Vinaphone launches distance learning via mobile devices

Photo source vnmedia.vn

Vietnam Telecom Services Company (VinaPhone), a member of leading state telecom group VNPT, announced it would launch the service in September.

VinaPhone partnered up with Artificial Intelligence Company Limited (AI Vietnam) to design lessons for secondary school students, state employees, and workers.

The training modules will first focus on foreign languages, information technology, economics-finance, management skills, soft skills, and around 2,000 lessons for secondary school students.

Lessons on agricultural sciences, science and technology, vocational training, and healthcare are slated for launch in the near future.

Explaining the move, Nguyen Dac Hung, an expert at VinaPhone’s Value Added Services Development Centre, said “Of our 26 million subscribers, more than 20 per cent of the market, 25 per cent use smartphones, and this figure made it feasible to finally deploy this service.”

The contract between VinaPhone and AI Vietnam stipulates that the former will provide unlimited access to lesson downloads under a monthly service price of VND35,000 (around $1.5).

The service will give mobile users access to 3,000 lessons in diverse fields.

At a workshop last week entitled Applying Information Technology to Promote Learning in Society in Hanoi, a VinaPhone representative said that with well-planned investments and a long-term growth strategy, they expected VinaPhone’s training services to see exceptional growth.

As to why AI Vietnam was not providing free training, the company’s director Hoang Ngoc Trung said, “We could not attract good teachers and lecturers under a no-fee model. But for less than two dollars a month, users will have a complete package that includes interacting with teachers, timely response to service issues, and a comprehensive appraisal system of pupils’ performance.

When asked about potential cooperation with other telcos such as Viettel and Mobifone, Trung replied “We are open to new opportunities, but we have current responsibilities to VinaPhone as they are our first partner.”

Around 400 lecturers and experts are reported to be taking part in developing the online training materials for mobile devices. Also, agricultural production advisory services will be offered for free in the near future, as it received the support of the General Department of Vocational Training’s National Agricultural Extension Centre under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs.