The ChallengeBringing real-time language practice to live online classes
Harmon Hall—the longest-standing English-language brand in Mexico, with more than 60 years of teaching—started live online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and students wanted to keep them. Juan Antonio Gonzáles Torres, Business Partner for Academia at Harmon Hall, explains, “Once the pandemic ended, we realized that many students wanted to keep learning this way, and that’s when we started looking for options to facilitate this, by providing tools for the teacher that also make learning easier for our students.”
Language learning depends on students speaking, and teachers need to hear them do it. On their previous setup, teachers couldn’t follow the conversation once students split into small groups. “It’s impossible to monitor all students in real time through [Microsoft] Teams, because it doesn’t let us move around in all the breakout rooms,” adds Juan Antonio.
Running classes on a national scale also made student administration harder. “Another challenge we faced at Harmon Hall was optimizing our administration of the students,” says Juan Antonio. “This part is basically about controlling who enters the classes, how they enroll, and ensuring that they are students registered in our system.”
The SolutionA virtual classroom made for live teaching
After looking at several platforms, Harmon Hall chose Class for its live online program. “We explored different platforms, and that’s how we arrived at Class, which is without a doubt the best option for this type of class, which is synchronous with live teachers,” says Juan Antonio.
Harmon Hall ran a pilot in April 2025, then rolled Class out nationwide in phases. A centralized team now runs the program. A national coordinator oversees live online classes, and a dedicated group of teachers delivers them.
“Students definitely feel more comfortable using Class because of the types of tools it has, and it even makes interaction with the teacher easier,” Juan Antonio explains. “All of this makes the class more interactive, which is one of the main reasons why we chose Class, to break up the monotony of class time with something different from what any other platform typically offers.”
Breakout rooms built for speaking practice
Breakout rooms built for speaking practice 
“Since it’s a language, it requires real-time oral practice, which can be a limitation with some other platforms, and it’s something Class offers through breakout rooms,” Juan Antonio explains. “It’s a great advantage for the teacher to be able to see and hear everything happening in the different breakout rooms.”
Participation data that guides feedback
Participation data that guides feedback 
“The data dashboard helps us with that information that lets us see students’ academic performance, and how we can help them improve. It’s that aspect related to timely, personalized feedback, tailored to each student,” Juan Antonio says.
An interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard 
Teachers use the whiteboard alongside breakout rooms to give feedback and see each student’s participation. “Being able to use the whiteboard that way makes it completely interactive,” explains Juan Antonio.
Controlled access and registration
Controlled access and registration 
Juan Antonio notes, “It’s not just a link that you share with everyone, but you have the option to make it personalized and determine which students go with which class or which link. This registration process makes a big difference in student experience and in our organization’s administrative processes.”
The ResultHigher retention and a stronger live online program
Harmon Hall compared its live online classes from February through December 2025 with the same months in 2024. Student retention grew by nearly six percentage points. “The result is a difference of nearly 6 percentage points growth in student retention, which therefore implies a very significant economic achievement that was made possible through collaboration with Class,” Juan Antonio details.
Students adjusted quickly to the new platform. “At the beginning, I think some users were a bit apprehensive because it was a new platform,” he says. “However, as they received the proper guidance, students quickly came to appreciate the platform. They noticed a big difference in how smoothly everything runs, how easy it is to navigate the platform, and how simple it is to interact with others and with the teacher.”
With Class, Harmon Hall:
Indentifies students who need support
"The student engagement indicators are a great benefit we get from Class because they allow us to know which of our students are being left out, who aren't reaching their full potential and aren't engaging in that kind of interaction in class," shares Juan Antonio.
Ensures every student is heard
"Class gives us this option so that no student is left unmonitored, without being heard or helped, so that they can interact with the rest of the students."
Builds on a strong start
"There is a lot to explore within Class. This is only the beginning of everything it can offer us...Now, the next step is to make full use of the platform, the data, the information, and all the tools it offers in day-to-day classroom use to keep improving our teaching and learning processes, and to be able to give better feedback to both our teachers and our students," concludes Juan Antonio.
Ready to see what Class can do for your organization?
