Got an e-mail about how international students in China (who are usually here during the school year) can access course content virtually. As someone who has taught abroad and in North America, I'd like to offer more information and some suggestions ... 1/x

A reminder that links to common teaching resources will not work, including Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wordpress, Wix, Dropbox, OneDrive, and anything Google-owned. Here's the full list of blocked websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_mainland_China 2/x

Let me please remind teachers to be understanding and compassionate: students in China are just frustrated as you, if not more so, by Internet restrictions on their education. The difficulty of trying to keep up with classwork is only aggravated by the major time difference. 3/x

Some suggestions:
- if your institution's e-mail or learning platform (Moodle, etc.) is accessible to them, stick to those for communication and sharing files
- if sharing blocked URLs, try to include alternatives or to upload files onto a neutral website/server. 4/x

- Slack is neutral, as is the file-sharing site https://nihaocloud.com/  (but careful what you upload onto China-owned sites)
- if you're curious about what happens when a student clicks on a blocked URL: they won't get in trouble. It goes nowhere, to a dead page. 5/x

- you can upload files onto a neutral site/server, but PLEASE don't send your students anything obviously incriminating, even if it's part of your syllabus, and let your students know the same. I realize how educationally limiting and non-democratic that request is, but-- 6/x

for example, assigning readings that advocate for pro-democracy protests may get them into *legal* trouble if they are reading in a café or even at home on a shared computer. 7/x

I've had no issue bringing such topics up in an in-person classroom, it is only the problem of a digital trail. So please be mindful, as you're not the one at risk of getting in trouble. You're annoyed at the restrictions, I get it, but this is the reality. Please be kind. 8/8

Ok, more suggestions:
- if you have any assignments that require engagement with or examples from social media, there are Chinese alternatives. Facebook & Twitter = Weibo. WhatsApp = WeChat.

NOTE: These suggestions are in the case that students are *not* using illegal VPNs, which are popular in China with young folks so they can keep using YouTube, IG, etc. But you can't ask them to get these VPNs, and I'm not sure they'd be comfortable admitting to using them.

Of course, this conversation about Internet censorship expands to a few countries (not that they are the same). This useful website has firewall tests for China and Iran: https://viewdns.info 

Several people have noted that their syllabi have been completed, and they don't know how to offer alternatives to YouTube. While it's not ideal, you can download the YouTube video using a website like Y2Mate ( https://y2mate.guru/en7/ ), and upload it onto a neutral platform.

If you're that concerned about the security and privacy of Chinese-owned platforms and servers, use your own VPN (virtual private network) to create a fake IP address that can't be traced back to your computer. I turn on a VPN every time I'm using public wifi.

You can compare VPNs to using a P.O. Box: hide your home address, but still receive the goods. Luckily, the Opera browser has a free VPN. I just made a video on how to turn it on: https://vimeo.com/453872786  . Download Opera here: https://www.opera.com/download