Case Study: McLennan Community College achieves virtual teaching presence and student engagement with Zoom Video Communications

Lessons From McLennan Community College’s Virtual Educator

McLennan Community College faced the challenge of keeping a full classroom and campus presence while one of its mathematics professors, Gail Illich, taught remotely from Nebraska. The college needed a way to deliver interactive instruction, verify student identity for assessments, and allow the instructor to participate in on‑campus meetings and events without being physically present.

Illich used Zoom as her primary tool—running recurring virtual office hours with screen sharing and co‑annotation, recording sessions for later viewing, conducting group oral exams to assess and build communication skills, and appearing on classroom projectors or being patched into meetings via laptop. The result: a seamless virtual presence that preserved student engagement and learning outcomes, verified identities during exams, and enabled active participation in campus life while expanding access to students beyond the campus.

McLennan Community College

Gail Illich

Mathematics Professor