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I don& #39;t mention it in this analysis, but many faculty in this study mentioned that they feel like they& #39;ve lost a "key data point" in their teaching when students don& #39;t use the camera & faculty in my own department (a dept of 150) have said the same. /1
https://engagedsociology.com/2020/05/07/the-future-of-learning-and-leadership-in-the-wake-of-covid-19/">https://engagedsociology.com/2020/05/0... https://twitter.com/deandad/status/1260522616688988160">https://twitter.com/deandad/s...
https://engagedsociology.com/2020/05/07/the-future-of-learning-and-leadership-in-the-wake-of-covid-19/">https://engagedsociology.com/2020/05/0... https://twitter.com/deandad/status/1260522616688988160">https://twitter.com/deandad/s...
My own teaching falls down on the side of agency every time & I& #39;m fortunate to teach writing, where the relationship is more writer to writer, even at the dev & 100-level. Thus, if students don& #39;t use the camera, I assume they have good reason & I don& #39;t need to know what it is. /2
Decision-making, then, is about who needs what. Is it better for ME if cameras are on? Sure. Is it better for LEARNING? Well, IDK. I& #39;ve never seen a study, so I honestly don& #39;t know. Part of this is a generational divide, in my mind, too (parent of a 19yo here). @deandad& #39;s son /3
makes a good point. Faculty may forget what it& #39;s like to feel "on display" as a late teen/young adult, especially in front of peers. It& #39;s no big whup for us to display ourselves during Yet Another Committee Meeting, but students are in an era where THEY decide what/when/if /4
share their faces, and to what audience.
So on to the arguments: Can students log in and walk away? Yes. Who cares? Really. Who cares? Who bears the consequences of that? (I& #39;m so tired) Will students log in and walk away if they have a compelling reason to stay? Probably not./5
So on to the arguments: Can students log in and walk away? Yes. Who cares? Really. Who cares? Who bears the consequences of that? (I& #39;m so tired) Will students log in and walk away if they have a compelling reason to stay? Probably not./5
Maybe it& #39;s because I teach at the CC & see our students for the whole humans they are, but I will land on agency every single time. Forcing students to turn on a camera when they don& #39;t want to (for any number of reasons that are none of my business) does not create the type of /6
environment that supports learning. What about class discussion? There are many ways to create robust discussion that do not rely on synchronous, and even IN synch, a skilled facilitator can lead a black-box conversation. Ask me how I know.
I see this conversation as less /7
I see this conversation as less /7
about pedagogy and more about control and power. I cultivate a classroom where I never need to convince students to do things. I make it clear why what we do is valuable and important; as smart people, they see it for themselves. If I HAD a case for requiring cameras /8
in the context of my discipline and the type of learning required, I would make it. But if the decision is just about what makes me comfortable or what I think students should be doing or whatever, it& #39;s a no from me.
But to each their own. /end
But to each their own. /end
(To be clear, I am in no way judging the "missing a key data point" statement because I totally get that. Learning is a social activity, and without those social cues in a synch environment, we HAVE lost key data. For me, there are roads around that problem.)
