Wired: Social distancing so that we do not overwhelm our healthcare system.
Tired: You have 12.75 hours to transition your classes to an online format, effectively kneecapping IT's ability to do anything as they are overwhelmed by faculty unprepared for this transition. 1/n
Tired: You have 12.75 hours to transition your classes to an online format, effectively kneecapping IT's ability to do anything as they are overwhelmed by faculty unprepared for this transition. 1/n
The first tweet is pretty specific to my university, but the following tweets are more general comments about how #highered should be handling this crisis.
If this is the threat that our leaders say it is, then we need to be decisive & find a way to close out the semester. 2/n
If this is the threat that our leaders say it is, then we need to be decisive & find a way to close out the semester. 2/n
What we do at the #university is important, but nobody is going to die because we didn't finish the semester in the traditional way. We can still advise #students & help them remotely as needed, but imposing the structure of a formal class in this way is unreasonable. 4/n
Baked into the decision to shift to online classes is the assumption that students have 24/7 access to the #technology that they need for an online class. I don't even know where to begin with how problematic this assumption is. It certainly isn't #datainformed. 5/n
Also, the differential treatment of the university's key constituents during this crisis (faculty, staff, and students) needs to be addressed. E.g., what opportunities do the staff have for #SocialDistancing? Faculty and students are not the only people at risk. 6/n
The econ impact is partly a problem of our own making. We are allowing socially constructed rules to dictate our responses. These rules have changed in the past and can be changed now to suit our collective needs. 7/n
Just continue to pay EVERYONE regardless of what work is being done/not done. If leaders think we have the capacity for a sudden, unplanned transition to online teaching, we can certainly handle the aftermath of ending the semester early. We'll sort it all out later! 8/n
Personally, I will do what I can to comply w/ the shift to online classes because I have the capacity to do so & I want to do right by my students (but let's not ignore the fact that #inequality and exploitation are often perpetuated by taking advantage of our caring). 9/n
That being said, if they close #publicschools & my child is home with me, that calculus will change. I'm not sure what I will do. Much like my university told us in April 2019, I can't be all things to all people with limited resources. 10/n
Broadly speaking, this is a situation where institutions, not individuals, are better equipped to prevent and absorb such shocks. I only hope that we can figure that out before we are further harmed by other crises such as #ClimateChange. 12/12
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