Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[OneMoreYear]

The best solution is no mask.

Administration has lost their mind on that suggestion.

Anyone got popcorn?

I wear a mask with a clear center so students can read my lips. Would that be acceptable?

[OneMoreYear]

Sorry, double post for my own bang your head moment with a similar issue.

Student is now requesting my "lecture notes" prior to class as an accommodation.
I'm going to consult with my chair and the accessibility office. But even if I was willing to provide them, many of my notes are mostly a class plan: do mini lecture on X (in which I've already uploaded the powerpoint slides); do activity 1. Review activity, do activity 2. remember to discuss Z.

[FishProf]

The best solution is no mask.

Administration has lost their mind on that suggestion.

Anyone got popcorn?

I wear a mask with a clear center so students can read my lips. Would that be acceptable?

According to the Accessibility folks, the masks did not help this student (fogging, transparent =/= clear etc).  I asked my Union leaders who, JUST YESTERDAY, said faculty CANNOT be compelled to wear a mask, and they suggested I go to the President to request he lift the mask mandate campus-wide.  SRSLY?

I'm a bit surprised there isn't an ADA override of the policy being suggested.

[Chemystery]

It's so someone somewhere else can listen in and transcribe for the student who has some hearing impairment.

I am meeting with the Accessibility Director this afternoon.  She is usually reasonable and helpful.

On my campus, the solution to this problem would be to pay one of the other students in the class a small stipend to copy their class notes for the student each day.  I understand that is not the same as a word-for-word transcription of everything you say in class, but it feels like the proposed solution is just using technology to make the situation far more complicated than it needs to be.   

[the_geneticist]

It's so someone somewhere else can listen in and transcribe for the student who has some hearing impairment.

I am meeting with the Accessibility Director this afternoon.  She is usually reasonable and helpful.

It's odd that the CART person is able to be remote, but that seems reasonable. Your student won't be on Zoom (I assume).  The transcription person will be typing in real time and your student will get a transcript from a software program.  You could just have the audio available on Zoom and only to the transcription person. No video needed.
It's really not noticeable since it just looks like the student is taking notes on a laptop.

[mamselle]

Isn't there closed captioning on your software?

They could just take notes from that, presumably, at least, unless they need the full transcript to study from, I guess.

M.

[FishProf]

Isn't there closed captioning on your software?

So, yes.  When I am actually using a computer to give a presentation.  Which is only ~ 1/2 the time.

Today, for example, is a chalk talk.  NO tech needed.

Except now, I have to have tech.   So someone can listen (but not watch) and try to transcribe  what I am saying.

We'll see how that goes.

[AvidReader]

In 2020 I taught hy-flex classes with Google Meet. It was awful for teaching, but it did have very good automatic captions and in my classroom it picked up a lot of the words from students who were attending in person and not particularly close to the microphone. I wonder if you could log in to a meeting, point the camera at a wall, and let the auto-captions generate behind you?

AR

[OneMoreYear]

Some automatic captions are reasonable and some are awful (one set of auto-captions for a lecture, for some reason, decided that there were multiple times I was saying vulgar words for people's anatomy, which was NOT a part of my lecture on research methods).
At my Uni, the automatic captions are not ADA compliant if the student has an accommodation for CART, closed captioning, or other types of transcripts. Rules could be different elsewhere. We are told we can use them in a pinch, but not as a consistent option.

[downer]

I changed the microphone I was using and the automatic captions improved too!

[FishProf]

I used the Zoom setup and the captioner did a great job, apparently, as my student is very pleased. 

Its not ideal, but I didn't have to change the way I teach, so Win-Win.

[OneMoreYear]

I used the Zoom setup and the captioner did a great job, apparently, as my student is very pleased. 

Its not ideal, but I didn't have to change the way I teach, so Win-Win.

This is the best possible outcome. You could teach the class in the manner is most effective for teaching the class and the student got the supports they needed to access the class. win-win indeed!

[mamselle]

Bien fait.

M.

[the_geneticist]

I used the Zoom setup and the captioner did a great job, apparently, as my student is very pleased. 

Its not ideal, but I didn't have to change the way I teach, so Win-Win.

This is the best possible outcome. You could teach the class in the manner is most effective for teaching the class and the student got the supports they needed to access the class. win-win indeed!

Excellent!  Let the accommodations folks know that this worked very well for both you and the student.  That way they will do it the same way the next time or in other classes.

[the_geneticist]

Arghhh!
The new equipment we ordered for the teaching labs, which was supposed to arrive over a month ago, is now back-ordered.  Were we told? Nope!
Do I have to redo the lab curriculum? Yes!