COVID-19 : leapfrogging 8,000 students from face-to-face to online learning in three weeks

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss how a large residential university had to cope with the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, we discuss how a course with approximately 8,000 students had to move to an online environment in a matter of weeks. All stakeholders took numerous actions to perform the move: top management supplied 2,000 loan laptops to students, suppliers zero-rated their data bundles, and assistant lecturers made videos, PowerPoint slides, and even telephone consultations. This colossal effort paid off with only a slight decrease in pass rates after the first semester.