Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Online experiences

 As students contracted covid and went into quarantine I was asked if  "someone might videotape my lectures" for use online. I was happy to say yes since I was thinking to do this very thing if we all went into lockdown again.* It quickly became me that was expected to do the taping. During the first one or two weeks the videos only successfully uploaded to CANVAS** about half the time. The IT people reloaded all of the software, then ultimately changed out the entire computer in the "smart classroom." On the first day using the new hardware I turned the monitor an inch or two toward me, there was a "bloop" "bloop" sound, and the screen went black. Loose plug. I think (hope!) all is now working. There is still a bit of a distraction having to limit myself to perhaps two of my four blackboards, etc.***

*I'm not sure if having videotaped lectures available online makes it more likely healthy students will cut classes. Videos are certainly not as good as the real thing.

** CANVAS is a cluttered mess. Whoever designed it violated the K.I.S.S. principle. 

***On top of which I have only half the usual number of lectures available this semester. (Because of Covid limits on the number of people in a classroom.) This means I must go faster. That, in turn, probably means I will make more mistakes. 

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