Mastering the Art of Live English Classes Scheduling

At Open English, we’re passionate about bringing English learning to everyone, regardless of where they are in the world. From Brazil to Turkey, our students request over 350,000 classes each month, at all hours and on all days. But how do we manage to provide live instruction 24/7 with a variety of teaching styles and levels of English proficiency? Let’s dive into our process!

 

A tapestry of variables and processes

 

1. Understanding and predicting demand

We’ve developed advanced machine learning models to help us schedule and forecast live classes. The first model uses cutting-edge deep neural networks to predict class demands up to three weeks in advance. This model considers many factors, including country-specific holidays, user activity trends, time zones, historical requests, and promotional events.

By understanding these variables, we can tailor our teaching approach to each student’s unique needs, such as their level of English, native language, and teacher preferences.

Our first model helps us prepare teacher schedules in advance, aligning them with expected demand and ensuring consistent availability across different time zones.

 

2. Creating a live class schedule

Once we forecast the demand, the next step is to create a live class schedule. This involves grouping requests into different types of classes, such as 1-on-1 sessions, group classes, casual classes, beginner classes for Portuguese speakers, or advanced English classes with native English teachers.

We must consider every detail to ensure the forecasted demand is matched with the appropriate class types and lengths.

Our optimization model helps fill teacher schedules by aligning them with peak demand periods, ensuring maximum utilization of our teaching resources and enhancing scheduling efficiency. We also consider teachers’ time zones, foreign language skills, and availability to match them with the right classes. 

 

3. The human touch

Even with all these processes in place, our dedicated academic team plays a crucial role in ensuring everything runs smoothly. They monitor and validate every aspect of this complex system to provide high-quality service.

And what about unexpected changes? For instance, during the pandemic, our models had to quickly adapt to a sudden spike in demand. But that’s a story for another time, and our Academics team would love to share more about it in an upcoming blog post!

Our Business Intelligence & Data Analytics team works tirelessly to ensure that every student gets the best possible learning experience. Thanks for learning about how we schedule our live English classes. We’re excited to help you on your journey to mastering English!

 

Written by  the Business Intelligence & Data Analytics Team @ Open English

Antonelli, Sabrina —  Senior Data Analytics engineer at Open English

Camacho, Fernando —  Senior Data Analytics engineer at Open English

Rocco, Leonardo —  Director, Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at Open English

 

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