Guide Philippines
Frequently asked questions

Quick answers, by audience.

Filter by who you are. If your question isn't here, ask through the program channels. Recurring questions get added to this page.

Are you a participant and can't find your answer here? Ask your champion first—or email helpdesk.aseanahead@smartct.org.

ParticipantsIs the course really free?
Yes. The course, certificate, and 1-year LinkedIn Premium are all free for participants. The course is organised by the ASEAN Foundation and supported by LinkedIn.
ParticipantsHow long does the course take?

It depends on how you take it—the course is flexible by design:

  • Focused pass: about 30 minutes. A time-boxed run through the completion essentials—and you can return to any video or Learning Material afterwards.
  • Deliberate run-through: at least 60 minutes. Watching the videos in full, doing the exercises, and joining discussions—plus time for account setup.
  • Guided synchronous event: about 2 hours door-to-door, with a champion walking the cohort through.
ParticipantsDo I have to finish within 10 days?
No—the 10 days is not a deadline for you. It's the window when your champion gives you dedicated, active support, so finishing inside it is the easiest path. The course itself stays open until the programme ends, and completing at any pace earns your certificate. Finishing early is still worth it: it frees you up for other events and gets you sooner to the opportunities that follow the course. (The Day 10 line matters to your hosts and champions instead—only completions by then count toward their financial support.)
ParticipantsI finished the modules—why don't I have my certificate?
Completion requires all three: 100% of the modules, at least one discussion created or joined, and the Post-Course Evaluation. The evaluation and the discussion are the two steps people miss most. Also check that your discussion post is a real contribution—see the next question.
ParticipantsWhat counts as a valid discussion post?
A meaningful, constructive contribution: a genuine insight, question, or reflection connected to any module—one or two honest sentences is enough. Joining an existing discussion counts too, and it's often the easiest way to start: read what others have posted and add your take. Random or nonsensical text (e.g. "asdf", "done", or something unrelated to the course) may invalidate your completion and the benefits tied to it. Your posts are read by other participants, so make yours worth reading—and you can keep joining or starting discussions even after you've finished the modules.
ParticipantsWhen do I get LinkedIn Premium?
Make sure you include your LinkedIn profile and an improved CV (using what you learned from the course) in the Post-Course Evaluation. After you complete the course, the ASEAN Foundation—not SmartCT—verifies everything internally: that your LinkedIn profile is valid and that your CV follows what the course teaches. If everything is valid, the ASEAN Foundation AHEAD Team emails you instructions on how to activate your LinkedIn Premium. Verification and results take about 2–4 weeks. Keep the email on your ADA account active—that's how your completion is matched and how you'll be notified whether your Premium is granted or if you need to submit additional requirements.
ParticipantsDoes finishing the course guarantee a mentorship or job-fair spot?
No—but it's how you're considered. After the course period (which runs through December 2026), a select number of completers are invited into the Peer Mentorship component and Virtual Job Fair events. Completion makes you eligible; spots are limited and selection is competitive, and those in the running may be asked for a few additional requirements—for example, outputs from your course exercises. A practical tip: don't save it for December—completers who finish by November are in the best position when the mentorship and job-fair invitations go out. See Mentorship and job fairs for how it works.
ParticipantsCan I do the whole thing on my phone?
Yes—the course is mobile-friendly. That said, tests and discussion posts are easier on a laptop, and low-connectivity participants should consider joining a guided synchronous session.
ParticipantsI registered for the event with one email but used a different one on ADA. Is that a problem?
Not if you tell us. It is completely normal—people often sign up for the event with a school address and create their ADA account with a personal one. Your certificate and LinkedIn Premium follow your ADA account, so that is the email we need on record. Give it to your Champion at the event (there's a short ADA email check at the end of Part 1) or reply to any follow-up message with it. If we never get it, your completion sits on ADA unmatched to your event.

Are you a champion who's stuck on something this page doesn't cover? Email aseanahead@smartct.org.

ChampionsDo I need to teach the course content?
No. You are a motivator and guide, not an instructor — the course is self-paced and teaches itself. Your job is registration, momentum, troubleshooting, and completion follow-up.
ChampionsDo I have to run events to be a Champion?
No. Running events is one of two pathways. The other is supporting an assigned cohort: SmartCT hands you a batch of self-paced participants who started but stalled, and you guide them to completion with check-ins and follow-ups—no event required. See how cohort support works.
ChampionsWhat's the difference between a synchronous and asynchronous event?
Synchronous (in-person, webinar, or hybrid): the entire course is completed together during the event. Asynchronous: the event introduces the course and gets everyone registered and enrolled; you then run the Day 0 to Day 10 follow-up sequence—Day 5 is the target completion, Day 10 the maximum—until each participant completes.
ChampionsWhat data do I need to capture at an event?
Everything goes on one form: the registration & attendance sheet, which carries the consent sign-off too—there is no separate consent document. Name, the email they registered with and the email they used on ADA (often not the same one), region and institution, beneficiary type, gender and age, event details and mode. No list, no event. Collect only these fields.
ChampionsWhat's the most common event-day problem?
ADA account creation and completion of at least 1 module. Budget generously for the walkthrough and get every participant registered and enrolled before the event ends, even in asynchronous mode.

Need support with an event or your participants? Email aseanahead@smartct.org.

PartnersCan a student organization or individual host an event?
Yes—in your school, org, barangay, or community. You follow the same standard agenda and submit the same participant list and post-event data as any other event, and qualify for host financial support when the minimum requirements are met.
PartnersWhat financial support do individual or student organization hosts get?
PhP 3,000 for every 50 participants who successfully complete the course: completion, not attendance—and within 10 days of the event (Day 5 is the target, Day 10 is the last day a completion counts). The event must meet all minimum requirements. Support accrues across everything attributed to you—your hosted events and the groups you declare before SmartCT events—so smaller events add up and you never need 50 completers at once; groups declared after an event can't be credited. Each participant counts once: one Day 0, one 10-day window—missing it still earns them the certificate, but they can't be re-registered to count later. You will be informed of the liquidation and disbursement requirements.
PartnersCan I just bring participants?
Always. You don't need a formal partnership—or any commitment to be accountable for your participants' completion—to give your students, members, or community this opportunity. Just point them to any event or the self-paced track, and the program's Champions will foster and guide them to completion. The only difference: completions you're not accountable for don't count toward host financial support. If you want your group's completions to count, see how support is counted on the Partners page.
PartnersWe're a university—what do we provide vs. the program?
You bring the participants: recruitment, pre-registration, venue, and local logistics. The program brings the materials, the course, the champions, tracking and reporting, and the certificates pathway.
PartnersWhat formats can our event take?
In-person, webinar, or hybrid (synchronous—the whole course completed at the event), or an asynchronous intro session where participants finish on their own with champion follow-up.

Help Desk

Stuck? Start here.

Answers to specific questions participants have run into. We add to this list as new questions come in, so check back if yours isn't answered yet—and send it through your champion or the program channels.

Problem not on this list? Email helpdesk.aseanahead@smartct.org—recurring questions get added to this page.

Help DeskI'm stuck—what do I do next?
Work through the usual suspects first:
  • A module won't mark as complete? Open its Learning Material again and go through it to the very last page — the platform only registers it once you reach the end. Do the same check for each video part.
  • Finished everything but still no certificate? Confirm all three requirements: 100% of modules, at least one discussion created or joined, and the Post-Course Evaluation.
  • Page not loading or progress not saving? Refresh, log out and back in, or switch browsers. Low connectivity? Try again on a steadier connection. Progress or a quiz stuck no matter what? Work through the fix ladder below.
  • Still stuck? Ask your champion—they can solve most issues quickly and will escalate to the ASEAN AHEAD team if needed.
Help DeskMy module progress is stuck, or my quiz isn't saving—what do I do?

A known platform quirk—module progress freezing (say, Module 2 stuck at 67%) or quiz answers not saving. These steps resolve it for almost everyone; try them in order and re-check your progress after each:

  • Hard-refresh the page (Ctrl+Shift+R, or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac), or clear your browser's cache.
  • Sign out of ADA and sign back in.
  • Try an incognito/private window—then sign in there and open the module again.
  • Try a different browser (or a laptop instead of your phone, if you have access to one).
  • Last resort—register a new ADA account with a different active email. This always seems to clear it, but your progress starts over.

Still stuck after all five—or hit the same bug repeatedly? Email helpdesk.aseanahead@smartct.org with your ADA email, the module, and a screenshot, so we can escalate it to the platform team.

Help DeskI'm busy—can I still join?

Yes. The course is built to fit around a full schedule, not the other way around:

  • It takes less time than you think. A focused pass through the completion essentials can take about 30 minutes; a deliberate run-through is at least an hour. See "How long does the course take?" above.
  • You set the pace. The platform is flexible by design—move quickly through the modules now, and every video, Learning Material, and exercise stays open for you to revisit later.
  • You choose the format. Join the self-paced track and finish anytime—champion support is most active in your first 10 days, and the track stays open until the programme ends—or block one session for a guided webinar or in-person event and be done in a single sitting.
  • Busy now, ambitious later? Completing at any pace earns your certificate. When you have more time, going deeper—exercises, discussions—is what counts toward the competitively selected mentorship and job-fair opportunities.
Help DeskI can't open the worksheet link shown in the presentation—how do I access it?

The links only work from the downloaded PDF of the Learning Material, not from the Learning Material viewer window. To get it:

  • Finish the Learning Material first. Browse through all its pages (e.g. 13/13) and/or answer the Post-test — this unlocks the Download Material option (the 4th item in Part 03).
  • Download the PDF. This is the PDF version of the Learning Material, where the links are clickable.
  • Open the worksheet link from the PDF. It opens a Google Docs version of the worksheet. Download it or make a copy to your own Google Drive to complete it.
  • Don't request edit access and don't edit the main document directly—work on your own copy.
Help DeskWhere are the module worksheets?

Direct links to each module's worksheet, for quick access. Download each worksheet or make a copy to your own Google Drive to complete it—don't request edit access or edit the main document directly.

Contact Us

Need support?

SituationContact
Event-day platform issues (login, tests, playback)Your assigned champion
Stuck? Need support?Assigned champion, Support channels, or helpdesk.aseanahead@smartct.org
Found bugs or issues with the platform or courseSupport channels or helpdesk.aseanahead@smartct.org
Supported by: LinkedIn Organised by: ASEAN Foundation Implemented in the Philippines by: SmartCT with support from BNHR