An abundance of research shows that students learn more and retain what they learn longer when instructors use active learning pedagogies. As more and more classes are offered in online or hybrid formats, how can we incorporate or adapt active learning strategies for the online environment? In addition, many students taking courses online choose to do so because of other commitments and time constraints in their lives. How can we connect with and motivate these students to learn geoscience, without face to face meetings?

Teaching online for the first time can be daunting; whether you're adapting a face-to-face course to a new environment or designing a course from scratch, every aspect of the course has to be designed for the online environment. The good news is that you aren't the first person to teach geoscience online, so you don't need to re-invent the wheel. For example, SERC's On the Cutting Edge website has a rich set of resources for designing and teaching geoscience courses online. These resources include

• Tips for designing online courses: from setting goals to communicating course content to incorporating projects and case studies;
• Designing your course website: structuring your course website so that students will want to visit it, with a clear organizational structure and frequent, relevant updates;
• Student motivation and engagement: setting expectations, delivering course content, and communicating with your students in ways that will increase their motivation to learn;
• Selected interactive activities for individuals and teams, designed for online and hybrid geoscience courses;
• Teaching with data: taking advantage of the online learning environment to teach with geoscience data sets;
• Collections of descriptions of online geoscience courses and activities for online geoscience courses;
• and more!

One approach you might consider in designing your online course is to find ways to "feature" the online environment, rather than "overcome" it. For example, Online discussions in an Environmental Geology course describes a course that is organized around topical modules, where online discussions are "the heart and soul of the course." As the activity author, Karin Kirk, points out, "Because students have time to research their answers and reflect on their writing, online discussions can bring out wonderful insights and rewarding debates. Introverted students who might otherwise not be inclined to raise their hand in a face to face classroom seem to have an easier time jumping in."

The InTeGrate project will be running a workshop on Teaching About Earth Online, May 30–June 1, 2017, at Penn State University, in State College, PA. This will be an opportunity to share your best strategies and learn what other faculty are doing in their online courses.

Do you teach online? What course(s)? What do you find is the most challenging aspect of teaching online, for you? What have you learned that you wish you had known the first time you taught online?