Implement an Organized Class Structure and Transparent Communication

The sudden shift online showed how important it is for such a course to be well structured. Due dates, materials, processes, expectations, and other instructions need to be clear and easy to find. Many students we spoke to said that their classes were unorganized throughout the pandemic, which caused frustration and decreased the quality of their education. One student told us her class was "like a dump of different files and materials and [the professor] was like, ‘okay, do that one’. I'm like, ‘there are multiple [file] names.’" While they gave their professors grace given the unique nature of the crisis, the lack of organization also made it more difficult for them to learn.

This same student and her classmates also struggled to keep track of due dates because verbal changes were not reflected in the online syllabus or calendar. "One professor has not updated her syllabus or the assignment due dates even if we mentioned it in class. So, since we missed that day last week…it still shows that it's due and me and my peers are making sure we know the real due dates in our group chat," said one student. Yet another student said her professor would not use the LMS platform and would send all assignments, deadlines, and instructions through email, creating confusion. LMSs can show when and how students access learning materials, their performance on assignments, and participation in discussion boards.

While in-person classes and syllabi also need to be well organized, face-to-face interaction makes it easier to facilitate changes to due dates, instructions, or expectations. Pre-pandemic, most professors could rely on in-person meetings to make or clarify these changes. But when all classes went online in 2020, this practice made things more confusing for students.

That is why online classes need to be especially well organized. Online learning is a highly learner-autonomous activity, meaning that it requires students to be more self-directed, self-disciplined, and independent to succeed compared to in-person classes.¹ Since there is no seat-time, students need to be able to keep themselves on track. There is some evidence that women, older students, and students with more academic preparation tend to be more self-directed than other students, especially those from disadvantaged groups.² Online classes can be especially challenging for students with little to no online course experience or for students with lower levels of academic preparation.³

This makes clear guidelines and an organized class structure all the more important for all online students, but especially those from underserved groups, to succeed.⁴ Survey data show that students value an organized and easy to navigate course and several online quality frameworks recommend that instructors should invest time guiding students through the course structure, policies, and course materials in order to help students succeed.⁵ Organizing a class may seem obvious, but clearly articulating the basics and having clear, consistent organizational communication can reduce confusion for students and increase the quality of an online course.

To make an online course as easy to navigate as possible, instructors can adopt a couple of practices. First, ensuring course content and materials are organized, easy to find and clearly labeled will help students find materials easily.⁶ An intuitive setup can prevent confusion.

Instructors can also take the time to articulate the basics of the class, such as how to navigate the online course platform, class structure, and course policies. Professors can upload a pre-recorded video to send to students prior to the first class or share their screen during a synchronous class to walk students through the course basics. Course policies, such as for academic dishonesty, late assignments, assessments, and participation should be clearly articulated and easy to refer to at a later time, such as in the syllabus, a separate guide, or in a video.⁷

When online courses are well organized, students can focus on what really matters: learning the material and developing their skills. One student compared what this was like pre- and post-pandemic: "Even before COVID we always had the syllabus, but it was more like they relied on you to come into class and hear the information rather than a whole scheduled-out [class]….Since it's all online, they have everything more organized." Students saw organization like this as one benefit of classes going online. They felt empowered knowing when things were due, allowing them to focus more on learning rather than on digging through emails for due dates.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Teaching and Learning