I've taken courses in person and online and I've taught or assistant taught courses in person and online. Either way can work; some things are easier in person and some things are easier online.
Support pedagogy. Pay teachers. Don't overcharge students. Stop fucking around.
Support pedagogy. Pay teachers. Don't overcharge students. Stop fucking around.
Teaching online courses takes some adjustment and some learning.
Guess what? The same is true for in person courses. People aren't born knowing how to lecture or moderate or structure classes effectively, as should be obvious if you I don't know go listen to some.
Guess what? The same is true for in person courses. People aren't born knowing how to lecture or moderate or structure classes effectively, as should be obvious if you I don't know go listen to some.
The online courses I've taken/taught have been effective because of thoughtful use of the available technology and engagement on the part of the professor.
The same is true for in-person courses.
Support pedagogy. Give professors the tools they need. Pay them properly.
The same is true for in-person courses.
Support pedagogy. Give professors the tools they need. Pay them properly.
(also extremely this, abolish ICE because this is an unnecessary, pointless, cruel thing to do and yes this thread is partly a response to this)
Yes, you definitely lose something from the in-person experience with online courses.
But you lose something with in-person courses too. You lose the student on the other side of the planet, the student who's shy or who doesn't speak the language well.
But you lose something with in-person courses too. You lose the student on the other side of the planet, the student who's shy or who doesn't speak the language well.
Universities should be investing in pedagogy, in making their professors better teachers in person and online. They should be investing in technology and in human resources, in trainings and in course designers. They should pay professors and give them job stability.
They know this. We know this. And yet. Instead we have this counterproductive (except for short-term profit for the wealthy) adjunct system, we have students going into ridiculous debt, and universities investing in.....other stuff. Stop fucking around.
And yeah, okay, it's hard to measure how well professors teach, and course evaluations are a shitshow. But a) you can definitely measure it better than you are now and b) you don't have to. Provide the resources for everyone to (learn how to) teach better.
And stop overcharging students. It's fucking embarrassing how much US universities charge. Sinvergüenzas.
tl;dr: stop treating education like an opportunity to maximize profit and treat it like a fundamental component of society and democracy as well as a thrilling process of learning and interaction. Support pedagogy. Pay teachers. Don't overcharge students. Stop fucking around.
When I started recording lectures for my asynchronous online course, I was surprised how difficult it was. When I give a talk I do it without notes or cues, except for ppt slides if I'm using them, and without rehearsal. If I forget a point or two, tant pis. But
when I was recording the lecture I had to keep stopping, gathering my thoughts, starting again. Not sure if it was because I was sitting or because there wasn't an audience. The good thing was, I COULD stop and start again. And re-do bits to get the best approach.
I definitely did not achieve the same level of discussion that I would have hoped to have in an in-person class - although I do think with more experience I can improve that. But we did have good discussions, and we were able to include students from all over the world in them.
Then again, one of the students got shirty with me after he got his final grade. I don't think I would have been in danger if it was in-person, but I was still glad to have the extra distance of online between me and his unpleasantness.
Part of the reason this all-online, asynchronous class was as successful as it was (I'll be teaching it again this fall, if enough people sign up) was that I taught it for @ASU which has invested a lot in online courses. Specifically,
I was required to take an online course myself on online pedagogy before teaching. I was given access to enormous support resources, from a course designer to graphic designers who would help with title slides and other graphics. I had a range of technology options.
(As an aside, I've also seen some elementary school zoom classes over the past few months, and as much as everyone is looking forward to getting back in the classroom, I'm wondering how much the teachers are going to miss the "mute all" option)
What I'm saying here (yes, this is tl;dr #2) is that unis should be investing in online education today (really yesterday, and ten years ago). They should be giving students & faculty flexibility in online vs IRL options, because of the pandemic but also for other varying needs.
P.S. one more thing that was great about online asynchronous teaching? the possibility of inviting anyone anywhere to record a brief guest lecture
