Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed our view on remote learning. Originally thought of as a secondary alternative, remote learning is now heavily used due to health concerns and its flexibility. Although in-person learning is often preferred, there are times where remote learning is required. The goal of this page is to better inform individuals that facilitate learning, like workshop leaders, of ways to better transition between the two modes of education.

Change in Environment

The change from online learning to in-person learning and vice versa is tricky and not easy for both students and workshop leaders. The change in environment often coincides with changes in the social dynamic and communication. Here are some tips in navigating the change.

Remote Learning to In-person

• Re-introduce everyone: While remote learning, students may not feel comfortable turning on their video cameras. So when coming back in person, it will be everyone’s first time meeting each other face to face. It will also be the first opportunity for students to socialize with each other outside of the classroom. Re-introducing everyone will help students feel more comfortable with each other.
• Try to keep the same format: It is hard to know what to expect when there is change from remote learning to in-person learning. If there is a certain way or format the class was run, try to do something similar in-person. This should allow students to know what to expect. For example, if you always did ice-breakers in the beginning of the workshop, continue to do so. This advice also applies for transitions to online learning.
• Explicitly communicate changes: Going along with allowing students to know what to expect, make sure they know the changes that will occur in in-person learning. This could also include changes in lecture components. Being clear of what is expected of students and what workshop will be like can help students better navigate through the change. For example, you can communicate that there should be limited electronic use or that there will be more collaborative group work. This advice also applies for transitions to online learning.

In-person to Remote Learning

• Encourage students to turn on video cameras: When transitioning to online learning, it is easy to feel isolated due to change in social settings. Encouraging students to turn their camera on can help replicate the classroom social setting online.
• Utilize breakout rooms: Peer to peer collaboration is an important aspect of a workshop. Continuing that peer to peer collaboration via breakout room can help students feel more at ease with the change and still allow students to work through problems on their own.

Change in Teaching

Learning and teaching in a remote environment is fairly different from the in-person environment. Each mode of education presents itself with various benefits and challenges. This portion of the page will mainly focus on tips for online learning.

• Utilize relevant videos to help facilitate learning: When teaching online, using the whiteboard feature can be somewhat of a challenge. It is difficult to accurately draw steps of a cycle or a reaction. Utilizing relevant videos can better communicate the steps of these reactions. There are many videos on such biological topics on Khan Academy and etc.
• Emphasize topics that need to be understood and review: Learning online is quite challenging for students. It is harder for students to actively engage in the workshop with the distractions that often come with online learning. Thus, it is especially important for students to review.

Hybrid Learning

Due to the unfortunate continuing of the COVID-19 pandemic, students may not
be able to attend your workshop session. In general, in order for students to still
participate in the workshop, students will participate remotely through Zoom. Running
a hybrid workshop is not the easiest. Here are some tips on how to get the best out of a
hybrid workshop for you and your students.

• Actively try to include the remote student: Being the only one to two students on Zoom can result in lack of participation. Try to actively include the remote students in the workshop discussion to keep them engaged. When separating into group work, try to include the remote students as well. If there are multiple remote students, encourage them to work on these group problems together.
• Plan on what you put on the board: A big disadvantage of participating in a hybrid workshop as a remote student is that, oftentimes, it is difficult to see what is being drawn on the board. In order to make sure every student gets a similar learning experience, plan on what you draw on the board. You can often find a similar graphic of whatever biological topic you are discussing online. You can also create the graphic yourself. This allows students to better follow along with what is being discussed in workshop.

Conclusion

Change is never easy. Transitioning from remote learning to in-person learning
and vice versa is always a challenge for students and workshop leaders. Taking that in
mind, it is completely okay if you struggle with these transitions. Hopefully these tips
can better prepare and help you navigate through these transitions.