At the outset of 2020, many universities were starting to explore alternative teaching technologies and new approaches to delivering learning outcomes. What started as strategic initiatives with timelines measured in years turned into a massive and unprecedented transition that essentially took place over a weekend. It wasn’t always pretty, and it was not without pain, awkwardness and challenge, but in the space of a few days the world of academia made a massive shift from the physical to the virtual realm.

What started as a transition of necessity is now a journey of opportunity as institutions reinvent what is possible in the classroom, and what classrooms can look like. Many have learned the hard way that simply transitioning formal classroom techniques to Zoom doesn’t work. This panel discussion explores what best practices, insights and lessons learned (often the hard way) have emerged from an extraordinary transition online. We will explore what we have learned and what we have struggled with. In particular, we will focus on what is necessary to sustain engagement, help students find meaning and build understanding, and deliver meaningful and successful learning outcomes in very different environments.