Profs working from home

I wonder if the general public understands the demands of switching from face to face to online instruction. I wonder if profs unfamiliar with teaching a given type of class understand. Many who have never taught online are now expected to do so.

There are plenty of companies and tech experts willing to help or rather offer advice (free services from the tech companies). Of the different things I have read on this topic, this post from The Conversation is one of the best.

For the record, I have taught online classes for many years. I have also taught those large introductory lectures with hundreds of people. I can certainly imagine what I would say to someone wanting to teach smaller classes. In my opinion, it is easier to transition a small class to a small online class and duplicate the class components necessary for effective instruction.

It might surprise many out of education that I am not certain how I would teach a large class. Many might assume this would be the easiest class to transition – just lecture into your computer and put your video online, give students your email address and away you go. I again refer folks to The Conversation post. There are so many things people assume that are wrong. First, the large lecture classes I teach all contain multiple small group sections to allow for discussion (sometimes these smaller breakout sections are called discussion sections and sometimes labs). I don’t teach these sections, but I am responsible for developing the activities for the grad students who engage with the students. So, you can’t just post a couple of videos for the week and you are done. The assistants assigned to the course would also have to be brought up to speed in how they should engage students in discussion and assign and evaluate writing activities an projects.

The biggest problem with online courses is evaluation. Again, the task is somewhat easier with a smaller group, but there is always the challenge of cheating. How do you know if students are collaborating, using their book, or Googling responses to multiple-choice or essay questions? When I taught a course that relied on essay exams, the course made use of paid proctors. Maybe someone at the local library would watch someone taking an exam. Perhaps an employer would take on this responsibility. These individuals had to be vetted. I just don’t see this as practical when working with 200-300 students. Multiple-choice items have their flaws, but so does the cost efficiency of such evaluation methods when working with hundreds of students. It is easy enough to make use of a tool for delivering online MC exams. Most profs have never done this, but they can probably figure it out. There is still the issue of proctoring. How do you watch 200 students take an examination? I understand that there are approaches, but I have yet to see one that impresses me.

So, we do what we have to in the short run. I think online instruction can be of high quality, but if one considers that there are multiple stakeholders in instruction, I have yet to see what I think is a quality approach with large numbers of students. Thinking about the learner is important. But, it is also important to understand that the grades awarded are taken as an indicator of competence by others; e.g., employers, admission officers, selection programs.