We know and understand that moving from face-to-face to online instruction is not an easy task. Furthermore, we know the process can create anxiety over a large number of intertwined factors, such as the quality of your course, ensuring you reach every student, technical skills you may need, and the biggest one of all—time. We have gathered the information below to help answer questions and provide guidance on ways to adapt your instructional delivery and student assessment methods to the online environment.


How do I transition my face-to-face class sessions to an online format?

Questions to think through:

  1. What are the core pieces of the course that are essential to student learning that I want to retain?
  2. How will I transfer or adapt this to an online format?
  3. What new pieces do I need to find to supplement or support?

Suggested Strategies

  • Tell students how the course will use TCU Online.
  • If you are using Zoom or other synchronous tools, schedule this during your regular class meeting time (but be prepared to accommodate students who are not able to join you at that time).
  • Use announcements to remind students about upcoming activities and due dates.
  • If you have more content than time, reflect on the student learning outcomes for your course and focus on those that are the most important.
  • Take advantage of colleagues’ ideas, departmental practices, and resources from your discipline-specific organizations.
  • Request a Virtual Lab Appointment if you would like individual assistance regarding how to move elements of your course to an online format.

Practices to Avoid

  • Extending class meetings or the overall course schedule beyond the registrar-designated time.
  • Increasing the amount of work students are expected to do.
  • Teaching via individual consultation and tutorial (unless that was the initial structure of your course).
  • Adapting the course in a way that requires your TAs to work more than 20 hours per week.

Many thanks to the University of Washington Center for Teaching and Learning for their wording on recommended practices and practices to avoid.


Examples of common face-to-face class elements in an online format:

  • Face-to-face: I give lectures with slides.
    • Online: I can host a class session with Zoom
    • Online: I can upload slides to the Content tool
    • Online: I can record lectures with my slides using Panopto
  • Face-to-face: I give students handouts
    • Online: I can upload pdfs or Word docs, create text pages, or add links to modules in the Content tool
  • Face-to-face: I show brief in-person demonstrations
    • Online: I can record using Video Note (30 min max per note with auto captioning)
  • Face-to-face: I have students write responses to prompts
    • Online: I can create a submission folder to collect their responses in the Assignments tool
  • Face-to-face: I have students engage in a whole-class discussion 
  • Face-to-face: I have students discuss in groups about a topic or question
  • Face-to-face: I have students do presentations
    • Online: I can have students record their presentation using Panopto or give their presentation using Zoom
  • Face-to-face: I meet with students for conferencing 
    • Online: I can create a private session with Virtual Classroom or Zoom for just that student or group of students
  • Face-to-face: I have students take a quiz
    • Online: I can create a quiz with time limits, lockdown browser, and student accommodation needs with the Quizzes tool
  • Face-to-face: I do active learning strategies with my students

Download the list above as a single-page resource document with links.