"In shadowy, silent distance grew the iceberg too": universities, technology, work and life
This week at Umeå University in Northern Sweden, I was taken to see a class being taught by videoconference. I’m familiar with this way of working; all the students seemed engaged and happy, and the teacher was relaxed and obviously very experienced. The room was a good size, and the class was discussing critical thinking. So far, so routine. But there’s something about the strange warping of distance and time that occurs when you can see someone sitting in a…
Continue ReadingEnd of semester. Winter. Grading and student feedback, plus those odd moments that make you stop and think, like the shine on a wet pavement. Students who write and say that they appreciated being in class with someone whose first language wasn’t English because they learned something about a bigger world. Students whose first language isn’t English writing to say that it was being in an online class that made it possible for them to participate at all. Given the…
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