I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~attributed to Etienne de Grellet~
Thanks to EdSurge for the opportunity to share my hope that we can build meaningful online communities for our students, communities that, just as their coursework does, helps see themselves as learners together. "[W]e are figuring out how online education can create ties that help students see themselves as members of a community, just like... Continue Reading →
Today's Zoom crash, on the first day for many colleges and public schools (but certainly not the first day of all--we have weeks ahead of us where daily many more people will be trying to learn online), is a reminder that online teaching requires frustration tolerance for technology, which will always fail sometimes. This becomes harder... Continue Reading →
The University of Kansas has either deliberately or through incompetence misled the public about student demand for face-to-face classes during the national COVID crisis. (Just kidding! It doesn't matter in research ethics if the mistake you made the killed people was on purpose or through negligence. You are still responsible.) Insisting that student preferences determine... Continue Reading →
Some of us are just days away from the start of our Fall semester. And whether that is already fully online or hybrid or in-person, it's likely that your classes may end up being fully online. Successful online teaching is very different from successful in-person teaching, and while no one expects a novice to be... Continue Reading →
"Unprecedented." "Unpredictable." "Impossible to anticipate." Those are the excuses we are making for the failures of the US (and state and local) government to respond effectively to the presence of the coronavirus in the US. Above, the newest map from COVID Exit Strategyshows that nearly every state has uncontrolled spread. Only four states show improvement.... Continue Reading →
I'm so grateful to welcome Dr. Laura Morlock to Any Good Thing today. Laura holds a PhD in Religious Studies: Religious Diversity in North America from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada). Based in the Greater Toronto Area you can find her there writing about fabrics and Supreme Court decisions, permanently urging her children to... Continue Reading →
This week, I've been writing about the work of teaching a course you didn't design. Sometimes this happens because a department has mandated a rigid syllabus for all sections of a course. Sometimes it's because a faculty member takes leave without much notice, and the class must be taught as it was already planned. And... Continue Reading →
My least favorite part of online teaching is the possibilities for intellectual freedom and freedom of speech to be curtailed in online classrooms. Online teaching produces a number of records (almost all student interactions, except those conducted by phone or video conference and not recorded) that can be reviewed, and faculty have little control over... Continue Reading →
Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a fan of the possibilities for online teaching and learning--but I also recognize that different disciplines face very different barriers in creating successful online courses. In particular, science labs, theater classes, studio arts, and other classes that require physical engagement with tools can be a challenge.Today I... Continue Reading →
Thirty-seven percent of faculty are over age 55. The fact that so many faculty members can shop at their grocery store during hours restricted to those at high risk of serious illness from COVID means that campuses need to prepare now for faculty who use sick leave. Others will be using the Family First portion... Continue Reading →
Rebecca Barrett-Fox 