Raccoon Gang – Results of 2022

Our Achievements

2022 was incredibly challenging for many of us, especially for Ukraine. Almost a year ago, russia invaded Ukraine, and our lives inevitably changed. Since one of our facilities is located in Kharkiv, we have worked hard to keep our Raccoons and their families safe and able to work on ongoing and new projects.

As our policy includes working from home, and most Raccoons have experience working remotely, we successfully set up a workflow during this difficult time. Now that our entire team is safe in different places in Ukraine and Europe, we continue to work and gain momentum while sticking to our goals, plans, and schedules.

All Raccoons continue supporting Ukraine with all the help we can provide:

• Transfer a fixed % of their compensation to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As of Dec 31 2022, the amount of such donations is almost $70,000. We received several letters of gratitude from battalions and brigades, and we are very proud of them.
• 20% of our teammates are joining the volunteer movement to help with food and medical care to those in need in hot spots
• Almost 80% of our Raccoons joined the Ukrainian IT army to fight russian propaganda

Our clients support us these days in many ways, including emotional support. We received many letters with warm words from our clients and partners from different parts of the world. Thanks to KharkivITcluster, our Raccoons are using Starlink. Thus, they can be in touch anytime and continue working at total capacity.

We want to encourage everyone to join us in helping Ukraine in this most challenging time. Here are some ways you can help Ukraine:

• Donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
• Donate to the Come Back Alive Foundation. Every dollar counts
• Share the post on your social media with words of support using the hashtag #IStandWithUkraine or #StandWithUkraine so that as many people as possible see it.
• Join volunteers in your country to support Ukrainian refugees

This year, our team finally visited the Open edX conference offline after two years of quarantine. One of the main topics of our speech was “All-Ukrainian Online School – E-SCHOOL.net.ua” (Всеукраїнська школа онлайн), which operates on the Open edX platform. 

Despite the war, nearly 4 million schoolchildren returned to school in Ukraine in September 2022. Most prefer some form of online learning, in some cases because the school has been bombed or too close to the fighting. That is why the project we are supporting is so important now.

The All-Ukrainian Online School is the customized Open edX platform designed for students in grades 5-11. Anyone can use it, which contains video tutorials, abstracts, formative & summative assessments, virtual teacher offices (which can remotely communicate with students), and a mobile app.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute for Educational Development, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation launched a COVID-19 response platform for distance and blended learning. With the start of the russian invasion of Ukraine, this project has a second life. Read the article “A Success Story for Distance Learning in Ukraine Using the Open edX Platform” from the recent meet-up with Sergiy Movchan, CEO of Raccoon Gang, as an Open edX Partner, to know more about this project.

We are an Open edX Preferred Provider.

We are proud to be part of the Open edX community and have been recognized as the Preferred Open edX Provider and an Open edX Partner. It is an honor to be recognised for our level of expertise and experience working with the Open edX technology and our active contribution to the reinforcement of this excellent platform.

Raccoon Gang’s customers, 2022

New challenges and projects

RG team provides high-quality services based on the Open edX technology. These top-notch solutions help organizations develop, promote and maintain engaging eLearning experiences on various scales.

This year we have successfully implemented dozens of international projects for some of the world’s best private and public organizations. For example, the most significant projects we completed this year are King Khalid online University, Asociatia Techsoup, Al Jazeera, Opportunity EduFinance, LaQuest, Prometheus, Flybits and dozens more.

118 New RG Projects in 2022

Below, we are presenting some of this year’s projects that reflect the main trends in our world.

Custom LMS for private school network

Harrow – one of the world’s top international private school networks, originated in Britain. It unites thousands of teachers and learners in different regions, including China, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. 

Harrow Innovation Leadership Academy provides life-changing bilingual education that integrates the best of the East and West. The importance of quality online education takes a leading role, so Harrow chose Raccoon Gang to build a custom LMS for its staff and students. Open edX was their strategic choice as an emerging and prominent LMS technology, and Raccoon Gang has been chosen as the best provider in the world.

Our team crafted a custom, highly scalable LMS based on the Open edX technology with the following features:

• A completely custom design
• Open edX Platform installation (v. Koa, with branding)
• Tencent’s integration (For Video x-block)
• Single Sign-On
• Includes integration with 4 identity providers of Harrow School
• RG Analytics module
• RG Gamification module

Custom LMS for Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera Media Institute is the educational project of the Al Jazeera Media Network conglomerate.

With millions of worldwide viewers, Al Jazeera attracted thousands of learners to its platform.

Due to the 2020 pandemic, the number of users increased even more: in May 2020, the number of registered users peaked at 120,000.

Al Jazeera and Raccoon Gang decided to launch the project of transitioning the “legacy” eLearning platform to the new Open edX-based learning management system. 

​The Al Jazeera Media Institute chose our team as one of the best Open edX services providers to help develop a custom LMS with the following features:

• Ability to sell courses to organizations appropriately (white-labeled subdomains, seamless staff enrollment, course access management system, etc.)
• Ability to manage content, users, courses, social interactions, etc., in a modern way
• Seamless mobile learning experience
• eCommerce functionality
• Advanced eLearning reporting
• Gamification
• Customized certification flow

Feedback on our work in 2022

We were delighted to receive such feedback from customers.

Don’t forget that feedback on our work is always welcomed and appreciated, so you can leave your comments in the form below or follow this link to leave feedback on our profile on Clutch.co.

Products and Services Updates

RG Analytics

• Gives a lot more reporting possibilities than standard Open edX Insights
• Quickly and easily converts online course statistics into effective, actionable reports
• Allows identifying and realizing course improvement opportunities in real-time
• Provides actionable metrics with both course-wide and statistics for each learner

If you want to know more about RG Analytics, we’d gladly present it to you – Book a call.

RG Gamification

• Gamification in training leads to a 60% increase in learners engagement
• E-learning and gamification can reduce the cost of training programs by 90%
• 95% of employees enjoy using gamified tools at work and learning

RG Gamification lets Open edX platform managers use more gamification mechanics than native Open edX abilities. Being customization and integration-friendly, the tool makes online courses more engaging, effective and memorable.

If you want to know more about RG Gamification, we’d gladly present it to you – Book a call.

Gang’s Top Content in 2022

We are happy to share valuable, high-quality content worth reading and can help specialists engaged in eLearning understand issues of interest. 

Our most popular articles for 2022:

1. Open edX: What Is It And Why Do 19 Million People Use It?

The article tells what Open edX is, explains several customized Open edX features that make the platform tailored for the customer’s needs and convenient to use, and why it is the greatest open-source LMS.

The number of views: over 64 990 

2. How to create an online course: a step-by-step guide

The post describes information about a step-by-step online course creation guide to help you create a relevant, engaging, and successful online course.

The number of views: over 52 325 

3. How much does it cost to develop an online course?

Useful information that can help course authors understand how much course creation costs in 2021 compared to 2020. 

The number of views: over 222 907*

4. LMS Comparison: What LMS suits your needs best?

This guide could help you choose the best eLearning platform for your particular case.

The number of views: over 52 000 

5.  How much does a custom LMS cost?

In this blog post, we’ll outline the cost of a custom LMS creation depending on where you are and which way you choose.

The number of views: over 1 964

*view totals as of 12/22

We Are Social

Being social for us means being part of a significant community, keeping up with the changing dynamics in the learning industry, and ensuring our clients can reach the relevant content that can cover their needs.

In our social networks, you can find tips and solutions on creating a custom LMS, enhancing your courses with Open edX technology, motivating and engaging your students more, improving eLearning performance and ROI, and much more…

By following us on social media, you can contact us directly and catch up on the latest eLearning news, trends and tips.

Follow us, and let’s keep in touch:

Facebook

Linkedin

Twitter

The Gang’s Growth

The Raccoon Gang population increased by 23%. We are glad to be surrounded by 148 smart Raccoons in our team! To satisfy a growing demand for Open edX hosting and to provide top-notch support services, we have expanded our DevOps, Support, and Business analysis team. We’ve also scaled up our team of Python Developers to provide advanced Open edX customisations, data connections, infrastructure development, etc.

Despite the difficult times, our team is moving forward without hesitation. We are trying to keep all jobs for all Raccoons and support their families in all the ways we can provide. Our main motto for this period is “People first”.

We’re getting used to working in such challenging conditions, but we keep supporting each other:

💛💙 the HR team holds regular “All Hands Raccoon Gang” meetings

💛💙 we share routine photos to show that we all are fine

💛💙 organize online events to celebrate our traditional holidays

💛💙 we meet each other when the opportunity arises

💛💙 we continue to work hard on all projects by schedules and deadlines

💛💙 we continue to support Ukraine with all the help we can provide

Our plans for 2023

They are virtually unchanged from the previous year:

1. We will continue developing our expertise with a proven track record of successful projects at many leading organizations worldwide.
2. Expect significant improvements in RG Analytics, RG Gamification and eLearning automation.
3. Continue to improve the Open edX platform.