Classroom transformation during pandemic disruption: A personal response

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classroom instruction at every level, in every field, around the world. Graduate business programs, which are largely centered on “high-touch” interaction and exchanges among peers and with instructors via student-oriented learning approaches, faced a common challenge: a possible compromised learning experience resulting from the suspension of in-person education. This paper chronicles personal and professional transformations experienced by the authors while teaching four second-year electives at a graduate business school during the 2020–21 academic year. We reflect on how a particular mindset and specific strategic choices led to effective online teaching, mitigating the negative impact of the upheaval. We also consider this experience as a basis for developing online/offline “ambicultural” teaching methods for adoption in the post-pandemic world. Academics may find this account to be a useful learning tool and a guide for transforming their teaching in both the virtual and in-person classroom environments.