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MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

web.mit.edu

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Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#41

Post by neltnerb »

aquova wrote: post #22

I can see why the university is taking the actions that it is doing, but on the other hand, if I were still and undergrad, and suddenly told that I had to pack up all my stuff and move within the next 3 days, I can only imagine the chaos that entails. Every student on campus now has to suddenly not only find a place to stay, but also a way to move everything on short notice.

during midterms. with the expectation that either they or parents are rich enough to afford flights somewhere else on three day notice.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#42

Post by Jtsummers »

colechristensen wrote: post #11
JPKab wrote: post #2

One of my coworkers daughters is affected by this. The big question this begs: If there is no refund being offered for the content shifting online from in-person, why have in-person at all? Is room and board going to be refunded? If courses being taught online is an acceptable substitute, why have caps on admission at all? Edit: Understood that infinite sized classes aren't workable for human intensive grading, inter…

A university education is not a SaaS product. We are getting to the point where lectures should be mandated to be recorded and put into the public domain, and the University's value proposition in admission, tuition, and residence should be the everything else involved which could raise the focus away from re-doing the same lectures over and over.

There's a lot of value in running through the lecture live with a new class. Different students, different needs.

If my undergrad CS Theory prof had used recorded lectures, it would've been great for 5 of us, and terrible for the other 30 or so. There were sections that they just did not get and needed repetition or clarifying examples. What's more, the students often don't know what they aren't understanding (sometimes they do, but often not). So they don't know how to ask for clarification because they don't know what needs clarification.

Waiting for test, quizzes, or homeworks is often too late. What worked out well for my classmates was the help of the professor and a couple of us who got the material faster. The three of us could observe the class and identify what material (by non-verbal reaction or by questions) needed to be delved into more. Try doing that with a set of recorded lectures.

In the end, perhaps you have a sufficiently complete set of recorded lectures that cover everything. But you still have the challenge of identifying what students need help with and helping them immediately, instead of failing a large portion of a class and hoping you do better the next time.

I mean, this is literally the waterfall vs agile debate. Classrooms are agile and responsive to student needs, recorded lectures are not.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#43

Post by [deleted] »

JPKab wrote: post #2

One of my coworkers daughters is affected by this. The big question this begs: If there is no refund being offered for the content shifting online from in-person, why have in-person at all? Is room and board going to be refunded? If courses being taught online is an acceptable substitute, why have caps on admission at all? Edit: Understood that infinite sized classes aren't workable for human intensive grading, inter…

[deleted]

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#44

Post by akhilcacharya »

It's interesting that Harvard and MIT have done this. UW makes a little bit more sense, but the scale of the known outbreak in Cambridge isn't nearly as large at the moment (I live in Kendall Square and work next to MIT).

Interestingly, UMass Boston still hasn't done this despite having a student confirmed with it a few weeks ago. I wonder if the administrations believe Columbia/Stanford/MIT/Harvard students deserve more protection or something - that sort of attitude wouldn't surprise me.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#45

Post by jacquesm »

aquova wrote: post #22

I can see why the university is taking the actions that it is doing, but on the other hand, if I were still and undergrad, and suddenly told that I had to pack up all my stuff and move within the next 3 days, I can only imagine the chaos that entails. Every student on campus now has to suddenly not only find a place to stay, but also a way to move everything on short notice.

It's a very smart decision. You have to imagine the chaos that entails vs the chaos that could entail if they didn't. Err on the side of caution with this stuff.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#46

Post by pkaye »

teachrdan wrote: post #37
pkaye wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean less privileged MIT students? I though MIT is pretty good about giving scholarships and grants to those who are admitted. If your family income is below some threshold they fully cover the costs.

I think the point was, what happens to working class or poor students who don't have a stable home--with broadband, adequate study space, food, etc--to go back to? Those needs were covered by MIT while the students were on campus; will they be covered by MIT now that students are forced to leave? If not, it seems like this is a ham-fisted response that ignores the needs of students who don't come from comfortable bac…

The can make exceptions to allow students to stay:

> Students who do not have a home to go to, or for whom going home would be unsafe given the circumstances of their home country or homelife.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#47

Post by xenihn »

aquova wrote: post #22

I can see why the university is taking the actions that it is doing, but on the other hand, if I were still and undergrad, and suddenly told that I had to pack up all my stuff and move within the next 3 days, I can only imagine the chaos that entails. Every student on campus now has to suddenly not only find a place to stay, but also a way to move everything on short notice.

Beats getting quarantined.

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#49

Post by capkutay »

whymauri wrote: post #17
kasey_junk wrote: post #12

This seems like its likely to have dramatically more serious consequences for the less privileged students. Lots of people don’t have a place other than school they can live & be successful.

There are students at MIT/Harvard that will temporarily be rendered homeless. Some are depending on the generosity of local friends/classmates to find temporary lodging. It's getting kinda wild.

can you please not spread misinformation. there's obviously exceptions in the policy for such cases. they're not going to toss students to the street. the goal is to drastically reduce the number of students living on campus and sharing dorm space (rooms, bathrooms/showers, eating halls).

Re: MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

#50

Post by PureParadigm »

I think large decisive moves like this may seem to some to be an overreaction, but it will prove to be the correct decision in hindsight (like the early travel bans). Exponential growth is real, and anything we can do to slow the rate of infection will save lives.

As a current undergrad at UC Berkeley, they've moved all classes here online [1], and exams are either being postponed or converted to take-home assignments. I'm currently accessing lectures through Zoom.

[1] https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/03/09/as-coronavirus-spreads-...

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