Online Learning and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Train in China

In December 2019, China reported its first case of COVID-19. Since then, the world seems to have gone into crisis mode. Based on the contagious nature of the virus, there have been mass quarantines of millions of people across the globe. This global crisis has reinforced the need for governments to reevaluate how various services will continue within a crisis. At this point, many learning institutions have closed their physical schools and classrooms. For example, schools are currently closed in China, Japan, England, Italy, and other countries. The justification for closing these institutions is to attempt to reduce the spread of the virus. While these closures would have been unrealistic in the past, the prominence of online learning now allows some of these institutions to bring their traditional, face-to-face courses into the online learning environment.

For many instructors and professors who have never taught online, this could be another crisis. The reality is that online teaching requires planning, development, and effective delivery of a course within a virtual space. Furthermore, moving from the face-to-face format requires a change in mindset to ensure that students are provided with the appropriate resources and guidance and are kept engaged. While developing an online course requires time, there are a few steps that an instructor or professor new to the online environment could do to ensure that the 'learning vessel' is kept afloat.

First, instructors or professors must orient themselves to this new digital learning environment. For this to take place, educational institutions should immediately provide a series of tutorials to demonstrate how professors can upload content, communicate with students, assess students' work, and provide pathways for live online teaching sessions where possible. The tutorials should be short and show the basis of the operation. In this time of crisis, it is also vital that support staff who regularly work with the learning management system are available to offer support to faculty new to this learning space.

Second, faculty could be provided with a template for the creation of various pages within their courses. These template pages could include an outline for the week's work, interaction activities for the week, and learning assessments.

Third, faculty who have access to an instructional designer or colleagues who have already taught online courses should discuss best practices regarding the redesign of assessments to ensure authenticity. Necessary assessments will need to be proctored online while ensuring the validity of students' assessments. 

Finally, I would recommend that students be given an orientation to the online learning environment to ensure they can navigate it. Furthermore, adjustments must be made with consideration of students who require accommodations.

Online learning will provide the medium for faculty to meet the learning needs of their students within this health crisis. Also, faculty can get the necessary support to ensure they are successful in delivering their courses. This level of flexibility must be embraced and supported. In summary, online learning has created the pathway for ‘saving the day’ in our current climate.