# Adapting residential courses for online cohorts ![James Honan](/sites/g/files/omnuum12666/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/vpl/files/james-honan-240.jpg?itok=8FIjsYwb) **James Honan, Senior Lecturer on Education at HGSE**, has taught courses on nonprofit management and finance at Harvard since 1991 and additionally has 15 years of online teaching experience at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). When COVID-19 forced all teaching and learning at Harvard to move online, Honan and his teaching team were uniquely positioned to adapt his in-person courses for a new modality. With a robustly developed teaching toolkit across residential and online instructional formats, Honan currently teaches two versions of his [*Strategic Finance for Non-Profit Leaders*](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/gse-180043/2022/fall/18132) course—one to residential students and one to the first cohort of HGSE’s fully online Ed.M. program, the [Online Master's in Education Leadership](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/masters/online-program). Honan and his longtime teaching team offer the online versions of the courses in one of HGSE’s state-of-the art studio classrooms, which features multiple large video screens, voice-activated cameras, and other technology enhancements to support effective online pedagogy. ## The benefits When adapting residential courses for the online format, each component of the course content, design, delivery, and technology is chosen deliberately. While the syllabus, topics, and course materials are the same across formats, the presentation and class-time activities differ to best accommodate remote learning. Honan introduced more multimedia and video resources—both pre-existing ones and ones that he has created for his courses—in recent years. His teaching team also utilizes a range of approaches to facilitate and deepen online interactions, including breakout rooms (convened in pairs, trios, learning teams of 5-6 students, etc.), brief summaries/reports produced in small groups to drive online case discussions, and the use of live online visits by experts and case protagonists. Many of these digital resources were built for the online classroom but are also staples in his in-person courses as well. > ***“The pedagogy must drive the technology, not the other way around.”*** ## The challenges When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, students understood that pivoting to an online format would be challenging. After two years of practice, students’ expectations have now risen. Technology glitches and unused airtime are bothersome. To avoid these issues, Honan and his teaching team work closely with [HGSE’s IT department](https://its.gse.harvard.edu/) staff for his remote classes, and they plan each course session down to the minute, assigning each teaching team member specific responsibilities for class-time. The teaching team talks through each class meeting in advance to ensure the sessions run as smoothly as possible. Honan credits his highly skilled teaching team, including teaching fellows, his faculty assistant, HGSE IT staff, Gutman Library staff, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ [Learning Incubator](https://linc.seas.harvard.edu/) (he was a Learning Incubator Faculty Fellow in 2020-21) for their ongoing coaching, course design, and delivery assistance. Honan has been working with many members of his team for years, and he encourages other instructors to cultivate a team approach. ## Takeaways and best practices ### Learning outcomes should drive the technology. Honan argues that adding as many of the new “shiny bells and whistles” as possible to online courses shouldn’t be the goal. Rather, course content and learning outcomes should determine the course design and delivery and what technology-mediated components are introduced. Look to leverage the technology, rather than letting it determine your pedagogical choices. ### Take advantage of the Zoom chat. Although Zoom chats can be distracting for some, Honan and his teaching fellows have found that some students participate more via Zoom chat, particularly when it comes to asking questions and offering comments during class discussions. Honan and his teaching team field many questions and comments through private chat, but often relay them, with answers, to the full group. ### Encourage social spaces to create an online learning community. Honan opens his online classroom 15 minutes early and closes each class with a 15 minute “after party.” These times are meant to simulate the pre- and post-class times when students would be getting settled in the classroom or coming up to the podium to ask questions after class. He greets every student entering the Zoom room by name (even in a class of 90!) for each online class session and finds that offering informal social spaces as part of the learning community encourages higher levels of engagement. ### Bottom line When adapting a residential course for an online format, be intentional about each component of the course design, content, and delivery, consider how to leverage technology, and be mindful and intentional about the creation of a productive and supportive learning community. Effective online instruction requires a highly skilled teaching team. Remember to let the pedagogy be your guide. ## Related research [### For a second year, Harvard Law to offer pre-term ‘Zero-L’ course to other law schools for free ](https://hls.harvard.edu/today/for-a-second-year-harvard-law-to-offer-pre-term-zero-l-course-to-other-law-schools-for-free/) A self-paced course with optional comprehension checks, Zero-L is taught by leading Harvard faculty members, and covers fundamental elements of the law — including an introduction to the U.S. Constitution, the court system, and concepts like federalism —... [### Enhancing Discussions in the Asynchronous Online Classroom: The Lack of Face-to-Face Interaction Does Not Lessen the Lesson ](https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912442384) This article addresses educators’ concerns about using asynchronous online discussions in lieu of face-to-face discussions. Drawing from research on asynchronous online education and Bloom’s taxonomy, the authors introduce the system of “original examples... [### Connecting in the online classroom: building rapport between teachers and students ](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/99156424412703941/catalog) Building rapport with students can revive the promise of online education, leading to greater success for students, more fulfilling teaching experiences for faculty, and improved enrollment for universities.More students than ever before are taking online... [ More Research arrow\_circle\_right ](/intopracticeresearch) ## Related resource [### HarvardX ](https://www.edx.org/school/harvardx) Free online courses from Harvard University [### Teaching Online and Hybrid Courses (Bok Center) ](https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/online-resources) The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning provides resources for teaching online and hybrid courses. [### Harvard Online Learning portal ](http://online-learning.harvard.edu/) Search the Harvard Online Learning portal, an aggregator of online learning opportunities from professors, centers, schools, libraries, and initiatives across campus. [ More Resources arrow\_circle\_right ](/intopracticeresources) See also:- [ HGSE ](/featured-faculty/hgse) - [ Into Practice Issues ](/practice-categories/practice-issues) - [ online learning ](/onlinelearning)