6 Tips to Help You Transition Your In-Person Class Online During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Institutions across the nation are actively preparing to move their on-campus classes into an online format as a measure to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. For many, this migration from in-person teaching to online teaching can be a daunting task, but it does not have to be! 

With these 6 helpful tips, you can easily move your in-person class online successfully. The tips below include online teaching strategies, tools that can aid in teaching online, and important things to consider as you make this transition. 

It is important that before you begin to transition your in-person class to an online environment, that you know the resources that are available to you through your institution. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel here! Most institutions have a team of Instructional Designers, Educational Technologists, and Distance Education Staff that are busy at work preparing to help you. If you are not currently familiar with what technologies your institution has, now is the time to know what is available to you and your students.

Infographic with 6 tips

Here are a few questions you should know the answers to as you begin transiting your course online:

  • What Learning Management System (LMS) do we use at this institution?
  • Where can I find LMS resources so that I can learn how to use the platform?
  • What third-party technology tools are available to me to use?
  • What virtual communication or video conferencing tools are available to me and my students?
  • Are there any trainings available to aid me in learning how to best deliver my course online?
  • What are institutional policies regarding the use of third-party technology tools?

After you have read the tips and recommendations below it will be time to get started transitioning your in-person course online. This starts by making a plan, then communicating your plan to your students, putting your plan into action, and then constantly communicating with your students so you know what is working and what needs adjusting. 

So here we go!

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Table of Contents

#1 Embrace Virtual Communication & Office Hours

Communication is going to be the key to success over these next few weeks! Not only are you having to learn a new way of teaching but your students are also having to learn a new way of learning. As we mentioned above, make a plan and then let your students know what that plan is. Something we all take for granted with in-person classes is how easy it is to communicate the little details with our students without really even thinking about it. 

As you transition to communicating strictly online, you will have to be much more diligent and thoughtful with how and what you communicate with your students. They will not be able to read your mind so you must tell them everything they will need to know and do to continue to be successful in your, now, online course. 

Lucky for you and your students, communicating online has never been easier! Here are a few tools that make communicating online a breeze:

  • Zoom: we will mention this tool often in this article. Zoom is an amazing video conferencing tool that will allow you video chat, share screens, record sessions, and save and share recordings. 
  • Google Hangouts: also a great video and chat communication tool. If your institution uses Google Suites, your students may already be familiar with the tool and its functionality. 
  • Microsoft Teams: is an easy to use communication platform that allows for ongoing chat sessions, video and audio calls, file share, and even the use of GIFs. If your institution uses Outlook or Office365 you may have access to this tool. 

Using one of the tools above, try hosting an open office hour session with your students.  This would allow you and them to become comfortable using the new tool to communicate with each other and give them an opportunity to ask you questions. Showing your students that you are still very available to them will help ease their worries and yours too!

#2 Change up Your Lecture Style

Say goodbye to the lecture hall, and say hello to giving lectures in your sweatpants! You’ll learn that one of the great things about teaching online is the ability to do it from wherever and whenever you want. This means you can give your lecture from the comfort of your couch late at night or first thing in the morning while sitting in our favorite coffee shop. 

One major logistic to keep in mind when making this transition from in-person to online is that your course may need to become more asynchronous. Meaning your students may not be online the exact same time you are but they still need to be able to learn. Before, you gave your lecture every Monday and Wednesday at the same time at the same place and your students were expected to be there. This is an example of synchronous learning. However, your students may now need more flexibility when it comes to learning online. We would still encourage you to give “live” lectures using the tools listed below, but we would also highly recommend that you record your lectures so that students can still access the information even if they were not able to join the live session. 

A learning event in which a group of students are engaging in learning at the same time.

The act of facilitating learning outside of the constraints of time and place among a group of people.

The tools listed below are capable of live video and audio conferencing, chat, and screen share. They also have the ability to be recorded so that students can watch your “live” lecture at their convince. 

EXTRA TIP: if you are not wild about being on video, just turn off your webcam and screen share a PowerPoint or other visual to keep your students engaged with your lecture.

#3 Diversify Content Delivery

Similar to the points made above, you may have to slightly rethink how you deliver content to your students. However, you most likely will still expect them to be reading and engaging with textbooks and publisher materials as you did before you went online. 

Be sure to check with the textbook publisher to see what online resources they have available to you that are specific to the textbook you use in your course.

This unexpected move online can also be an excellent opportunity to diversify your content! There are endless options available to you when it comes to online content. Here are some of our favorites:

  • TED-Ed: library of animated videos that can be customized into lessons, don’t forget about TED Talks too! 
  • LinkedIn Learning: video courses taught by industry experts.
  • YouTube: millions of videos you can use to supplement your lessons
  • SoftChalk: content and eLearning authoring tool – has 30-day free trial
  • ScreenCast-O-Matic: use this tool to easily create video content of your own. This tool has video and audio recording, screen share, and annotations. Recordings are also easily saved and shared with the free account.

As you discover the amazing and endless word of online content, be sure not to bombard your students with too much content. Just because your course is online now, does not mean you need to give them more to read and learn from. Pay attention to estimated read times on articles and video lengths. Your online course should still be equivalent to what you would expect students to do in your in-person course.

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#4 Encourage Student Engagement with Collaboration

Social separation may be the answer to slowing down the spread of the Coronavirus but it does not mean student interactions and discussion have to stop. There are many great online tools that will facilitate student interaction and engagement. You may even find that these tools do a better job giving all of your students a voice in your course. 

Here are a few online tools that are great for promoting student engagement with each other, the content, and you:

  • Zoom: (we really love this tool!) students can create free accounts and host their own virtual meetings.
  • VoiceThread: a collaborative multimedia slideshow that users can leave voice, video, and text type comments. 
  • Padlet: a collaborative bulletin board type tool that allows users to post text, files, images, and comments.
  • Slack: a collaborative and instant messaging platform designed to replace email.
  • Google Hangouts: is a popular tool with students, as many of them have google accounts.
  • Microsoft Teams: students can create their own “teams” where they can video and text chat, share files, and collaborate on projects.

There are so many great collaboration tools online, however, do not forget to check out the discussion boards and collaboration tools your institution’s LMS has available.

#5 Make Life Easier with Online Assessments

A word of warning, after administering assessments online you may never go back to paper and pen assessments again! There are many great tools online that have really changed how exams are administered and graded and how written assignments are submitted and evaluated. 

For quizzing type assessments, we would recommend:

For written assessments, we recommend you look into:

If you are worried about students cheating on exams, you may need to put more creative thought into the exam questions. Be sure you are asking higher-order thinking questions and ask your students to explain their thinking to you. Try to also break out of the habit of writing only multichoice questions. Instead, create matching questions, case study type questions, or design questions. Finally, check out randomization options when it comes to exam settings.

#6 Think Gamification, Simulations, and ePortfolios

You may be wondering how to move your lab or hands-on type course online, and this may be one of the bigger challenges you face. However, that does not mean it cannot be done! Lab and hands-on type courses are all about the students learning, applying, and physically demonstrating their knowledge. 

Look for gamification and simulation type activities and get creative. There are so many things students can do online to demonstrate their learning. With a good old Google search, you may be surprised by how many games and simulations have already been created for your topic. We would also recommend you check with your textbook publisher. Publishers have started pairing more and more games and simulation activities with their materials.

Portfolios are also a great tool to have students apply their learning and understanding in a hands-on project. Students can research, design, video record themselves, develop a project, and put it all into an ePortfolio that showcases their understanding. Here are two of our favorite ePortfolio platforms:

  • Digication: a really dynamic and easy to use tool that allows students (and instructors) to create professional-looking sites.
  • Google Sites: a much more simple tool that still allows students to express their creativity without getting bogged down in the technical aspects.

We understand that these suggestions will not work for every situation, but we hope they will at least give you something to think about. Please talk and coordinate with your institution department leaders to see how your specific course can be supported during this time.

You’ve Got This!

No one expected the current turn of events and how it would impact our education system, but isn’t it amazing that we have the tools and technology to support our students and continue our instruction! 

We challenge you to not get caught up in the frustrations of the situation but instead take this opportunity to temporarily try a new way of instruction. Just because this is happening does not mean your students’ learning experience has to suffer, and it won’t if you just give it your best using what we’ve discussed above. Who knows, you may find you really like it! Your students are lucky to have you – an adaptable, creative, and resourceful instructor.

Finally, be patient with each other. Not only are you learning a new way of teaching online, but your students may also be having to learn a new way of learning online. Remember, communication is key! Keep those lines of communication open while you try to implement your new way of instruction and be okay with adjusting when something isn’t working. You’ve got this!

Thank you for reading our tips and recommendations. We wholeheartedly hope these are helpful to you. Please Like our Facebook page to receive more helpful insights into online education. We are a growing resource site so we greatly appreciate your support!