Just learned in the training about the 90 minute weekly live sessions required for all classes starting in July? I can see that being great for math or accounting type classes, but for all general education classes? I can't get my students to attend a 30 minute session and evidence suggests that very few listen to the recordings either.
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The live approach was tried about 10 years ago and it failed miserably. I used to turn on my recorder and walk away and then shut it off when the time was up. I had zero attendance at all sessions. I am simply not going to do these new live sessions and am ready to receive nastygrams and no more classes.
In the words of my last supervisor, "Let me know if you are unable to fulfill your obligations." Who lectures for 90 minutes?! And what about the inevitable tech issues that accompany Webex? It's another forced march to trounce faculty, when there will be no positive outcome for students, no learning will take place, no qualitative experience will be had. The faculty drubbing continues...
Another way to eliminate profs?
jba...after what you said, it may very well be impossible for LB to resurrect her career
LB checks recordings. i know because she reported me for things i said to my students to my dean.
The way this organization operates, I can imagine an ADAE, faculty chair or someone from CTE conducting regular Gestapo-like audits to check and document that we’ve each complied with a full 90-minute weekly recording. That’s how we roll here. Welcome to my life as a valued professor.
I think I will record three video clips on partial differential equations of ten minutes each. I will figure out a way to use them as fillers in my 90 minute video.
I think waiting for first week and do nothing might be the best strategy. WebEx is very bad in uploading and hosting videos. If that's what they hope teachers to use to upload their 90minute content - I surely hope that the server implodes and send DF and other a**holes back to the drawing board.
That's my fear qbi! 90 minutes of lecture with no students there to fill up some time sounds really unappealing to me! I do fear they will check the length of our recordings now that they are calling it a "90 minute live session".
And biv, I hope to be able to do that. I just hope they don't get more rigid and check our recording times.
fkf: they are doing it to cut sections and save money. They do get it but then order DF around to write a bs email couching it in terms of DeVry sCARE and TEACH and IFF and other c-ap like that.
What happens if no student showed up for the session? Does the teacher have to record the 90minute video and host it?
Yeah, but if it’s just an online course that’s not connected to an onsite section, then just play the game and tap dance for an hour or so on Webex. Ask the students if there are any questions about this week’s course material or assignments, and call it your office hours. Just be prepared to repeat and summarize some of the text material if no one shows up or asks a question.
Most of my online students reject the idea of attending a live synchronous event, while my onsite students detest the online modality. Trying to combine them into this hybrid, kluged onsite/online “Frankenstein monster” is another naive, misguided initiative borne of desperation and does not get to the crux of the problem. This just adds more delivery complexity. They just don’t get it because they don’t teach these classes.