OT: College in the COVID era

[Chin Diesel]

I'm not saying it is as good as teaching in person, but having experience teaching middle school students live last school year from March to June, the kids learned something. In my math classes, on average, I finished the year about two weeks behind. Not ideal, but not as terrible as you might think.

The key though, is being available to teach online live, interact with the students, take questions, have discussions with the students and provide feedback both to their daily work but also their assessments. Thankfully, my school did that right away after Spring Break and we'll be ready to go back online whenever that happens. I saved a lot of time and effort conferencing with my students verbally, displaying their work on my screen than writing a bunch of comments that most will be unread. But this was only possible due to my small class sizes. It would have been impossible with 25 per class.

Anyways, first day for teachers is today and it'll be my first time in school since March. I can't lie, I'm incredibly anxious and it's hard to have even an hour not thinking about it, but once the kids start coming it'll feel better to get the ball rolling, even though I have no idea how it'll look.

The term I learned from my sister's and her son's schooling is synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Synchronous learning means the kids are online at the same time the course is being taught. Asynchronous meaning the teacher creates the content and the kids access it when they choose to access it.

My grad work with online was all asynchronous and it works well for adults who need to balance work and life with school. I believe this method works better for older students.

For kids who are grade school and maybe even through middle school I think synchronous teaching is better. Part of what kids are learning while in school is how to deal with and learn within time constraints.

Even with in-person schooling not all kids have their brain schedule lined up with the school schedule. Not all kids are early risers and are ready to process information at 8:00am.

One thing I am a huge advocate of with the online learning is keeping the content available for a week or two at a time for students to be able to retrieve and review the content as needed.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The term I learned from my sister's and her son's schooling is synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Synchronous learning means the kids are online at the same time the course is being taught. Asynchronous meaning the teacher creates the content and the kids access it when they choose to access it.

My grad work with online was all asynchronous and it works well for adults who need to balance work and life with school. I believe this method works better for older students.

For kids who are grade school and maybe even through middle school I think synchronous teaching is better. Part of what kids are learning while in school is how to deal with and learn within time constraints.

Even with in-person schooling not all kids have their brain schedule lined up with the school schedule. Not all kids are early risers and are ready to process information at 8:00am.

One thing I am a huge advocate of with the online learning is keeping the content available for a week or two at a time for students to be able to retrieve and review the content as needed.

My daughter's HS is going to open in hybrid mode, half home - half in (except for the 5% who chose full remote) but it is fully Synchronous. All classrooms with two way audio video so any remote kid is seeing the classroom live, can ask questions live, can be called on by the teacher live. For all levels of K-12 and some college I think this is vastly preferable to Asynchronous.

Certainly kids function better at different times of the day, but that's where homework comes in. I would note as well that without the drive to school, drive home etc. those at home getting Synchronous classes still have increased flexibility. It's like me working from home today. I have 4-5 meetings scheduled, which are live, but then I get the rest of my work done on my own schedule.

 

[Chuck]

My daughter's HS is going to open in hybrid mode, half home - half in (except for the 5% who chose full remote) but it is fully Synchronous. All classrooms with two way audio video so any remote kid is seeing the classroom live, can ask questions live, can be called on by the teacher live. For all levels of K-12 and some college I think this is vastly preferable to Asynchronous.

Certainly kids function better at different times of the day, but that's where homework comes in. I would note as well that without the drive to school, drive home etc. those at home getting Synchronous classes still have increased flexibility. It's like me working from home today. I have 4-5 meetings scheduled, which are live, but then I get the rest of my work done on my own schedule.

My kids will both be freshman. The school system is going hybrid with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. They alternate an A day and B day. If it's your day, you learn in person (probably 42% attendance due to opt-outs). If it's not your day, you have a combination of synchronous (video of live class) and/or asynchronous (assignments and tests). Yes, the tests are supposed to be done on non-in-person days. The principal felt that in-person time is precious and shouldn't be wasted with a test. Will there be rampant cheating? Probably, but they can control that if they try.

You can opt-out and attend your A or B assigned day by video. If you opt-out, you can't opt back in until the next marking period. If you opt-in, you can opt-out at any time. So I think people are generally opting in for Day 1.

Both kids have started soccer practices. Right now it's all conditioning, so they are somewhat social distanced. They start drills tomorrow and practice through next week, then stop until September.

Good luck everyone!!

 

[Chin Diesel]

My daughter's HS is going to open in hybrid mode, half home - half in (except for the 5% who chose full remote) but it is fully Synchronous. All classrooms with two way audio video so any remote kid is seeing the classroom live, can ask questions live, can be called on by the teacher live. For all levels of K-12 and some college I think this is vastly preferable to Asynchronous.

Certainly kids function better at different times of the day, but that's where homework comes in. I would note as well that without the drive to school, drive home etc. those at home getting Synchronous classes still have increased flexibility. It's like me working from home today. I have 4-5 meetings scheduled, which are live, but then I get the rest of my work done on my own schedule.

My kid's HS is going full in person or full online for the first quarter. We opted for full online not because of safety or fear but because we think it is going to be a clusterf--- and they will end up all online at some point. She will be going in person starting second qtr.
And courses are the same as you said. She has a regular school schedule and will see the teacher and students in the classroom at the same time the class is being taught. All students already have laptops and submit assignments electronically while in school so that isn't any sort of change.

 

[Chin Diesel]

My kids will both be freshman. The school system is going hybrid with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. They alternate an A day and B day. If it's your day, you learn in person (probably 42% attendance due to opt-outs). If it's not your day, you have a combination of synchronous (video of live class) and/or asynchronous (assignments and tests). Yes, the tests are supposed to be done on non-in-person days. The principal felt that in-person time is precious and shouldn't be wasted with a test. Will there be rampant cheating? Probably, but they can control that if they try.

You can opt-out and attend your A or B assigned day by video. If you opt-out, you can't opt back in until the next marking period. If you opt-in, you can opt-out at any time. So I think people are generally opting in for Day 1.

Both kids have started soccer practices. Right now it's all conditioning, so they are somewhat social distanced. They start drills tomorrow and practice through next week, then stop until September.

Good luck everyone!!

Best way to avoid cheating is make them open book / open note tests. Which many people, myself included, have learned, can be the hardest tests. Make it open book and everything in that book is fair game.

 

[upstater]

The term I learned from my sister's and her son's schooling is synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Synchronous learning means the kids are online at the same time the course is being taught. Asynchronous meaning the teacher creates the content and the kids access it when they choose to access it.

My grad work with online was all asynchronous and it works well for adults who need to balance work and life with school. I believe this method works better for older students.

For kids who are grade school and maybe even through middle school I think synchronous teaching is better. Part of what kids are learning while in school is how to deal with and learn within time constraints.

Even with in-person schooling not all kids have their brain schedule lined up with the school schedule. Not all kids are early risers and are ready to process information at 8:00am.

One thing I am a huge advocate of with the online learning is keeping the content available for a week or two at a time for students to be able to retrieve and review the content as needed.

Despite the long experience with asynchronous online classes, most universities are requiring 100% synchronous classes now.

 

[FatHank]

And in other news...

 

[upstater]

Last Night’s Selfish and Reckless Behavior

Dear Students: Last night, a large group of first-year students selfishly jeopardized the very thing that so many of you claim to want from Syracuse Univers ...

news.syr.edu

This from a Cuse administrator is one of the most pathetic things you'll find in print from a college adminstrator.

 

[M.S.G.]

I can't get over the abject selfishness and gross amount of greed these college administrators have exhibited opening up campuses when you KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN - just to be able to cash that on-campus tuition check.

Makes me sick.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I can't get over the abject selfishness and gross amount of greed these college administrators have exhibited opening up campuses when you KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN - just to be able to cash that on-campus tuition check.

Makes me sick.

I am amazed at your amazement over the decision making by people whose jobs and career fields are hanging in the balance based on their decisions.

Mostly the poor behavioral choices of the college students are a reflection of poor parenting. Better development of children by parents and the college kids would behave better as young adults.

It's also pretty much societies fault for creating an economic structure where the primary path to a successful life is through a college education. Many of these kids would much rather be at home staying on the financial and social teets of mom and pops rather than living by themselves or with one or two friends in groups of hundreds of like-aged and like-minded young adults.

 

[M.S.G.]

I couldn't possibly disagree with this more.

Whereas the kids were naive enough to put themselves in a situation in which they'd be scapegoated - this does not make it okay.

Parenting has plenty to do with the situation we are in, however, in this case it has nothing to do with it.

 

[Lefty2one]

Mostly the poor behavioral choices of the college students are a reflection of poor parenting. Better development of children by parents and the college kids would behave better as young adults.

I disagree. A majority of 18-year-olds are stupid and/or immature. It's as simple as that. I'm sure those of us who have or had great parents did really stupid things at age 18. I certainly did. Every last one of us knows smart, successful people who came from great families who did all kinds of embarrassing things in college.

First-year college students have been waiting for years to get their first taste of campus life; they aren't going to sit in a dorm and play videogames the entire time. None of this is surprising. You aren't going to convince every college freshman--who at 18 think they're invincible--to follow strict quarantine rules.

 

[NJHusky]

My kids will both be freshman. The school system is going hybrid with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. They alternate an A day and B day.

Both kids have started soccer practices. Right now it's all conditioning, so they are somewhat social distanced. They start drills tomorrow and practice through next week, then stop until September.

Good luck everyone!!

So it’s ok to have fully in person soccer but not OK to sit in a chair six feet away full time. there Is ZERO logic to these plans imo.

 

[Chuck]

So it’s ok to have fully in person soccer but not OK to sit in a chair six feet away full time. there Is ZERO logic to these plans imo.

I question the sports aspect also. It is outdoors, but they are sweating and spitting on each other (not the act of spitting, but saliva happens). I’d be surprised if there is a season though. We’ve had a few towns around us already shut down their fall sports.

Not sure what the other reference is though. The reason our kids are hybrid is because they need to cut the number of students to be able to sit them six feet away. Otherwise they’d all be full time.

 

[upstater]

I can't get over the abject selfishness and gross amount of greed these college administrators have exhibited opening up campuses when you KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN - just to be able to cash that on-campus tuition check.

Makes me sick.

The checks are refundable for on campus room & board.

It's the off campus kids who are in trouble.

The administrators knew it was a no go a few weeks ago--I said so on this board.

How did they know? Because colleges had held out hope that they could do testing properly. When testing availability was determined to be insufficient, the administrators informed staff that other measures would be first line of defense (social distance, masks, hygiene). At that point, they should have called it off--but it was only 3 weeks ago that the towels were thrown on testing. 2 months ago they were still thinking that tests were likely.

 

[upstater]

So it’s ok to have fully in person soccer but not OK to sit in a chair six feet away full time. there Is ZERO logic to these plans imo.

One thing I love about the schools around here is they are taking Wednesday to thoroughly clean the schools.

Of course, 99% of scientists believe the risk of transmission off surfaces is low, and the droplets are all in the air in enclosed spaces.

Not to mention the fact that the poor Tuesday and Friday kids are going to attend school on days with uncleaned rooms from the previous day.

This was put in place a few months ago when the science and sensibility of such a plan was maybe defensible, but now it's really not.

 

[NJHusky]

I question the sports aspect also. It is outdoors, but they are sweating and spitting on each other (not the act of spitting, but saliva happens). I’d be surprised if there is a season though. We’ve had a few towns around us already shut down their fall sports.

Not sure what the other reference is though. The reason our kids are hybrid is because they need to cut the number of students to be able to sit them six feet away. Otherwise they’d all be full time.

Didnt know the reason for the hybrid was spacing. Makes sense then

 

[NJHusky]

I can't get over the abject selfishness and gross amount of greed these college administrators have exhibited opening up campuses when you KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN - just to be able to cash that on-campus tuition check.

Makes me sick.

I wonder how many kids would have sat out a year if they knew it was online only. They should refund tuition if someone doesn’t want online only

 

[Improviser]

My daughter's HS is going to open in hybrid mode, half home - half in (except for the 5% who chose full remote) but it is fully Synchronous. All classrooms with two way audio video so any remote kid is seeing the classroom live, can ask questions live, can be called on by the teacher live. For all levels of K-12 and some college I think this is vastly preferable to Asynchronous.

Certainly kids function better at different times of the day, but that's where homework comes in. I would note as well that without the drive to school, drive home etc. those at home getting Synchronous classes still have increased flexibility. It's like me working from home today. I have 4-5 meetings scheduled, which are live, but then I get the rest of my work done on my own schedule.

By two way audio video , is that using zoom, or is that using some other modality?

I think this is a great idea. I think you can do this with Zoom, but wanted to confirm that was the modality.

 

[auror]

First-year college students have been waiting for years to get their first taste of campus life; they aren't going to sit in a dorm and play videogames the entire time. None of this is surprising. You aren't going to convince every college freshman--who at 18 think they're invincible--to follow strict quarantine rules.

There's pretty good consensus that abstinence only education/programs don't work very well to prevent teenage pregnancies. The same will be true for COVID infection.

Gotta give kids safer ways to do the things they're just going to end up doing anyways.

 

[ZenConn]

By two way audio video , is that using zoom, or is that using some other modality?

I think this is a great idea. I think you can do this with Zoom, but wanted to confirm that was the modality.

I've opted my sophomore high schooler and grade schooler entirely online. We were given an option to either do a hybrid (in school for 3 days and online for 2) or entirely online. They are using the Zoom app and the entire district has district provided Chromebooks as well. All of their classes notes and homework are done via Google docs and has been in place for a number of years.

I may be of the minority but I think the online learning has worked out well for my kids. I've stressed to them at a very young age that it's not the teachers or professors that will get them to understand and work out problems. It's *their* responsibility. If they need help to understand, I've been telling them to watch a Khan's Academy video and look for sample problems to work on and do every single problem in the book. There's a ton of resources on the web as well.

 

[upstater]

I wonder how many kids would have sat out a year if they knew it was online only. They should refund tuition if someone doesn’t want online only

They refund tuition 100%

I will say though that our live classes are underenrolled while our online classes are bursting at the seems. Many kids do not want to be on campus during this.

 

[HuskyHawk]

By two way audio video , is that using zoom, or is that using some other modality?

I think this is a great idea. I think you can do this with Zoom, but wanted to confirm that was the modality.

I am not sure if it is Zoom or something else. Parents and Volunteers put it all together. 60 55' Samsung TVs plus cameras with mics, mounted on these mobile carts.

 

[M.S.G.]

See I don't like that, and I'll tell you why.... Synchronous classrooms really scare me as a teacher, because I think eventually one teacher will teacher like 10 classes at once - and we won't be necessary anymore. Just stick a few aide's in the room and have the teacher on synchronous video.

Not a door I want to open.

My school has been VERY vague as to whether we need to turn the camera on and broadcast to the half of class working from home that day, or we can just post the work and they do it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

See I don't like that, and I'll tell you why.... Synchronous classrooms really scare me as a teacher, because I think eventually one teacher will teacher like 10 classes at once - and we won't be necessary anymore. Just stick a few aide's in the room and have the teacher on synchronous video.

Not a door I want to open.

My school has been VERY vague as to whether we need to turn the camera on and broadcast to the half of class working from home that day, or we can just post the work and they do it.

See this is the problem. The teacher view is all about what is best for teachers. Students be damned. Asynchronous is useless. Might as well cancel school and fire the teachers. Just play video games instead. Stop pretending it is an actual attempt to educate anyone.