Over 50% of American universities are not opening their physical campuses this fall due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the summer, college administrators and faculty have been working hard to move their classes online. It’s a monumental and expensive task to digitize content that has always been part of a live classroom setting, whether it be lectures or studios, especially in such a short amount of time and with very little overall precedent or strategy. After all, what works in a live classroom doesn’t necessarily work online. 

For example, in a physical classroom a professor is able to “read the room” and adapt a lecture to keep students engaged over the course of 1-2 hours, with questions and break-out sessions. Most teaching is done in the classroom, and students are then expected to synthesize information outside of the classroom. 

Online, classes are mostly pre-produced in modules that consider every aspect of the “student experience.” For example, a lecture online should be developed more like a short 8 to 10-minute films, with a strong narrative arc, supporting images and thoughtful editing. These lectures are then punctuated by self-paced quizzes, assignments or readings, each building on one another.

Inherently, successful online learning relies on what’s called a “flipped classroom” model wherein students engage asynchronously with content, whether it be lectures, readings, podcasts, or videos on their time, and then come together with the instructor and classmates in synchronous sessions to discuss and synthesize information.

So, universities that are simply “cutting and pasting” the physical experience to online are really just teaching remotely. And while this still takes time and money, it’s completely understandable why students, and their parents, are not willing to pay the same tuition for this experience as opposed to the full, physical experience. It’s second-rate    at best and puts the onus of the experience on the instructor, many of whom have no experience teaching online. 

For universities that are developing and offering true, immersive online courses, the equation is much different, and will take time, expertise and financial investment. In fact, these types of courses will potentially provide more consistent, high quality learning to students, allowing instructors to focus less on delivering content and more on mentoring and engaging one-on-one with students.  

And truly forward-thinking institutions, will begin to think less in terms of online and offline, and more in terms of a hybrid—or omni-channel learning experience—to provide students with much more thoughtful learning touch points across all modalities that can ensure a more flexible and personalized educational experience.

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