With an urgent change of the learning approach from face-to-face to online learning in academic institutions due to the COVID 19, this medium's effectiveness is arguable, particularly in the case of practicalbased courses. This paper discusses our experience in handling photography course during this pandemic time using an online simulator and proposes an interactive VR-based camera simulator to learn photography course using online platform. Photography has been selected as the main course based on the actual learning experience at the Applied Media Department, Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Men's Campus Abu Dhabi, UAE. We explore 10 online digital camera simulators and present an analysis of these applications' features, usability, and interactivity. Then, one chosen simulator is implemented to teach a 15 weeks photography course through a digital platform, and the feedbacks from students were collected and discussed. It is found that using a DSLR simulator allows students to explore and understand the concept of using a camera and photography. This paper presents the proof of concept for a DSLR simulator based on immersive environment and virtual reality, which is enhanced with interactive features that mimic the actual DSLR camera. Our proposal includes suggestions of missing features for the current simulators to overcome the course's physical and practical issues. [For the full proceedings, see ED623569.]