Virtual Learning

Preparing for Every Eventuality

Our story began in October of 2019, when the protests in Hong Kong caused citywide shutdown of schools, and continues through the school closures due to the Coronavirus. VC@T’s virtual classroom preparedness programs were born out of necessity. In 2019 The Harbour School (THS) and every school in Hong Kong were facing possible school closures in relation to civil unrest. To prepare for every eventuality, even an extended shut down, THS took an extra step and set up comprehensive emergency protocols to take their entire curriculum online if need be for all grade levels and all subjects K-12. This system was dubbed Virtual Classrooms @ The Harbour School (V-CAT).

When the predicted shutdown occurred, VC@T came online and the preparation paid off. Parents marvelled at how efficient and complete the transition was, and how equipped the school and teachers were. VC@T turned out to be the exception, as most schools were underprepared and simply shut down, scrambled patchwork systems or assigned homework. While other schools were dealing with confused and angry parents, disgruntled teachers, and disengaged students, THS was holding actual classes and had parents writing their thanks. While some of the other schools used the same technical systems as THS, they still struggled because they lacked the rigorous streamlined protocols implementing those systems. They weren’t set up for success when transitioning to virtual classrooms.