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#AcademicTwitter: The assumption is that f2f courses are better, but let's think through what this will actually look like in the Covid-19 environment. Students will all be wearing masks (hopefully) and sitting several feet (hopefully 6) apart. 1/
1. This makes discussion based courses nearly impossible. Students won't be able to see each other's faces or hear each other. This is especially ableist for those who don't pick up on social cues well or are hard of hearing. 2/8
2. Small group interactions are also nearly impossible, like think pair share for the same reasons noted above. To do so, profs would have to willingly violate student's rights by breaking the *whatever* foot rule the university chooses to implement (assuming they have one). 3/8
3. Large classes will have to be held in non-traditional classrooms, like gyms. You know what sounds like a really engaging learning experience? Teaching to a whole gym of people who are socially distanced (sarcasm). 4/8
4. Instructors will have to spend so much time and energy worrying about classroom management. This makes us less effective teachers. And some instructors are more likely to be harrassed and targeted by students in this regard. This is a SAFETY issue in and of itself. 5/8
5. Local communities are more likely to be exposed, especially when students do not socially distance off campus...which they will not. An *honor code* is NOT going to prevent this. This is especially concerning for rural communities where the healthcare system is overtasked. 6/8
6. Staff will likely not have a choice in terms of being on campus. Universities have said virtually nothing about what they will do to protect their staff or what options staff will have. 7/8
So let's STOP assuming that EVERYONE wants to teach f2f right now and think through what this will actually look like in terms of pedagogy and teaching effectiveness more broadly. For some courses, you might need to teach f2f, but for others online might actually be better.8/8
And to be clear, this doesn't mean that there should not be f2f instruction. But we need to eliminate the fallacy that f2f is inherently better under these structural conditions.
