OT: College in the COVID era

[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.

 

[M.S.G.]

Cool, thanks man.

 

[Chin Diesel]

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.

Welcome to the future of education.

 

[NJHusky]

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.

It’s interesting....in most businesses efficiency is the goal and worked hard to achieve.

 

[Vuce]

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.

You are doing a good job with your kids. But many districts are struggling with this. My wife works in a district in CT where upwards of 1/3 of the kids don’t even log on for lessons and they are given a pass. The longer it goes on the greater chance that an entire group of kids will miss a ton of learning. And it will adversely affect (and set back) those on the lower economic end of the spectrum due to less resources at their disposal.

 

[upstater]

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.

Are we really going to get into this here?

Synchronous/asynchronous for super huge classes is totally irrelevant. You're not responding to a classroom of thousands. Whether it's real-time or not.

But when it comes to teaching, we're not just responsible to students, but also to the course content and the history of knowledge. There are a lot of good arguments about how dwindling the number of teachers will have a detrimental impact on the latter.

And really it's al being done in the name of some tech guys who don't know the first thing about teaching, and all they see is scalable profits.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Are we really going to get into this here?

Synchronous/asynchronous for super huge classes is totally irrelevant. You're not responding to a classroom of thousands. Whether it's real-time or not.

But when it comes to teaching, we're not just responsible to students, but also to the course content and the history of knowledge. There are a lot of good arguments about how dwindling the number of teachers will have a detrimental impact on the latter.

And really it's al being done in the name of some tech guys who don't know the first thing about teaching, and all they see is scalable profits.

I‘m not talking about college. I’m talking K-12. That said, I wouldn’t pay current college tuition for online. You want to bring up some kind of Harvard by Google online degree that costs $8k a year and is well regarded? Ok, I’m listening. Read an article suggesting that could be the future.

For K-12 I want on site in classroom instruction, especially for younger kids. I am not for getting rid of teachers, and the best way they can avoid becoming viewed as expendable is to get in the classroom. Under current circumstances I think K-6 should be fully in person. 7-12 should be hybrid but synchronous. I don’t think these K-12 kids are getting even half of what they should via asynchronous.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Are we really going to get into this here?

Synchronous/asynchronous for super huge classes is totally irrelevant. You're not responding to a classroom of thousands. Whether it's real-time or not.

But when it comes to teaching, we're not just responsible to students, but also to the course content and the history of knowledge. There are a lot of good arguments about how dwindling the number of teachers will have a detrimental impact on the latter.

And really it's al being done in the name of some tech guys who don't know the first thing about teaching, and all they see is scalable profits.

Elon Musk nailed it.

Going to college for an education is a waste of time and money. Everything you need to become educated is on the internet for free.

Only societal function left for universities is the soft skills while teens turn in to young adults- learning to socialize with groups beyond your youth, learning to manage time, starting to learn how to manage money, and all that stuff.

 

[superjohn]

Going to college for an education is a waste of time and money. Everything you need to become educated is on the internet for free.

And this right here is a major reason this country gets dumber and dumber.

 

[HuskyHawk]

And this right here is a major reason this country gets dumber and dumber.

I don't think Musk is right. But I did read an interesting article that forecast an interesting future. What the top schools really have isn't superior quality of education, but a great brand. How do they extend that brand to more kids, providing affordable credentials. The current model can't survive for much longer. Meanwhile cash rich big tech companies need to expand their reach.

Is Galloway right? I think there are pieces of what he say that make sense. But here is the counterpoint.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Side question for the current CT residents. I briefly looked at Trinity College. How is that area of Hartford now? Is there anything to do outside of campus nearby? I recall that the campus itself was nice, but wasn't in a very college town like area of Hartford.

 

[Chin Diesel]

And this right here is a major reason this country gets dumber and dumber.

Keep your head buried in the sand.

 

[HooperScooper]

Side question for the current CT residents. I briefly looked at Trinity College. How is that area of Hartford now? Is there anything to do outside of campus nearby? I recall that the campus itself was nice, but wasn't in a very college town like area of Hartford.

Looked at Trinity with both of my sons. Was there 4 times. The campus is smaller than the other NESCAC schools because it's in the middle of an urban neighborhood. The campus itself is nice. Area around it is pretty rough. It didn't scare me or my sons but it does scare off a lot of people. I don't think there's much around there that would interest your daughter. And I would not walk around there at night by yourself. Which is probably why Trinity is easier to get into than the other NESCAC schools.

 

[HooperScooper]

Elon Musk nailed it.

Going to college for an education is a waste of time and money. Everything you need to become educated is on the internet for free.

Only societal function left for universities is the soft skills while teens turn in to young adults- learning to socialize with groups beyond your youth, learning to manage time, starting to learn how to manage money, and all that stuff.

I think you're wrong. But we can agree to disagree and I'm not arguing on this forum about it.

 

[August_West]

Looked at Trinity with both of my sons. Was there 4 times. The campus is smaller than the other NESCAC schools because it's in the middle of an urban neighborhood. The campus itself is nice. Area around it is pretty rough. It didn't scare me or my sons but it does scare off a lot of people. I don't think there's much around there that would interest your daughter. And I would not walk around there at night by yourself. Which is probably why Trinity is easier to get into than the other NESCAC schools.

Oooga booga.

Its not that terrible. Id send my daughter there no problem.

 

[superjohn]

Keep your head buried in the sand.

You're living proof.