SylvanSync expands education to rural America through innovative tech

The latest features of new technologies in many ways have made the world smaller and more connected, and in the case of Sylvan Learning* franchisee Kari Weigel, her brand’s tablet-based educational system also has allowed her to expand her territory for tutoring children in harder to reach places. Weigel owns two Sylvan Learning centers in the North Dakota cities of Fargo and Bismarck, but the spread-out and rural nature of her territory often makes it difficult for students from distant towns in the Peace Garden State to travel to her locations. But the use of SylvanSync, the supplemental-education brand’s platform that develops a personal curriculum for each individual student and runs it off an iPad tablet, has allowed Weigel to bring Sylvan to students at satellite centers closer to their towns. “In the past 20 years, we’ve had families drive three to four hours one way just to attend Sylvan,” Weigel said. “We’ve never been able to service these areas until SylvanSync came along. Personally, the best benefit of SylvanSync is that I’m more convenient for families and I can impact more students’ lives.” Weigel has increased the reach of her Sylvan franchise to four ancillary centers in North Dakota: Dickinson, 90 miles west of Bismarck; Williston, about 240 miles northwest of Bismarck; Mandan, just across the Missouri River from Bismarck; and a center scheduled to open soon in Minot, 110 miles north of Bismarck. Sylvan Learning Inc. was one of the first supplemental-education franchises to release a fully optimized tech platform for the distribution of material to students. SylvanSync was designed to provide kids the latest technology in an already digitally advanced age. By combining teachers and iPads, the program provides greater interaction between educators and students, keeps children engaged, and accelerates students’ mastery through customized  lesson plans and focused material. Sylvan began developing the SylvanSync program in 2008, when the program initially began on a PC tablet. After switching over to the iPad platform, it became available systemwide in October 2011. Following that rollout, Sylvan has steadily increased its student count and expanded into new territories. Sylvan attributes part of that growth to SylvanSync locations that have let franchisees like Weigel expand without being constrained only to their brick-and-mortar tutoring centers. Franchisees and tutors have been able to meet students and families in approved venues like parochial schools and community centers, equipped with all their materials on one iPad. SylvanSync has gone through major developments since its implementation, and new programs have been added as material is released. Most recently, Sylvan has introduced a study skills program and is now working on a beginning literacy product, explained Alan Catlett, vice president and general manager of SylvanSync and contract programs. “We’ve been testing [the literacy product] this summer, and along the way, we received tons of additional data and analysis so we’re now able to review the efficacy of the program,” Catlett said. “This allows us to continually update the program without additional cost or interference with the franchisee.” Beyond early literacy, Sylvan is also in the beginning stages of developing a writing program and higher-level math programs. “Currently we’re testing a literacy program that will move into a broader test in the fall, with general availability in the first or second quarter of next year,” Catlett added. Further solutions in development at Sylvan are aimed at helping students with specific skills and specific skill gaps. The programs would not necessarily encompass the entire curriculum, but rather provide educators with the tools they need to help struggling students in narrowly defined areas. “I think that’s what Sylvan brings to families and students: It moves them along a continuum of content,” Catlett said. “Students can move quickly through skills they’ve already mastered, but now we’ll be able to identify the necessary support and scaffolding to help them continue succeeding in areas they don’t.”