My pandemic pedagogy playbook: a glimpse into higher education in the Dutch Zoom-room

Teaching is deeply personal. Just as research is part of my identity, so is teaching. I feel
humbled, and privileged, to have the opportunity to teach in the University classroom.
I take the role seriously. Like so many of my colleagues, I try to bring concepts to life in my
classroom. I rely on the principles of varied repetition, accessibility, and interactivity –
alongside a healthy dose of humor – to create a meaningful classroom experience.
I do not know how to do this in Zoom. Or at least, in March 2020, I didn’t.
In a near instant, my classroom was sealed shut and a Zoom account appeared in its
place. The status of “essential work” meant that University education would continue. But
I felt lost. How do I recreate my interactive classroom experience on Zoom? My first
attempt was horrible. My Wi-Fi was spotty, students couldn’t figure out their webcam
settings, mute buttons were equally impossible to find, my lecture felt stilted, non-verbal
cues were non-existent, and not a single embedded video in PowerPoint worked. I felt like
a failure. I was the director of the Teaching & Learning Centre, and I crashed and burned.
How was I going to support my colleagues if I couldn’t do this myself?
But sometimes, it’s not about the knock down – it is about whether you get up again.
So, I got up again. And again. Like everyone teaching during this pandemic, I just keep
trying. Some efforts work, some are better placed in the “what not to do” category. There
is no playbook for teaching in a pandemic. All we can do is write our own and share what
we learn. In this commentary, I share my playbook – in all of its messy glory.