What have you learned from transitioning to online teaching? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

When we abruptly switched from in-person classes to online education in March, what struck me most was how much students wanted to stay in touch with me and with each other. The human element was very important to them. I think the key to helping them navigate those few months really rested with communicating clearly and helping them understand that I was walking this journey along with them. For me, a few of the most important tasks included:

* Setting clear expectations for online classes, like active participation in live lectures and labs

* Communicating any course adjustments, like changed lab assignments and quiz dates

* Seeking input from student representatives about the class and assignments. For example, based on student feedback, I switched to graded in-class quizzes and one shorter final exam to account for the disruption and stress level caused by the students being forced to work online from home, which they had not planned for

* Opening extra office hours and review sessions to create more opportunities for interaction

* Encouraging student study groups to continue in an online format to facilitate student-student support

Keeping my students engaged was also top of mind for me. Everyone is experiencing the Covid-19 crisis differently and many of my students had priorities and challenges that competed with their education. I wanted to help them to stay engaged with their studies as best I could. A few approaches that worked for me included:

* Pre-lecture videos, which highlighted the key concepts of upcoming lectures

* Post-lecture review sessions

* An active discussion forum

* Continuation of facilitated study groups using Zoom

This question originally appeared on Quora. More questions on Quora:

* Life and Living: How can people prevent fear from limiting their lives?

* Productivity: How can we best prioritize which things are worth spending time on?

* Time Management: What are some thought exercises that can help people understand the value of their time?

Photo Credit: apichon_tee/Getty Images