As of this Monday, VGC went fully online so we could continue offering classes to our students whilst doing our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve.

To prepare for this we provided our teachers with extensive training to help them prepare for a world of online classes. During the training, the teachers got really comfortable with the online platform and looked at new ways to apply their extensive teaching skills in an online world. Everyone left feeling confident that they could continue to deliver the same high quality lessons online as they do face-to-face in the classroom and excited about the new possibilities that this teaching platform brings.

The transition has been a huge success! Though we knew our online classes would go well, we couldn’t have asked for a better start. Our teachers delivered lessons with professionalism and passion and our amazing students embraced the new way of learning and jumped into online classes with enthusiasm. We are now at the end of the first week and are continuing to get great feedback from students and teachers alike. We’re looking forward to see what’s ahead of us and are excited to provide students a wide portfolio of online English and Business classes.

Here are 5 things we have learned from our first week of online classes at VGC International College:

1. Online learning is fun! You can still do fun activities. Sure these may differ from the activities you would do in a face to face class, but our teachers have many ways of making sure our online classes are dynamic.
2. Online classes are communicative! There is still plenty of opportunity for pair and group work as well as personalized feedback from the teacher. Online doesn’t have to mean just listening to a lecture, our online classes are interactive and fun.
3. People adapt to new situations amazingly quickly. Though online learning is new for many people, everyone, even those who were nervous about online classes, has embraced it and is enjoying it.
4. Online classes offer different opportunities. When everyone can share their screens and work on the same document at the same time, this offers some great collaborative opportunities.
5. Studying individually doesn’t mean you are alone. Though everyone is in their own house studying (or teaching) the virtual classroom is still a community where people feel connected to each other. You can still make friends!

This week has also shown us more than ever that VGC really is a family. Everyone – students, teachers, staff – has worked together and supported each other through the last couple of weeks and we know this will continue into the future!

How have you experienced the first week of online classes? We’d love to hear about your experiences about your online English classes in the comments below! For students interested in learning more about our various online courses please contact us directly!

by Jude Conroy