Celebrities crashing online classes is the new coronavirus pastime

For the college crew, learning from home has a few benefits. You can show up to class in your sweats. Your commute from your bed to your kitchen table (if your laptop makes it that far) is pretty sweet. Oh, and you never know which celebrity might just show up. That’s what virtual students are learning during the current coronavirus pandemic, as more and more celebrities are popping in to join a variety of online classes as special guests.Shoutout to E! News for spotting the trend, which so far has included everyone from Kim Kardashian and Matthew McConaughey to Bachelor host Chris Harrison and NFL star Peyton Manning. It’s certainly been one way for professors to keep the online learning experience fun… and it doesn’t even require getting creative with their Zoom backdrops, which is probably an added bonus for many who are already stressed out enough with creating online lesson plans.

Special guest in our Zoom faculty chat. This is surreal. pic.twitter.com/mRit63CljF

— Robert Quigley (@robquig) March 26, 2020

McConaughey was pretty sneaky about his pop-in to UT Austin’s Journalism School; it was actually a professor who shared a shot of The Gentleman star on social media after his special appearance (complete with a special hoodie) on a faculty Zoom chat. Meanwhile Kim Kardashian was an official guest during an online class at Georgetown University, where she joined Dr. Marc Howard and some previously incarcerated men like Momolu Stewart, who is featured in her upcoming Oxygen documentary, The Justice Project (debuting April 5 in the States).[video_embed id='1931429']RELATED: Kim K hides in Kris Jenner’s glam room to chat with Jimmy Fallon[/video_embed]According to E! News, Harrison decided to drop into a class at Loyola Marymount University after a student invited him to come share his views during an Ethics of Love and Marriage class. Naturally, the Bachelor host called it “the most dramatic class yet.” And Manning’s appearance happened during an online class for the University of Tennessee, where he boosted morale and shared some safety tips during this trying time of social distancing. Even former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is getting in on the action—he surprised first-grade students, their parents and their teacher on a chat recently. (The parents seemed more excited than the kids.)At this point, with so many celebrities holed up at home and trying to do their part to flatten the curve, it makes sense that they’re reaching out to share their celebrity-ness with others in as many ways as they can. After all, what else do they have to do right now with everything shut down? Well, the ones that have more relaxed schedules, anyway... Lady Gaga seems busier than ever—just ask Jimmy Fallon.With all schools shut down for the foreseeable future and online learning the new norm for now, it’s only a matter of time before more celebrities reach out to give their expertise to eager students and starry-eyed teachers. As for those of us following along eagerly at home? Well, part of the fun is simply seeing who will pop up next.[video_embed id='1932827']RELATED: Jimmy Fallon's interview with Lady Gaga did not go well[/video_embed]