A massive, free, virtual classroom system is being planned by Polytechnic University to serve Hong Kong's 1,200 primary and secondary schools.
The virtual classroom - where children learn without having to meet each other or their teachers face to face - will be based on a makeshift system built to provide online learning while schools were closed during the Sars outbreak last year.
It will serve as a supplementary resource for normal times, and a backup education system during a crisis.
To help design the system, a survey will be conducted next year on the schools' electronic needs. Questionnaires will be sent to headmasters in January, said Stephen Mak Wing-kai, associate professor of the university's department of building and real estate.
The database of 64 terabytes - about 64 trillion bytes - is backed by a $24.61 million Jockey Club grant. It will enable video and audio streaming for pre-recorded classroom presentations, offer data-crunching services for marking students' work and exams, and help track students' reading skills.
It could also lighten students' schoolbags by providing hard-disc space to store e-textbooks and notes.