Managing Lab and Performance Activities

One of the biggest challenges of teaching online from anywhere is accommodating academic requirements that are traditionally dependent on an in-person component, such as science labs or performance & visual arts.

Considerations as you plan to address these activities:

Take part of the activity online: Many activities require students to become familiar with certain procedures, and only physical practice of those processes will do. In such cases, consider if there are other parts of the experience you could take online (for example, video demonstrations of techniques, online simulations, analysis of data, other pre- or post-activity work). Save the physical practice parts of the experience until access to campus is restored.
Investigate virtual experiences: Online resources and virtual tools might help replicate the experience of some activities (for example, virtual dissection, night sky apps, video demonstrations, performances and simulations). These vary widely by discipline, but check with your textbook publisher, or sites such as Merlot for materials that might help replace parts of your activity during an emergency. Additionally, when on campus, think about the classroom tools available on campus that can be recorded and shared with remote students.
Provide raw data for analysis: In cases where the activity includes both collection of data and its analysis, consider showing how the data can be collected, and then provide some raw sets of data for students to analyze. This approach is not as comprehensive as having students collect and analyze their own data, but it might keep them engaged with parts of the experience during the closure.
Provide media collections for review and analysis: In cases of visual or performance arts, an alternative assignment could include a in-depth analysis of curated media appropriate for the specific subject matter.
Increase interaction in other ways: Sometimes activities are about providing time for direct student interaction; consider other ways to replicate that type of interaction or create new online interaction opportunities, including using available collaboration tools, such as Zoom or Canvas discussion boards.