Teaching online

The same Friday that we were coping with the bar mitzvah news (March 6), UW announced that

starting that Monday, March 9, classes would no longer meet in person. I had three days to figure out how to hold class online on that Monday. Since it was the last week of class, I didn’t really have to do anything sustainable – just hang in there for two class sessions and a final exam.

I think it was not half bad! I felt very pleased with myself. For context, my usual lecture style is to intersperse my own presentation with frequent think-pair-share questions (using ABCD cards for voting) and collaborative problem-solving on whiteboards, in small groups. For the online version I tried to recreate similar activities on Zoom, using screen sharing, status updates, breakout rooms, and polls; my peer facilitators monitored the chat. Overall it felt like a for-real interactive lecture — we got some actual physics accomplished, and I think the students felt reasonably good about the session.

Some details I enjoy recalling: At the start of class I played the Vietnamese coronavirus PSA. I was hoping to be able to see all 60+ of my students' faces, but many chose to turn off their video (or did not have a working camera). When students had their video off I felt completely cut off from them, like I was lecturing to an empty room in the dark. Of the students who had their video on, many were in various mildly-distracting environments. Two were together in a coffee shop, one had a big dog, one was in bed, one was lying on his side on the floor, one did some bicep curls, one took his computer out on the porch and sat in a rocking chair smoking. When I reviewed the chat later, it was an amusing mix of logistical help, physics questions, and goofball student stuff. (I learned some new slang… pogchamp?) I think we have a lot to work out about norms for online instruction, but on that particular day, I enjoyed this little peek into their lives.