MIT Biology successfully pivots to online instruction with help from MITx

When MIT Biology Prof. Ian Cheeseman and his co-instructor were forced to move their 7.06 (Cell Biology) class online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they found themselves on some familiar territory: the pair had spent much of the previous semester working with the MITxBio group to create a massive open online course (MOOC) based on 7.06. 

A partnership between MIT Open Learning and the Department of Biology, MITxBio teams up with several instructors each semester to create new MOOCs. Despite the group's experience turning in-class instruction into a virtual experience, moving the entire semester's worth of Biology curriculum online in a matter of weeks is hardly business as usual. In MIT Biology's recent blog post about the transition, lecturer and MITx digital learning fellow Mary Ellen Wiltrout explains, “'Normally, it would take us about six months to develop the online resources for a MOOC. But in this case, we didn’t have much advance notice and that really compressed our timeline.” 

Still, the swift transition seems to have propelled many Biology department members into accepting technologies they were hesitant to adopt earlier. As the semester has progressed, Wiltrout notes, "They’re realizing that these online tools can really enhance in-person learning, or make some TA duties more efficient.”