MIT moves all classes online for the rest of the semester

Post by thulecitizen » Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 10:49 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #95

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…

> If there is no refund being offered for the content shifting online from in-person, why have in-person at all? There isn't really a good reason other than some people being more disciplined when there's a human instructor that they see face to face every couple days. Plenty of people self-teach from MOOCs, MIT OCW, or just buying the textbooks and working through the exercises and get just as good an education. Whe…

Post by chrisco255 » Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 10:50 PM UTC

smallgovt wrote: post #94

PureParadigm wrote: post #50

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 assignment…

Actually, I think it's likely going to be seen as an overreaction in hindsight by the general public (even though it may not be). If these actions are successful in curbing the virus' spread, most people won't appreciate how bad things could have really gotten.

Post by ajross » Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 10:50 PM UTC

r00fus wrote: post #86

tekacs wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re providing packing materials and helping with the move. Financially, they say: > We understand that being asked to leave campus may pose a serious financial hardship for certain individuals. Students will receive a follow up communication on this matter. It’s unclear what their solution is, but they seem to have thought about it...

The unclarity is unsettling. I imagine many will want to fly back to their parents home but may be barred from doing so. Was evicting a large populace a good idea? Aren't there other options?

Post by chrisseaton » Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 10:51 PM UTC

rurp wrote: post #91

tekacs wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re providing packing materials and helping with the move. Financially, they say: > We understand that being asked to leave campus may pose a serious financial hardship for certain individuals. Students will receive a follow up communication on this matter. It’s unclear what their solution is, but they seem to have thought about it...

It would be nice if they had thought about it enough to offer some sort of concrete solution. I can only imagine how stressful and infuriating the situation MIT is imposing on its students must be for many of them.

Post by chrisco255 » Tue, Mar 10, 2020, 10:52 PM UTC

better_names wrote: post #98

> to slow a spreading virus like COVID-19 The naming of this thing is such a disaster, even MIT can't get it right. - the virus is called SARS-CoV-2 (like HIV) - the disease it causes is named COVID-19 (like AIDS) - pretty much everyone calls both the virus and the disease coronavirus