Instructional Design for a Virtual IT Course during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives, including instruction in the higher education system. In this sudden and stressful change, faculty had to explore different opportunities and technologies to continue to deliver quality instruction to their students. Instructional design has always been an important topic for education researchers and practitioners, and has become even more so in these challenging times. This paper presents an example of instructional design of a database course delivered virtually during the pandemic, using cloud-based tools and resources. The course employed cloud-based technologies, both synchronous and asynchronous. This paper discusses the process and tools that were used as well as the challenges encountered. The instructional design methods presented here can also be used in the post-COVID-19 era.