Robert Paddock Discusses Online Education In South Africa

Robert Paddock is the Founder and CEO of Valenture Institute and the co-founder of GetSmarter. He is passionate about helping more South Africans get access to a high-quality education, and holds many positions that align with this mentality. This includes Paddock being a founding board member of Africa’s first EdTech incubator, Injini, as well as being an executive director at Cape Town education technology agency Hubble Studios. In this episode of What’s Next, Paddock discusses the major benefits of online learning when compared to in-person alternatives. He unpacks the most common myths involving online learning, before discussing the biggest challenges this industry actually faces. Paddock then talks about the state of the online learning industry in South Africa, and details how much he thinks it can grow in the future. He then talks about Valenture Institute, explaining what it is and what it does. Paddock outlines Valenture Institute’s partnerships with both the St Stithians Online High School, and the UCT Online High School, and explains how Valenture is helping both of these institutions. Paddock concludes by discussing the future plans for Valenture Institute.