We made it through our first few weeks at COVID-U! The fast and furious transition to distance learning is starting to manifest itself in new and interesting ways. Professors are settling into the new cadence of muted screens and electronically raised hands while students are getting more and more comfortable in the pants-optional environment. Struggling to find normalcy in the digital classroom, we cling to the familiarity of the material as we work to preserve the dynamics of the classroom. But it all feels different.
I’ve always been baffled by the idea of FaceTime. I grew up in a world where telephones tethered us to home, where we spun ourselves into spiraly phone cords over hours-long conversations. Where three-way and call waiting were the height of sophistication. “No – you hang up!” I didn’t get a cell phone until the year I graduated from college. I know, I’m old.
Now I buzz around in a world where students FaceTime with their parents while walking to class. No one is as worried about being camera ready as I feel like they should be. Several times a day, as the door to my classrooms open, I hear them say, “Mom! Mom! I gotta go. I just walked into class.” The concept of simple audio conversations seems lost. They opt to see everyone they speak with, including their parents. And I’ve never understood it. As much as I love my children, I have no desire to look up their noses as they commute to class.
Alas, in this new and evolving socially-distanced world, my professional life has morphed into a constant video stream. We Zoom lectures. We Zoom meetings. We even Zoom happy hour. I’m here for it. I’ve been delighted to see everyone’s sweet faces, even if it is online. I don’t mind the brow shots with spinning ceiling fan overhead. I’ve embraced the perfectly curated backgrounds (the Tiger King ones are my absolute fave!). Heck, I don’t even mind the occasional up-the-nose view.
I now get to see my students through a lens I never have before.
We no longer meet in sterile classrooms and cluttered offices. We meet at home. Students don’t sit behind desks. They lay in their beds or out by their pool or sit at their kitchen table. At home.
I don’t stand at the front of class in my sensible shoes lecturing, dry erase marker in hand, doing my best to keep students engaged. I sit in the quietest corner of the house, trying to juggle the imminent needs of my children with my commitment to teaching. I’m connecting with the faces and voices that are so familiar, broadcast from a wholly unfamiliar environment.
This is a room with a different view – a view from home.
I’ve met more moms in the past two weeks than I have in my entire professorial career. They pop into the screen, and we take a minute to chat and catch up. Because why not? This whole thing is weird. Their grown kid is finishing college at home, back in their spaces months before expected (if at all). And as a mom myself, I know they’re low-key checking out the whole Zoom university thing because, let’s be honest, it’s fascinating.
I’ve also started ending classes with open discussion and ‘Pet Show & Tell.’ My kids love showing off our cat, Noodle, and I am delighted to see the dogs and cats and horses that are keeping my students company at home. Ask me how many students’ pets I’ve met in my life. One. Only one puppy who was brought to a summer class in a lapse of judgement and caused such a commotion that I had to ask that it not happen again.
In this new digital learning environment, I welcome puppies and moms and little sisters and whomever else is in the room. You can eat, drink, exercise, watch television, text your friends, shop for shoes – anything goes now at COVID-U. And showers are always optional. I’m embracing the loss of control of my classes and choosing to embrace the chaos. Because it’s all chaos right now.
The pedagogical paradigm has shifted in light of this world-wide pandemic. Learning objectives now center on the preservation of both physical and mental health. Course curriculum has taken a backseat to empathy and compassion. The classroom looks different, but it’s the meeting of the minds that matters most. And I am excited to meet my students where they are.
I would love to hear about your adventures in online learning. Please share them because we’re all in this together.
Shoutout to my Nonprofit Management students for agreeing to be photographed for the feature image! 📷 You are the best models a professor could ask for.
In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.
Carl Jung
