97% of learners undertook direct behavioural change as a result of the course
• 100% of surveyed learners would like more courses

Mark O’Donoghue, Managing Director of AVADO Digital, said of the win: “This is a fantastic honour and shows how AVADO’s approach of learning that works can be applied to a totally different subject, one that is so important for our world’s future. We are proud to be part of this unique collaboration with ZSL. Well done to the team who work so hard on this on top of their day jobs!”

Last night’s accolades build on AVADO’s success at last year’s awards, where we won Silver in the Best Online Distance Learning Programme category for our online L&D programme in partnership with CIPD Enterprises and Silver for Best Learning Technologies Project – public and non-profit sector for United for Wildlife.