A thread: We are now about a month into the massive social distancing experiment Hong Kong introduced to mitigate impact of #COVID19. I thought I would share some thoughts for other academics about the effects it has had on my life. #AcademicTwitter
As the world prepares for a pandemic, many are asking what they should do to get ready. Yes - buy facemasks, hand rub, and extra food. But academics also need to prepare for the possibility that universities and other schools close for weeks on end.
A month ago, universities in Hong Kong cancelled on-campus classes and meetings and moved all teaching online. Classes are set to resume in 6 weeks, but that may be extended. My kids’ school will be closed for at least 12 weeks in total (!).
We were “lucky” in a way, last fall due to #hkprotests, we had a dry run on online teaching. I was not teaching last fall, but I gather for almost everyone, students and faculty alike, it was hard. But it made the decision to move classes online much easier last month.
Delivering material online is not the same as delivering material in the classroom: it is harder. Deciding what can recorded, what needs to be live, and how to deliver it is hard. Every course will be different and there is no right answer.
Faculty are generally not trained or equipped to do online teaching. I was not. Even simple things like knowing how to record a slide presentation with video/audio took me a whole day to figure out. I recorded a lecture the other day and forgot to hit record. Sigh.
There are many platforms to help online learning (Zoom, Skype, Panopto) but more platforms are not better. For students, one platform is better, so I would encourage universities to plan now which they will use and invest in it. Test it out.
Not to endorse it, but I find Zoom incredibly functional and reliable. I can now record presentations, host breakout sessions, take attendance, share screens, white board, and mute the whole class at once. It has become my preferred platform but there was a learning curve.
Creating opportunities for discussion and interaction are critical. Yes, you can deliver everything online and never interact with your students, but if that is what we are saying a university experience is, then we will teach ourselves out of a job. It is part of the experience.
Finally, students need interaction with their professors more than ever. Here in 🇭🇰 most students are living in tiny apartments with many family members. I had office hours with a student who sat on her toilet, as it was the only private space she had. Reach out proactively.
Don’t wait: universities closed at the same time as primary schools so I had to learn to teach online while also learning to home school my own kids. Learning to balance both at the same time is hard, so the more prepared you are the better.
Has anyone brought this up a faculty meeting? If not, you should. Ask your colleagues whether or not they are prepared to teach online. If not, now is the time to start preparing: plan, invest, and test the system now - not when it is too late.
