Transition Of A Collaborative In-Person Health Care Innovation Course To Online Learning

Background: As COVID-19 forced in-person courses to transition online, an active learning course focused on design thinking in health and health care embraced the challenge. Lessons learned, mistakes made, and thoughts on the future of online education in nursing are discussed. Method: During the online transition, it was thought the flipped-classroom approach would transition well using the same design thinking methodology taught in the course. Because the course promoted rapid innovation and iteration, such a challenge served as a call to action, and the course became a valuable real-time case study. Results: Based on student surveys, the overall quality of the transitioned course increased slightly compared with the previous semester's in-person course, indicating schools of nursing can innovate both the way students are taught as well as what students are taught. Conclusion: Rather than mourn the loss of in-person learning, the newfound possibilities of virtual education should celebrated.