Ultraceuticals has beaten business heavyweights such as Telstra and Foxtel to win the Platinum Award for ‘Best Blended Learning Model’ in the 2017 LearnX Awards.
The award, which has previously been won by the likes of Harvard Business School, NAB and Bupa, was presented to Ultraceuticals for its UltraAcademy Blended Learning Program.
Designed for undergraduates at Ultraceuticals colleges as well as postgraduate skin technicians, dermal therapists, nurses and doctors, the program combines online modules, microlearning tutorials and podcasts with face-to-face practical workshops.
During the three-level program students are “incentivised through platform gamification, allowing them to earn certificates, badges, and UltraAcademy coins and prizes” until they graduate with Ultra Expert Status, Ultra Advanced Expert status and Ultra Elite Status certification.
Ultraceuticals global education program innovator Heather Vounnou said the skincare brand prides itself on offering skin therapists the most state-of-the-art education and training methods in the industry.
“The reason why this program has been recognised with such an incredible accolade is largely due to the fact that we have made education that much more accessible for our Ultraceuticals clinics,” she said.
“Knowledge can be accessed anytime, anywhere, any place. New and existing therapists within a clinic can log into the UltraAcademy and start their training right away, gaining instant access to training resources and tools outside scheduled face-to-face training sessions.
“Many of our students don’t sit behind a computer every day, and there was a very real possibility that they could potentially find the prospect of online learning rather daunting.”
Apart from the Platinum Award, Heather said that “one the greatest testimonies” to the program’s success was positive feedback from students.
“Ninety-eight percent of students have given their UltraAcademy learning experience a 5-star rating.
“When we read the feedback, a key word that comes up regularly is ‘fun’. Students are falling in love with the UltraAcademy learning process which is another significant positive, as this is what helps increase memory retention… and the acquired knowledge essentially sticks.”