At least for face-to-face classes. Online education is going strong. Or trying to. It kind of depends on the professor's IT skills and willingness to put in the extra work.
I have friends who are university professors, and others who are students (I'm non-academic staff). From what I hear some professors are trying to adapt their materials to an online format as much as possible, and giving some "live" lectures on Google Meet or Zoom (of course my friends included because all my friends are cool like that). But some others are just uploading PowerPoint presentations or reading materials and exercises to do and the students are NOT happy about that at all! Not to mention they're worried about how they will be evaluated for this semester (oral exams? continuous evaluation? papers? test?), how they're supposed to do internships (those that had them) or labs... What they don't always realize is that this is just as stressful for the professors! And definitely a lot more work. It takes A LOT more time to prepare one's materials for remote teaching, you can't necessarily go about things the same way you would in a classroom. And yes, there are quite a few professors who are just not that technologically savvy! Our university has a service up and running to help them, but... there are limits to what people can do in a short time and in stressful circumstances. 😓
Back to the headline... most Spanish universities have started announcing today (following government recommendations) that students wouldn't be heading back to campus the rest of this academic year (some, like the Catalan ones, are still hoping they can get students back in June). The first phase of the quarantine was the universities (and profs) trying to get online classes up as quickly as possible. This next phase will involve continuing that and figuring out how to evaluate the students. All I can say is... good luck to all, students and professors!
On my end... I'm wondering how that's going to impact the rest of the university staff. I'm thinking once this lockdown is over, and they progressively start letting people back to their businesses, jobs etc. it will probably be gradually and with social distancing measures in place. Those of us who can work from home will probably be among the last to get back to the office. Among the university staff this would have been difficult for those who work face-to-face with students (profs, department secretaries, librarians etc.), but now there's no rush for them to go back either. In any case, without our 30'000 student population on campus it will be a ghost town when we finally do get back...
#stayhome #quedateencasa #yomequedoencasa #restecheztoi
On my end... I'm wondering how that's going to impact the rest of the university staff. I'm thinking once this lockdown is over, and they progressively start letting people back to their businesses, jobs etc. it will probably be gradually and with social distancing measures in place. Those of us who can work from home will probably be among the last to get back to the office. Among the university staff this would have been difficult for those who work face-to-face with students (profs, department secretaries, librarians etc.), but now there's no rush for them to go back either. In any case, without our 30'000 student population on campus it will be a ghost town when we finally do get back...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hey there! Yes you! The quiet one in the back... I'd love it if you hung out for a bit and shared your thoughts!
I might stop by your place with an answer, but I'm more likely to reply right here so click on "email follow up comments" if you'd like to see what I and others have to say and come continue the conversation! ;o)