Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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revbob wrote:
10 Apr 2020, 8:58am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Apr 2020, 6:03pm
revbob wrote:
08 Apr 2020, 4:34pm
I haven't read enough about Zoom from a security standpoint. I think the main thing is to not post open invitations in social media etc and always consider what you say/show, who gets invited.

Now do either of your learning institutions have apps like Microsoft Teams or Webex? I think they are more mature tools that allow for better collaboration among groups of people. What do the school's IT departments suggest?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.c ... -chat-app/
Thanks. It made me register, but that's what my bullshit Yahoo account is for.
As far as I know, we're exclusively Zoom for classroom use, but I think admin people use Teams.
Cant attest to the content but usually a good source

https://www.techrepublic.com/resource-l ... d=12782647
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

gkbill
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
10 Apr 2020, 10:15am
revbob wrote:
10 Apr 2020, 8:58am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
08 Apr 2020, 6:03pm
revbob wrote:
08 Apr 2020, 4:34pm
I haven't read enough about Zoom from a security standpoint. I think the main thing is to not post open invitations in social media etc and always consider what you say/show, who gets invited.

Now do either of your learning institutions have apps like Microsoft Teams or Webex? I think they are more mature tools that allow for better collaboration among groups of people. What do the school's IT departments suggest?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.c ... -chat-app/
Thanks. It made me register, but that's what my bullshit Yahoo account is for.
As far as I know, we're exclusively Zoom for classroom use, but I think admin people use Teams.
Cant attest to the content but usually a good source

https://www.techrepublic.com/resource-l ... d=12782647
Hello,

I apologize for jumping in erratically (I need to follow this thread more regularly - I tend to stick to the music issues).

Zoom is fine for my usage. I've heard reports of Zoom-bombing where uninvited guests post inappropriate material - I'm guessing many here are already aware. As long as you maintain your status as host and don't enable others to be hosts, no one else can share their screen. I haven't had anyone intrude into a Zoom meeting (maybe I'm just too boring?) so no issues thus far. It helps to have 2 monitors and extend your monitor so you can see what your =sharing as well as see thumbnails of students as well as the chat window. As I'm going over material, I'll often ask a "show of hands" type questions just to check if people are still engaged. I can see on my 2nd monitor the hands up/down and respond accordingly. It's an easy way to make sure students are still there.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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gkbill wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 12:22am
Zoom is fine for my usage. I've heard reports of Zoom-bombing where uninvited guests post inappropriate material - I'm guessing many here are already aware. As long as you maintain your status as host and don't enable others to be hosts, no one else can share their screen. I haven't had anyone intrude into a Zoom meeting (maybe I'm just too boring?) so no issues thus far. It helps to have 2 monitors and extend your monitor so you can see what your =sharing as well as see thumbnails of students as well as the chat window. As I'm going over material, I'll often ask a "show of hands" type questions just to check if people are still engaged. I can see on my 2nd monitor the hands up/down and respond accordingly. It's an easy way to make sure students are still there.
One of my friends is teaching a summer session course, so he's doing the online training for all this hoo-ha. Apparently the plan (as it stands) is that we'll be using Adobe's Connect because of Zoom's privacy concerns, tho Adobe (as is its way) is utter unintuitive. (Learning how to use an Adobe product is like becoming a Navy Seal in terms of effort and frustration.) If Zoom allays security concerns, I suspect we'll be allowed to go with that if it's easier to learn and use.

I've already thought about introducing simple content quiz questions going forward just to make sure people are paying attention. Nothing to stump, just to get a sense of what's being communicated. It seems like high school kinda shit, but the distance ed thing is still in brave new world territory in terms of effectiveness, so it makes sense to me.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

revbob
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Adobe connect blows.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by gkbill »

revbob wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 9:13am
Adobe connect blows.
Hello,

I used to use Adobe Connect when working with Blackboard - it was okay - kind of rudimentary. Zoom is much smoother. I'd suggest anyone teaching with Zoom have a second monitor so you can still view students in a gallery view using the second monitor while students see the powerpoint or whatever. When I do this, I can do the hands/thumbs up/down thing and see the results. I can also see if someone steps away. It's funny to catch someone stepping away. The first time I did so, I said "Hey Clay, where are you going?" - he was shocked, the other faces starting grinning and laughing but the point was made.

Get a second monitor.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

Post by revbob »

gkbill wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 3:11pm
revbob wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 9:13am
Adobe connect blows.
Hello,

I used to use Adobe Connect when working with Blackboard - it was okay - kind of rudimentary. Zoom is much smoother. I'd suggest anyone teaching with Zoom have a second monitor so you can still view students in a gallery view using the second monitor while students see the powerpoint or whatever. When I do this, I can do the hands/thumbs up/down thing and see the results. I can also see if someone steps away. It's funny to catch someone stepping away. The first time I did so, I said "Hey Clay, where are you going?" - he was shocked, the other faces starting grinning and laughing but the point was made.

Get a second monitor.
Im not in edjumacation higher or otherwise but in the office I rock 3 monitors and have been getting by with one shitty 12 in laptop screen for the past too long and my productivity is much less.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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gkbill wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 3:11pm
revbob wrote:
28 Apr 2020, 9:13am
Adobe connect blows.
Hello,

I used to use Adobe Connect when working with Blackboard - it was okay - kind of rudimentary. Zoom is much smoother. I'd suggest anyone teaching with Zoom have a second monitor so you can still view students in a gallery view using the second monitor while students see the powerpoint or whatever. When I do this, I can do the hands/thumbs up/down thing and see the results. I can also see if someone steps away. It's funny to catch someone stepping away. The first time I did so, I said "Hey Clay, where are you going?" - he was shocked, the other faces starting grinning and laughing but the point was made.

Get a second monitor.
(1) Blackboard is appalling. We replaced it a few years ago with Brightspace, which is better, but still not all that intuitive (every term, when I set it up, I freeze because I can't remember how to begin). I read once that Blackboard was near the bottom in terms of customer feedback. Hated it and told my students to complain about because it as their tuition money paying for it.
(2) That's great about catching students stepping out. Just like a real classroom, we see everything, you little pishers! I suspect that I'll be going over special etiquette with students in the fall. As in, no, don't be drinking booze during class time or be laying around in bed, just because you're at home. Basically, behave and dress as if you were in an actual classroom. That should be common sense, but I've been reading all kinds of stories about professionals like lawyers addressing judges in their pyjamas.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

revbob
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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I got a few questions for all of you in higher education.

Are your institutions planning to be open for the fall semester?

How are you or your colleagues planning to handle labs, specifically in the fields of biology and chemistry?

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Sorry, I just saw this.

Yup, we're open for business, including summer session courses (which are, duh, distance only). Nothing has been confirmed that the fall will be distance, but we've all been told to prepare for that. I can't imagine it won't be that way. And my guess is that so will winter term even if the legal restrictions are lifted by then because, to my thinking, it's crazy to expect students to move to town for four months of classes in the middle of winter. But that's just my guess.

I'm in humanities, so the disruption to what I do will be minimal (loss of library access means no term papers, for example). People in the sciences are justifiably freaked out. I have no clue how they'll do the stuff that requires hands-on training and evaluating. That's just a nightmare, I'm sure.

Did my first Zoom session. A colleague who is really hesitant about technology and I did a chat and played around with a few options. Went reasonably well. Next time he'll host it so we can each see the other side of the controls. One thing that intrigued me about our conversation is that for all the worries about the lack of personal contact, I wonder whether the experience might be a weird kind of intimacy, in that everyone will seem like they're in the front row. I dunno. I'm not thrilled about distance teaching—as much of an introvert as I am, I genuinely like the interaction with students—but I'm not seeing it as a massive disaster to come.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Yeah my kid is registered for a class, I forget what it is exactly but she is basically taking the class again with a lab because most grad programs shes looking at want it with the lab. She took it like 3 years ago and her advisor at the time told her the lab wasnt needed for what she was planning.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 3:39pm
Yeah my kid is registered for a class, I forget what it is exactly but she is basically taking the class again with a lab because most grad programs shes looking at want it with the lab. She took it like 3 years ago and her advisor at the time told her the lab wasnt needed for what she was planning.
Could be rough. Doesn't hurt, I suppose, for her to email the chair of the department and ask what their plans, even tentative ones, for dealing with courses that have a lab component. Good chance she won't receive a useful answer, but ya never know.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 May 2020, 4:12pm
revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 3:39pm
Yeah my kid is registered for a class, I forget what it is exactly but she is basically taking the class again with a lab because most grad programs shes looking at want it with the lab. She took it like 3 years ago and her advisor at the time told her the lab wasnt needed for what she was planning.
Could be rough. Doesn't hurt, I suppose, for her to email the chair of the department and ask what their plans, even tentative ones, for dealing with courses that have a lab component. Good chance she won't receive a useful answer, but ya never know.
They basically say they are planning to open as usual.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 4:29pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 May 2020, 4:12pm
revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 3:39pm
Yeah my kid is registered for a class, I forget what it is exactly but she is basically taking the class again with a lab because most grad programs shes looking at want it with the lab. She took it like 3 years ago and her advisor at the time told her the lab wasnt needed for what she was planning.
Could be rough. Doesn't hurt, I suppose, for her to email the chair of the department and ask what their plans, even tentative ones, for dealing with courses that have a lab component. Good chance she won't receive a useful answer, but ya never know.
They basically say they are planning to open as usual.
"As usual"? Geez, that's unsettling, especially if there's a good potential for a second wave in the fall.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 May 2020, 5:26pm
revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 4:29pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 May 2020, 4:12pm
revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 3:39pm
Yeah my kid is registered for a class, I forget what it is exactly but she is basically taking the class again with a lab because most grad programs shes looking at want it with the lab. She took it like 3 years ago and her advisor at the time told her the lab wasnt needed for what she was planning.
Could be rough. Doesn't hurt, I suppose, for her to email the chair of the department and ask what their plans, even tentative ones, for dealing with courses that have a lab component. Good chance she won't receive a useful answer, but ya never know.
They basically say they are planning to open as usual.
"As usual"? Geez, that's unsettling, especially if there's a good potential for a second wave in the fall.
This is on Long Island, huge campus, so not like some secluded upstate uni or college. At least she's not living on campus.

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Re: Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School

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revbob wrote:
01 May 2020, 5:29pm
This is on Long Island, huge campus, so not like some secluded upstate uni or college. At least she's not living on campus.
The discussion here is that the only possible on-site teaching would be classes of under 20—so, seminars—that would meet in large lecture theatres so that everyone would have solid space between them. Honestly, I'd rather do it by video than under those conditions. All that echoing and craning around to see people would stink. I really don't see the point of on-site classes until we're basically back to normal via steady testing and/or a vaccine. It's just dumb to jam students into close quarters when we do have reasonable options, even if we all basically agree it's not as good as on-site teaching. (Acknowledging the problem of hands-on activities of labs and the like, of course.)
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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