Maybe my views on this will age really badly, but I can’t see a September online start being a good idea. Are people teaching going to have meaningful time and support to think about pedagogy and redesign courses for online delivery - to the same standards as, say, the OU? https://twitter.com/generalistjo/status/1246344820454567938

Are unis going to invest in the tech, and assistance, necessary to ensure that classes delivered from our spare bedrooms don’t look shabby and home-made? When will specialised support staff be hired?

Will timetabling be able to adapt to a new variable - academics’ daytime caring responsibilities?

Will online delivery be a way to paper over the fact that many institutions have sacked, or are about to, sack a load of precarious academics? Will materials have to be prepared well in advance of usual deadlines?

And what about social interaction, which is key to how most universities motivate and bond their students? How will that be replaced? What will happen to students who effectively drop out or can’t cope?

Will the Fees be reduced (which would mean admitting to students how little of those fees fund their teaching)? Will students get bursaries to ensure they can fund what they need on their end?

Will charlatans tell us there is really no point in moving back to live teaching, full-time third level education and a three year degree? (They’re already trying).

No uni would choose to do this in six months from a standing start. Even to do it over 2-3 years would be punishing. Only the OU is the OU.

And the first person who says “well you’re not marking this summer as much as usual so you’ve loads of time” - nope. Online courses aren’t built online from scratch from people’s spare bedrooms.

Oh and if the move online is led by folks who don’t teach much or at all any more (or never have), to a one size fits all model... when and how will academics be compensated for fixing it on the fly?

Just wait until January. We will find plenty to do in the meantime. Every uni needs an MOT.

I don’t want to teach in a format where I can’t hear my students laughing or mumbling in confusion because their mics are off. Or I have to squint to read body language on a screen. Or they can’t interject unless it’s their turn. Already sick of it.

I hope @ucu comes down really hard on this because no other unionised workforce would put up with it.

I understand that lots of people do this really well and incorporate it into their ordinary non-emergency teaching practice - but often it is treated as a weird hobby, and the people who do it aren’t always rewarded for it and have to develop it in their own unpaid overtime.

If we are super honest, international “markets” will determine this issue. What does a first year student in Nigeria or India or China have to gain from a British online course delivered under emergency conditions, for eye-watering fees and without the study abroad experience?

Although maybe if you remove the racist encounter with the British immigration system and *gestures vaguely at everything* it’s pleasant enough?

Anyway tldr; as far as first years go, at the moment I think the woman quoted in the Guardian piece who says her daughter is just going to wait it out has supported her to make a good decision. Maybe I’ll change my mind.