Discussion: Online

Penn just pulled the trigger: they tacked on a week to spring break (so we can plan and implement:) all classes online for the rest of the semester. All sports cancelled. I'm kind of shocked they haven't closed the gym yet.

We're sort of ready for online (some profs already do it), but the sudden jump in scale could present challenges. I'd assume the same with SJU, so transitioning sooner is a great idea. Those techies who might be assisting will be swamped the day after the announcement.

Good luck!!

Campus is a ghost town. I feel for the local businesses, particularly my food truck friends.

And SJU just pulled the plug as well. I'm going to be testing things out tomorrow with a help session for assignments that are due next week - here's hoping I can figure it all out.

I was going to respond that I'd probably just go all-online at this point. I'm prepping all my classes now, too.

Sandy, I've been teaching online in various capacities for the last ten years, so if I can help troubleshoot in any way, don't hesitate to reach out. Obviously, history and math are pretty different, but I expect some of the platform issues will translate across.

Thanks for the offer Abby. I'm think I'm set but we'll see. I've figured out a way to handle lectures (which my class mostly is). The hard part will be writing down spur of the moment equations and calculations when students ask questions. I don't have an interface for doing that easily on my computer. I may be scanning documents in real time if the need arises for something complicated. I'm actually looking forward to it in a weird am-I-up-to-the-challenge way.

I have it very easy though - one class with only 7 students.

Good luck! I am getting involved in training and on-the-spot support for our faculty for this, co-opted from my regular research duties.

We’re encouraging folks who are used to writing on boards to ... get a board and write on it, instead of fiddling with tech.

Sandy, might zoom be an option for the spur-of-the-moment stuff? My understanding is that with a free account, you can meet with folks for up to 40 minutes at a time. SJU may also have an institutional subscription.

SJU has a pro license for zoom and that is what I am planning to use. I've scanned lecture notes that I plan to walk the students through during meeting times. So I have the basics covered.

The fun part will be when they ask questions and I want to show them something that is not in my notes. I'm hoping holding up a piece of paper that I've written on in front of my laptop camera will be good enough. The time delay to write something, scan it and then show it would be cumbersome and trying to type it into one of the software programs I have that does a good job with mathematical formats would also take time.

Practice session in an hour. I'm being optimistic!

Sending good thoughts!

Woo-hoo! It all went as planned. I got pretty good at holding up paper and working with the mirror image that I could see on my screen.

We never doubted you. :-)

Nice job Sandy!!

That’s awesome!!

Great!