Students Hit Web As SARS Cuts Class; Teachers at Singapore's Australian school hurry to post class work online.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: DONNA HOWELL

The SARS crisis has prompted a crash course in E-Learning 101.

How did a Singapore school keep teaching students for days while others shut their doors because of SARS? With determination, a rough weekend at work and a willingness to use common technology on hand, the school developed an impromptu e-learning program.

"We have a Web site that's been up for many years, so this was extension of that," said Michael Eggenhuizen, technology director at the Australian International School in Singapore.

The school teaches more than 1,000 students of high school age and below. It probably set a world record for speed in putting together an e-learning plan.

Here's what happened: Singapore's education ministry sought to curb the spread of SARS by closing government-run schools for a time. But the Australian International School learned only late on a Wednesday night the shutdown was starting the next morning.

"The teachers reacted very quickly," said Ian Bertram, a Gartner Inc. analyst based in Singapore. "They wanted to continue giving courses and curriculum to students."