Friday, November 25, 2016

Educational app brings Filipinos a step closer to their dreams

[25 NOV 2016] For Danica Rose Garay, shifting careers from teaching to being a doctor is not easy. For one, she has to take and pass the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT), and she doesn’t have the luxury of time to enroll in a review center as it tend to be expensive. Self-study is her only viable option.

Zookal was like manna from heaven for Danica Rose. With Zookal’s help, she is now reviewing for free for her upcoming NMAT exam.

“I find reviewing with Zookal is so much easier. Questions are categorized so I can go straight to those relevant for me.  The immediate response from the app, whether the answer is right or wrong, and the accompanying explanation are very helpful features,” says Danica Rose.

“Zookal also changed my study habits.  Since I carry my phone anywhere and anytime, I can study in between tasks, or when commuting. There’s no need to lug around books, and wads of papers as review materials, I just click on the app, and start reviewing,” she added.

Criselda, who’s preparing for the Licensure Examination for Teachers, says reviewing while working is no longer an impossible task.

“Zookal helped me a lot in such a way that it gave me a chance to review everywhere. I was working while preparing for the LET so it was really convenient for me. I could just open the app and read during my free time at the workplace. I could even do it during my commute time. It's amazing!” says Criselda.

“I actually recommended Zookal to some of my friends already. I told them they need not to pay for an expensive review center to prepare for a test. All they need is to download this impressive app. Zookal is an amazing tool to help people achieve their dreams, I am just so grateful it was developed,” adds Criselda.

Embracing technology

HR practitioner and Sunlife Advocate Aaron Hinlo-Roca handles Internship Relations and is a community service partner of universities in regions 7 and 8.  

He required incoming interns to pass the Civil Service examination and be eligible to work for government. They reviewed for the exam for two weeks using the app on a dry run, and he saw that it was effective as an online learning resource.

“It was very interactive. While we also used books for the review, the app was very helpful.  Zookal revolutionizes studying, you just need data connection and you can learn anytime, anywhere.  We must embrace technologies like this.  It is timely and relevant not only for students but also for professors, and practitioners like me,” says Aaron.

Wish list

One thing Aaron wishes for is an offline version of Zookal so students without connectivity can still use it for their learning.

Meanwhile, having administered admission tests as a teacher, Danica Rose would like to see more of practice questions involving abstract reasoning. 

“This type of test measures the spatial and the IQ of the test taker in predicting outcome. Also, you can master it through constant practice. It’s quite hard to make but I know it will help a lot of test takers.  For the tips I guess, they could put videos and mnemonics styles to cater learners who have diverse learning styles,” Danica Rose suggests.

She also wants to see a “timer” feature in the app so one can easily evaluate how fast one can answer the questions and challenge to do it faster next time.  It makes for good practice since almost all exams are timed.

In its latest update, Zookal already has a timer feature that allows just that.

Zookal for all

If you think Zookal is relevant only for those who are reviewing for exams, you are so wrong.

“I recommended it to my friends and family members to help them boost their intelligence in their field of expertise as well as in other areas of learning,” says Danica Rose.

“It may be an online reviewer but it is never boring using the app.  My friends and I use it for fun just like the popular TV show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”.  With Zookal, learning is never boring,” adds Aaron.

100,000 Filipinos and counting

Since its launched in September, Zookal has now grown to one hundred thousand (100,000) users in less than 2 months time. “There are now more than 100,000 Filipinos closer to their dreams; that alone assures me and my co-founders that we are doing an excellent job in doing good for the future of Filipino students and professionals through Zookal,” said Jon Tse, Zookal co-founder. 

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