Teaching and learning transformation in the time of the Coronavirus crisis

The education landscape changed almost overnight from the in-person mode to online due to the onslaught of the ongoing pandemic, Covid19. As educators, we have a responsibility to build an online teaching environment that attempts to be as equal as possible to its face-to-face counterpart, one that will not suffer from the perception that online classes and programs are somewhat second-rate. We call for the establishment of a “gold-standard” for online classes which can serve as a benchmark for fully or partially online classes. There are implications for extensive research into the way in which we offer higher education online classes. The increased dependence on online platforms for course management and video conferencing requires these systems to be as seamless, , and inclusive as possible.