ReadAbout Learning Management System

From 50 to 5,000 Users: How One ESL

Tutoring Service Spiked Scalability with

ReadAbout Learning Management System

ReadAbout, Inc.

Learning Management System

35 Countries, 1,500+ customers, 19M users

Meet the Client

Continental English, a provider of English as a Second Language (ELS) tutoring services for non-native English speakers, is now one of the most profitable tutoring business in the United States. It’s the first language tutoring service to partner with an automobile industry to provide English tutoring for its Japanese employees and their families. Successfully teaching students of all ages, and with different levels of English mastery, Continental English was recognized by the National ESL Association of Educators with a 2024 Honorary Commendation.

In the Beginning

Continental English began in 2019 with a vision to provide excellent English tutoring services to nonnative professionals working temporarily in the United States. The company, headquartered in Los Angeles, began with 30 tutors, and within the next six months they acquired 20 more. As their business exceeded 50 tutors, however, problematic issues in the consistency and management of course delivery became apparent. Tutors spent an average of 1.5 hours preparing each lesson for each student. A full-time tutor (40 hours per week) was able to tutor no more than 16 student sessions per week.

Challenges

Then in 2021, Continental English was approached by a substantial automotive company to teach English to it’s largely Japanese-speaking employees, as well as any of the employees’ family members who wished to learn. Immediately, Continental English needed a management system to successfully train at least 300 more tutors to implement a more streamlined course structure. They needed an LMS that would:

Contain a content library
Have a multi-language feature
Enable mobile learning
Permit third-party integrations
Include an activity dashboard to illustrate each tutor’s progress
Include learner portals
Permit social learning and collaboration with peers

Continental English only had two months, after partnering with the automobile manufacturer, to hire new tutors and choose the best learning management system for them to get up and running. When Kevin Ackley, the company’s director of Learning and Development, began his search for an LMS, he didn’t know if their services would, in fact, be ready on time.

Continental English considered several learning management systems that would enable tutors to work with a myriad of backgrounds and ages. However, many systems lacked the adaptability and integration features they needed to get tutors trained quickly. After reviewing the demos of several brands, Kevin evaluated them with a team of IT specialists and tutors, and they selected the best option for their needs.

Solution

ReadAbout’s LMS; affordable, cloud-based, and SCORM-compliant; offered the best solution. With the time crunch Continental English faced, the tutoring service benefited from a quick and straightforward implementation process. With its user-friendly interface as well as mobile compatibility, users can access their training content at anytime and anywhere that best suits their schedules. Best of all, a highly well-trained system of technical support was available 24/7.

Tutors were excited to train with this system, and today’s tutors still enjoy the training that ReadAbout delivers.

“Our experience with ReadAbout has been invaluable! We’re able to train our employees in a fraction of the time we spent previously. Consistency, quality, and intuitiveness of this learning system made it one of our most successful vendor partnerships.”

— Kevin Ackley, Director of Learning and Development

Results

With 30K+ students now enrolled and 5,000 tutors across the United States, Continental English is one of 93% of delighted customers who would recommend ReadAbout to other businesses. (capterra.com) Tutors working a full-time tutoring load of 40 hours per week now only needed 15 minutes to prepare a lesson. After engaging with ReadAbout’s training, they could tutor 32 students per week. That’s a 200% increase in both productivity and profit.

ReadAbout spans across 35 countries with over 1,500 pleased customers, and 19 million users.

Contact ReadAbout to schedule a demo.

2023 Top 20 People’s Choice Award for LMS by eLearning Industry

Awarded silver and bronze in five categories by the 2023 Brandon Hall Group

Excellence in Technology Award

Spec Sample: Case Study