Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique challenge to computer science education, especially to the programming classes, which requires a large amount of practice. Differs from many other disciplines, computer science education is mostly hands-on, interactive, and practice-based, which demands face-to-face instructions more than many other areas. Therefore, the rapid transition to online education in higher education has forced the development of newer instructional strategy.

This work discusses our experiences gained during teaching on Zoom, including assignments, methods to encourage in class discussions and future work. Specifically, this work intends to study:
1. The effect of an interactive teaching method in synchronized online teaching on students’ learning in a computer programming course. How do we keep students engaged during online teaching?
2. Lessons from teaching unplugged activities on Zoom. Can students collaborate on Zoom? Feedback collected from on ground classes and online classes about a specific module.
3. Assessment methods and the effectiveness of exams, quizzes, and programming assignments during online teaching.
4. The feasibility of offering a programming class online, synchronized or asynchronized, compared to a more theoretical class. Overall, we are trying to answer the question based on our experiences: will online replace traditional classroom teaching?

An alternative is to adopt the Virtual reality (VR) technology, which has the potential to mitigate many of the challenges brought about by the pandemic. VR technology has spurred increased adoption, but to many underprivileged universities, VR equipment can be easily over the budget.

Keywords:

COVID-19, computer science education, online teaching, teaching programming.