Carlow company put expansion plan in the frame with pivot of business model online
Carlow Native, Danny Barron aims to bring about a new era of online learning to previous exchange students who can no longer travel due to Covid with launch of new Online Learning Platform.
Carlow International English School (CIELS) has launched its new online learning platform: CIELS Online Learning (www.ciels.ie). The platform delivers a combination of self-directed learning and online tuition that students can avail of anytime and anywhere. This means learning in a safe environment at the student’s own pace. Speaking about the launch of the platform Danny Barron , Director of Studies at CIELS said “in March we faced definite business failure with the collapse of the traditional English language experience training that we have been providing to international visitors for years and with this new platform we have a new business model that will ensure that CIELS provides quality services” , Danny continued to say "existing partner colleges across Northern Europe expressed a strong desire to maintain our partnerships and to avail of our services despite the travel restrictions currently in place. This led to us developing a quality method of working with our existing partners online."
Danny said that CIELS has also already seen success in breaking into new markets as many of the online courses are also suitable for native speakers of English. CIELS is currently working with Transition Year in local post primary schools, Gaelcholaiste and PDLS Bagenalstown, to deliver safe online courses that develop Business Writing Skills, Essay Writing Skills and Presentation Skills.
CIELS is recognised by ACELS and was established over 25 years ago by Danny’s parents, Dave and Catherine Barron. Danny joined the business full time ten years ago after completing his Master’s level English teaching qualifications in Cambridge. While Dave retired some years ago, Danny and Catherine still work together. Using his experience of delivering high quality academic English programmes in higher education and for Erasmus students, Danny is delighted that CIELS is now in a position to offer its services to a truly global audience.
In the future, CIELS hopes to welcome students safely to Carlow once again, but the development of its online platform will complement the traditional face to face programmes when they return, while also providing greater reach to new markets. It also allows students who cannot afford the expense of international travel, to avail of CIELS’ expertise in teaching the English language.
When asked about the future of the business, Danny says that ‘CIELS is preparing itself for the future of education, which will include a blend of face to face and online learning. Just as with our traditional programmes, our goal is to provide high quality teaching that meets each market’s individual learning needs.’
CIELS was supported by the Carlow County Council, Local Enterprise Office and availed of the Business Continuity Voucher Scheme and Trading Online Voucher scheme in order to support their development journey, speaking about the success of CIELS in their project, Aine Carey, Enterprise Executive with the Local Enterprise Office said “resilience in entrepreneurship is essential in today’s challenging trading environment and companies need to look at alternative business models to ensure the ongoing survival”, the Enterprise Executive continued to say “we were delighted to support Danny and the Team at CIELS with the Trading Online & Continuity Voucher Scheme and wish Danny and his team every success in the future business journey”
For further information contact Kieran Comerford on 086-8252037 or Danny Barron on 086-4060804
