Last year, I taught completely online for the first time, forced by the isolation context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Something I thought I had some experience with, despite never having done it before, thanks to all these years of teaching by combining in-person and remote learning.
I say “thought” because 2020 proved that many things we believed we knew put us to the test.
Now, in 2021, I have to plan another remote semester, and to do so, I tried to organize everything my team and I learned from last year’s experience. I grouped it into five key points to keep in mind and hopefully help someone else:
1. Personal Learning Paths
First and foremost, we considered the infinite personal and family contexts each student was going through. To address this, we designed multiple course paths within the same subject: each practical group, meeting on different days and times, would work on a different topic for a month and a half, repeating this cycle three times. Students could choose the days and times that best suited them for the topics they were interested in.
With six different groups, each student had to pick three of them, completing one part of the course over six weeks before moving on to another. After completing three independent learning units (each with its own content, evaluation, and grade), the final grade would be the average of all three.
What happened?
Since 2020 was a year when we were all learning to navigate uncertainty while juggling all aspects of daily life in the same physical space, many students felt they needed more structure and consistency—fixed schedules to start and end activities, designated spaces at home for studying, separate from areas for eating, watching TV, or exercising (even if only imagined).
This approach, which aimed to give autonomy by allowing students to choose when and what to study, ended up adding another layer of complexity to an already overwhelming reality. When we tested this model before fully implementing it, students told us it felt too complicated, overwhelming, and difficult to follow with constantly changing schedules every six weeks.
What did we learn, and what will we do in 2021?
We learned that everyone is different and has unique strategies for dealing with the unknown. Ultimately, we reduced the course structure to just two groups: one half of the semester with one teaching team covering a topic, and the second half with another team focusing on a different topic—keeping the same day and time. This provided some autonomy while also offering a sense of stability.
For the 2021 course, we will further simplify by having only one group per day and time, incorporating elements from all the different learning paths. Instead of students choosing their paths, we will embed those perspectives within a single course schedule, with one teaching team. This reduces decision-making moments, schedule changes, and the need to form new connections with different teachers throughout the semester. Although students will no longer have six different paths to choose from, they will gain more guidance and support.
2. Embracing Uncertainty
We decided to present students with a general course plan without too many details, so we could remain flexible and adapt as needed. Our goal was to gauge the group’s pulse, their needs, concerns, and suggestions as the course progressed.
What happened?
We found that most students, accustomed to the typical structure of a course at the Faculty of Social Sciences at UBA, wanted a full syllabus from the start: a complete reading list, exam dates, and clear expectations (nothing new). We had to put extra effort into clearly explaining the goals of each class—or blocks of three classes—before “revealing” what came next.
What will we change in 2021?
We will try to emphasize that the course does have a solid plan and use it as a tool for clarity and reassurance. At the same time, we want to maintain some flexibility to address emerging issues and relevant topics from the ever-changing world around us. Given how much has happened since December 2019, there’s always something important to incorporate into social sciences discussions!
3. Multiple Perspectives
Our initial idea of splitting the course into two rotating groups was based on the belief that different perspectives enrich learning, that multiple voices add value, and that various learning paths could offer a unique educational experience. However, this also meant that students only had six classes with the same group.
What happened?
Even in in-person settings, six weeks is a short time to build a group dynamic. Online, it was even slower—especially when it came to gaining the confidence to speak up, turn on microphones, or even activate cameras. By the end of the course, we felt we had designed a valuable learning journey, but with more time, we could have fostered stronger connections among students.
What will we do differently in 2021?
Each group of students will stay with the same teaching team for the entire semester to strengthen group dynamics and collaboration. We will also integrate diverse perspectives from other groups within the main course discussions.
4. Remote Inclusion
By mid-2020, it became clear that isolation would last longer than expected, and many students returned to university because they no longer had to commute. As a result, the university allowed larger enrollments per course. If in-person classes were capped at 30–35 students per group, we suddenly had over 50 in our remote sessions.
What happened?
On the one hand, it was great to welcome more students, including many who returned to school because of remote access. On the other hand, forming meaningful connections was more challenging. The combination of shorter group rotations (six weeks), larger class sizes, and students feeling uncomfortable sharing their home environment on camera made it harder to build relationships.
What will change in 2021?
The university has reduced the student cap to 45 per group. Additionally, by keeping the same students and teachers together throughout the semester, we hope to create a stronger bond. We will also ensure that synchronous activities have strong asynchronous components, accommodating students who attend via mobile devices, share computers, or cannot always join live sessions. While we implemented some of these strategies in 2020, we will lean even more on the ones that worked best.
5. Time and Space
Considering the challenges of 2020, we reduced class duration from two hours to an hour and a half and relaxed participation requirements to accommodate different student circumstances.
What happened?
To our surprise, participation increased compared to in-person classes. Students seemed more comfortable at home, contributions were more thoughtful and respectful, and discussions were often more in-depth than usual.
However, this also meant we frequently exceeded the planned hour and a half, often using the full two-hour slot.
What will we do in 2021?
We will aim to keep sessions within 90 minutes—not only for attention span efficiency but also to be more precise in our presentations and activities. However, we will remain flexible, knowing we may sometimes need the full two hours. Asynchronous and collaborative activities will play a bigger role in ensuring engagement.
Bonus track.
What Worked and What Didn’t
One major difference from in-person teaching was how activities involving personal opinions played out. Introducing oneself, debating texts, or discussing topics was initially done via open microphones. However, since students were more hesitant about interrupting others, many ended up not speaking at all.
We found that collaborative methods worked much better—using shared slides, virtual sticky notes on Miro, or written contributions. These allowed everyone to express their thoughts and engage with others’ ideas without technical interruptions or discomfort.
For this semester, we will continue using Miro, not only for discussions and introductions but also for students to prototype their projects and gain hands-on experience with collaborative digital tools.
Let’s see how it goes!
Note: These reflections come from the work I did throughout 2020 with Victoria Carrizo and Gino Cingolani, with whom I have been teaching (and having a lot of fun) for over 10 years as part of the Cátedra de Datos Piscitelli in the Communication program at UBA—a space that allows us to experiment in ways like this.
