ONE and NEO by Édifice in Medellín: A Growing Success!

In Medellín, Colombia, Édifice’s ONE and NEO virtual learning platforms have helped foster more positive and effective communication between teachers and students’ families. Here’s a look at the impact and feedback from enthusiastic users.

Édifice has been working closely with Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city, for several months now, and the partnership continues to thrive. The city is deeply committed to education and culture, as shown by its membership in UNESCO’s Global Network of Learning Cities and the International Association of Educating Cities. “Our teams received a warm welcome in September 2024 from city representatives who are highly engaged in building an educational and pedagogical social network for schools,” says Jérôme Moles, Director of Development at Édifice.

This collaboration began with a key realization: communication between teachers and families was challenging, often lacking warmth and support. “Before working with Édifice, we didn’t fully realize how significant our communication issues were across Medellín’s educational community,” admits the city’s Deputy Director of Education. “Now, not only do we recognize the problem, but we also have a clear solution to address it.”

Empowering teachers in Medellín 

Since September 2024, nearly 4,000 students, teachers, and families have been using the ONE and NEO virtual learning platforms. The early results are incredibly promising: almost 50% of accounts have been activated, and among those, 96% of users log in daily.

From the beginning, Medellín’s teachers embraced the project with enthusiasm. “They saw ONE and NEO as a way to enhance their role and strengthen their connection with families,” explains Jérôme Moles. In just two months, teachers had already created 185 Homework Notebooks, 231 Blog posts, 108 Multimedia Notebooks, and 200 messages sent to families through the Schoolbook. “ONE lets me showcase events, projects, and activities that might otherwise go unnoticed in the classroom,” says Yazmin, a teacher in Medellín.

Students have fully embraced the VLE platforms, even teaching each other how to use them. The impact on families was immediate: parent and guardian engagement tripled in just one month! “I use NEO every day, and it keeps me informed about everything happening at school,” shares one guardian. Families are also getting involved, leaving positive and encouraging comments on blog posts. 

Stronger communication between teachers and families

It’s not just the volume of interactions that has increased—the quality of communication has improved as well. “Parents are eager to know how their child is doing in class. We can give them updates, but it feels much more personal and meaningful when they see a video of their child on the ONE platform. This has helped us build a more authentic connection with families,” says Ney, a teacher in Medellín.

The idea of convivencia—Spanish for “living together in harmony”—is a core value in Medellín. The ONE and NEO platforms help bring this vision to life by fostering meaningful, direct communication between educators and families. Impressed by the results, the city now plans to expand the initiative to 30,000 students and 70 schools by the end of the first quarter of 2025. “The real key to success isn’t just the VLE platform itself—it’s how educators use it,” concludes Jérôme Moles.