A question and, frankly, a concern that many of us have in our UC communities during the Corona crisis is whether this crisis will permanently change the way we do things. Are the UC’s currently still the community of learners now that the small-scale education and personal interaction between teachers and peers is reduced to the online learning experience? My own students, brave as they are, are currently lamenting the loss of community as most of them moved away from campus to their homes and home countries. As a teacher, I miss being in the classroom and attuning myself to each and every student as we collectively produce a particular energy in the room. I am glad that I got to establish some sense of community in my course in the months before the Corona crisis forced us to go online. It helps me relate to my students now that I no longer receive all the cues that I would when teaching in the physical classroom. Still, it makes me wonder how online teaching will work should we continue to teach some of our courses online in the Fall. Will we lose our sense of community? What can we do to combat this? And, as an overarching question, how do the UC’s remain distinctive when the educational setting of small-scale classrooms and personal interaction remain under pressure?
Are we still a community of learners?
About the Author: ecohend1
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I still have an old Grant proposal like around aiming to take seriously to talk the possibility of online liberal arts colleges, that have immersive and deep connection. Desire my own lack of affection for this possibility and lament for certain elements of the human that would be inevitably lost, I do believe it’s possible.
Moreover, I think it could be a way to further expand access to this mode of education by making it cheaper and free academics from many of the constraints imposed by traditional educational regulatory structures.
Just least night we had a Netflix party as part of well being week followed by a 1.5 hour panel discussion on key themes of the film with more audience participation than a usual panel.
Could this be generalized? I think so, but not with using these tools as we traditionally have done so.
Communities of Learners, republics of letters, have existed as long as the written word. Surely an artful is off these told could create an even more effective republic of Learners?
Happy to work with others to expand this into a bigger Comenius proposal. Please get in touch!
Wanna go for it as a inter-university team? Shall I come pester you when the rounds re-open?