In response to the 2020 pandemic I decided to turn my hybrid Games and Learning class into a class that can be entirely taken online. To ensure quality, I interviewed a number of former students and seniors in our program, and asked them what they considered to be the cornerstones of an excellent online course. Based on my findings, I gave myself the following rules:

1. Effective use of video and class time: Flip the class and record your lectures to video. Use class time for live sessions during which discussion, reviews of assignments or guided work time takes place. The videos need to be scripted, as concise as possible and edited with visuals that reinforce the main points. Relegate any non-essential information to a further readings section that includes any third party video as well as your own sources. Record any live sessions and provide the resulting videos to students. Use timestamps on the videos to allow for students to use their more time watching them more effectively. Provide transcripts and captions for every video, as well as any other materials that were used in the video.

2. Clear but flexible structure: Scaffold the course site, similar to a step-by-step video game tutorial that allows students to recap or skip section and learn at their pace. Students need to be able to attend the class asynchronously across the world. Live sessions cannot be mandatory to attend as long as students use the online communication platforms of the class to contribute asynchronously. Prioritize accessibility.

3. Promote engagement: Use quizzes, games, video comments, live sessions and other interactive activities to reinforce the course materials. Give students as many options to contribute as possible so that they can pick the one that they feel most comfortable with.

4. Develop personal connections: Connect with each student individually to learn their needs. Provide students access to your own network and sources.

5. Build a community: Use a communication platform such as Discord or Slack on which students have to check in a set times with you as well as their fellow students. Survey them prior to the class and use the information to create diverse student teams, and help them to build their team identity within the class.

6. Ensure a safe space: Establish social rules that promote diversity and respectful interactions among online students. All communication concerning class is to be held on private servers that are not accessible to third parties.

The result of this design rationale was a flipped classroom with a lot of engaging activities built around concise and heavily edited videos that introduced students to a weekly topic. It made a lot of use of Tabletop Simulator for design exercises and a final project that also included expert interviews and playtesting.

These are some of the videos that I used in the class. While the 10 original episodes had to be recorded and edited in only 2 weeks time, I am proud of the result. The full playlist can be found here.