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The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to rapidly translate our face-to-face interactions to remote, often computer-mediated ones. Many of us struggled to adapt since many instructors have built careers on in-person relationships. How would we maintain the humanity of an emergency remote classroom? How would we support our students’ growth when a rapid venue change was demanded? Our small, liberal arts college, like so many others, took up this challenge. In this chapter, we attempt to answer these questions using our reflections and student perceptions of successful and unsuccessful experiences. Following the switch to remote learning, we scrambled to develop and gain Institutional Review Board’s approval for a protocol which surveyed a rolling sample of our student population daily. The brief window of opportunity prevented piloting the protocol which was based primarily upon our team’s collective knowledge and experience as scholars and educators. The following fall, we followed up with a survey (aligned with the prior survey) and focus groups. We found that empathy within the classroom in this time of stress made all the difference. We relate what we’ve learned with respect to compassionate communications, course design, and adaptation. In each section, we offer a set of specific recommendations.

What started as an apparently benign virus in a remote district of China suddenly had the entire world under its grip, with thousands dying every day in all parts of the world. World Health Organization declared it a pandemic and requested every country and every institution to minimize human contact and maintain spatial distance. The pandemic was there to stay and while the world tried to find its antidote months and years passed before a solution was found, or nearly so. Educational institution was affected with the entire economy of every country. Future of our next generation and the continuity of education were at stake. The only possible solution was to teach and learn from the safe corner of one’s home. It meant a transition of the entire education system to an online mode, which was unprecedented. Institutions grappled with technology, trying to find the right approach of imparting education, with added expenses and training the academicians to find a level of comfort teaching online. This book explores the theory that evolved around online teaching and cites evidence that has been gathered toward self-regulation and resiliency, highlighting the power and privilege and the best practices for implementing techniques to support students. COVID-–19 meant a paradigm shift toward teaching–learning methods and soon became the “new norm” in designing curricula so that students can continue with their journey toward acquiring high-standard quality education without any disruption in the future.