A couple weeks ago we found out we’d be offering our Discovering Majors & Careers class (usually offered several times fall) to incoming @WPI freshmen. Withvach our 4 person #careerservice team at @WPI_CDC teaching a section in each summer term, we have 380 students enrolled.

We broke down & tackled turning an in-person, smaller course into a #virtual & larger course. Not only is it ready to go for Tuesday, I am quite happy with how it came out. It feels like it will be an online learning #experience & not just recreating in-person in a virtual space.

We have some absolutely amazing folks at @WPI working true magic in Academic Technology @WPI_ATC, Instructional Design, IT @WPI_IT, Accessibility Services @WPIAdvising, Admissions @WPIAdmissions, etc. And we are not just providing access, but making material #accessible as well.

I taught myself how to input #CSS code in #Qualtrics to insert line breaks between questions for ease of viewing, used #PPT #accessibilitychecker to make sure slides will work well with #screenreaders, and utilized #YouTube for to include #closedcaptions.

We are using a mostly #asynchronous approach, as students will not be in the same time zone let alone hemisphere. We also made sure to included #pronouns in our pre-class survey and in our intro discussion prompt.

I didn’t get to opening my #Canvas site until last evening. After getting the kids to bed late, I checked and the introduction discussion thread is already active with intros & responses. Some have already completed the pre-class survey, and 1 even complete a future assignment.

These are #highschoolseniors. Most not even done with their academic year. Living in an unfamiliar world. And, ready to take on the next great #adventure. I believe in this generation #GenZ #GenAlpha. They will do amazing things. If we let them. If we #support them.

It is our #responsibility, our charge, to make it #possible. I don’t know what the #future holds. This is what I can do right now. This is what I need to keep in mind with my kids. Help them #grow & #understand & #question, so they can take the world by storm into the new future.

I mentioned on several #Zoom calls this week that I desperately need #hope to keep going in these strange times. Well, here it is. #Onward!