Why would it seem worthless? If a student can’t be there because of technical difficulty or time difference, they can still absorb what you are teaching vs just self study. There must be some worth in your lecture/teaching right?
Regarding K-12… A friend’s husband teaches at a public school that announced a few weeks ago that it will be remote until at least October 1st. The teachers in this district have yet to receive any information from the administration on how they are to run their online classrooms. My friend’s husband has no idea what platform he should be using or whether he will be meeting with his students at scheduled times or whether all learning will be asynchronous. School begins the end of the month.
Online learning was a disaster for these kids in the spring. Looks like the fall will not be any better.
A friend dropped her first-year daughter at Colgate today. She said they had 10 minutes for drop-off, but all went smoothly. She also mentioned that the college president is staying in the first-year dorms, eating what they eat and following all the same rules for quarantine. She said he brought in a bigger desk, but the rest is the same. Even sharing a bathroom with the boys." 
This is happening in schools all over the country.
The end of the month is this weekend.
Since all schools need to prepare for remote instructions regardless (at least as a backup plan), shouldn’t that preparation take precedence?
Take precedence over what, @1NJParent? And are you talking college or K-12 here?
How is a pre-recorded lecture any different from just watching a youtube or Khan Academy video? Certainly those would be more professionally done than you would have from me.
A friend’s D20 attended the party caught on video at Syracuse. According to her everyone identified in the video was sent home (D20 was spared) but it scared the rest of them straight and they’re following the rules much more seriously.
Maybe definitive action is better to get the point across that the administrations mean what they say about compliance than lots of signs and contracts, a slight slap on the wrist with a promise not to do it again, or a “that’s how college kids are” shoulder shrug.
^^^Mainly K-12, in reference to the post by @shuttlebus, but it could also apply to some colleges. IMO, schools should make sure their preparations for remote instructions are solid before anything else.
Are you saying the content of your lecture would be similar to something on youtube or Khan? That seems like it’s the issue, not necessarily how slick the video is that’s produced.
If the content of a given prof’s class can be found elsewhere for free, why would/should people pay for it through a college then?
Right. Courses and professors are unique, and also what the professor chooses to cover or focus on is different. Hard to believe we are having this conversation.
In early July, I reached out to our K-12 Superintendant and pleaded that he not wait until the last last week of August to start training teachers on the tools, platforms and best practices for distance teaching. Parents were told the sub-par online experience in the spring, was due how quickly the teachers had to pivot and they had no time to prep. Therefore the logical question would seem to be: Why would you waste all summer and only prep teachers for the 2 days before school begins?
His response was that teachers have very clearly outlined contracts that specificy when they can be expected work (and that includes training.) He asked union leaders whether he could reach out to the teachers and offer (not require) x, y, z over the summer and he was refused.
The same teachers’ union is fighting tooth and nail for online school (we are in New England where numbers are currently as good as they’re going to get until there’s a widespread vaccine.) I just don’t get it.
I think he’s saying that a zoom discussion with students live, is more useful to students than a prerecorded lecture, which is why , despite complaints from students, he continues to use Zoom. People here complain about Zoom, then here’s complaints about prerecorded lectures. Teaching is way more than recordings. But if you think recordings are better, by all means, attend Khan Academy and skip actual teaching.
We instructors can’t win.
Your teachers union doesn’t want the teachers working live so they will make it as hard as possible to do so.
I mean, I have a ton of interaction with my students–pre-recorded lectures surely are the least of it. My classes will have short recordings, a ton of interaction on Canvas, email, Discussion Boards, Padlet, and possibly other interactive platforms (exploring Perusall and Flipgrid, but might skip for now, the jury’s still out), not to mention my extensive feedback on the entire essay writing process in manuscript comments, and individual conferences on Zoom, Chat, or elsewhere…
So sure, I’ll have a Zoom class once a week too.
But if you all think it’s Zoom vs. pre-recorded lecture as some sort of a binary, you really don’t know that much about what remote classes look like these days.
That’s what it seems like to me too.
In our school district, the admin and union had to renegotiate the change in conditions clause of the contract, but whether in person, hybrid, or remote was not negotiable…the board votes and that’s it.
We are starting remote and in the second week, teachers must physically go to school and teach to their remote students, from their empty classrooms. This way, the teachers have the technology to teach synchronously which is the expectation for at least some portion of each class, and teachers must also find childcare for their own kids so they can teach, just like any other year. Over the first month or two, kids will start attending in increasing percentages, ultimately getting to 50% each day.
@waverlywizzard Amherst invited roughly 2/3 of their students back (first-years, sophomores, seniors who studied abroad, second-semester seniors, and international students), but only about 1/2 of students are on-campus because so many chose not to attend, probably due to the restriction of not being able to leave campus.
Someone posted a link to the Harvard site on best practices for remote learning. It’s definitely not a binary of zoom vs pre-recorded lecture.
In fact, this crisis is an opportunity to take distance learning/remote learning to a new level – if in fact the school districts/colleges and universities want to do so.
Probably has the same likelihood of success as the US overall had in squashing the virus in April and then reopening.
Will these tests be cheap instant result tests for contagiousness? And if such tests become available, will every student (and faculty and staff) self-test each day and self-isolate if it says that s/he is contagious?
https://www.witn.com/2020/08/23/ecu-moves-all-undergraduate-courses-online-for-fall-semester/
ECU (East Carolina University) moves all classes online. International students, those with hardships, and athletes will be allowed to continue living in dorms. Apparently they still intend to do sports.