03-18-2020, 11:03 AM
Let's see what happens once spring quarter starts in a week and a half. The university may reconsider or at least modify its policy.
Related to some of the comments above: Online instruction is certainly different--I had my spring quarter course at UC Santa Barbara all planned and ready to go, and now I have to convert it to an online course. But I don't think that the quality of my instruction will be that much worse than in-person. There's plenty of possibilities for online interaction. The hardest part is setting up for asynchronous instruction, since I cannot assume that my students will be watching me teach as I livestream at 8 am on Mondays and Wednesdays. However, I acknowledge that the quality of *learning* may be worse, but that depends on each student's learning style and life situation.
The biggest drop in teaching quality will be in the science lab and arts studio instruction. That hands-on, personalized instruction is just not the same online, IMO.
Related to some of the comments above: Online instruction is certainly different--I had my spring quarter course at UC Santa Barbara all planned and ready to go, and now I have to convert it to an online course. But I don't think that the quality of my instruction will be that much worse than in-person. There's plenty of possibilities for online interaction. The hardest part is setting up for asynchronous instruction, since I cannot assume that my students will be watching me teach as I livestream at 8 am on Mondays and Wednesdays. However, I acknowledge that the quality of *learning* may be worse, but that depends on each student's learning style and life situation.
The biggest drop in teaching quality will be in the science lab and arts studio instruction. That hands-on, personalized instruction is just not the same online, IMO.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)