Nearly as soon as the announcements began that many
college classes were going to be moving from in-person to online for the rest
of the semester to increase social distancing and ideally lessen the spread of
COVID-19, the tweets, memes and social media posts began.
The student variety poked fun at teachers clumsy with
technology. The teacher variety bemoaned inattentive students. It's hard to
know if any of the events recounted really happened or how severe they really
were if they did. More importantly, while a good laugh is important during
tense times, it's hard to know if such events really mattered.
These are extraordinary times, and in these exceptional
times it seems a good bet that most teachers and most students are working hard
to try to figure out how to continue working together to give and receive the
best education they can.
For many college kids heading into spring break, good
reason caused them to rethink their travel plans, and instead many headed home
to be with family. For seniors it was likely they would not be having an
in-person commencement ceremony and the next time they saw many of the friends
that they'd spent the past four years with on campus would likely be months or
years away, if ever. Nevertheless, in spite of sadness brought on by
disappointment, most students took the warnings of public health experts
seriously and recognized there was a greater good at stake.
For many college professors, instead of using spring
break to catch up on a writing or research project or to spend time with
family, dedication to wanting to deliver what they could to their students for
the rest of the semester refocused their attention to learning new online
platforms to connect with students and to tearing apart and revamping teaching
plans so they had a hope of working in a virtual setting.
At my school, one professor spearheaded an effort for him
and other professors to offer several one-hour voluntary online classes as a
way of keeping the students connected during spring break and giving teachers
and students a chance to work out some kinks in transitioning from in-person to
online. At least 40 classes were offered. Hundreds of students participated
throughout the week. Sure, some professors forgot to turn off cellphones and
some students could be seen making a cup of tea in their kitchens, but that
didn't slow anyone down.
As the second half of the spring semester gears up for
most students and teachers, there surely will be more snark posted and shared
among both groups. If it helps let off steam, fine. But it would be wrong to
allow such snark to distract from how massive the effort is by students and
teachers to keep connected and to keep learning from one another.
In the book and movie, Bang the Drum Slowly,
there's this great line: "From here on in, I rag nobody." No more
making fun of those whose stories or struggles you might not truly understand
for the sake of a laugh.
Perhaps adopting that sentiment is the right thing to do
in such extraordinary times, not just for college students and their
professors, but for all of us.
Jeffrey L. Seglin, author of The Right Thing: Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today's Business and The Good, the Bad, and Your Business: Choosing Right When Ethical Dilemmas Pull You Apart, is a senior lecturer in public policy and director of the communications program at Harvard's Kennedy School.
Follow him on Twitter: @jseglin
Do you have ethical questions that you need answered? Send them to rightthing@comcast.net.
(c) 2020 JEFFREY L. SEGLIN. Distributed by TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
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