The move to online education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges for laboratory-based courses because these courses emphasize hands-on learning and discovery, often using equipment and specimens that are not available to at-home students. For courses that emphasize taxonomic recognition, students are often tested using practical exams. Social distancing required changes to both teaching and assessment of identification skills. In an upper-division Entomology course, I reviewed key characteristics using specimens projected digitally and then used digital images from multiple views to test student sight identification. Several students were concerned that tests using photographs of specimens did not allow them to correctly identify specimens that they studied in three dimensions. To address concerns, I administered two exams in both manners and compared results for 18 Entomology majors. For the second practical, students scored significantly better (67% versus 55%) when identifying projected specimens. For the third practical, scores for both approaches were identical (66%). Because of differences in learning styles, presentation of static images along with projecting physical specimens can improve success of student sight identification skills. Online images used in practicals must also be properly named to prevent student access to identification information.