Preparing for Coronavirus?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I'm not sure what our university will do considering there is an online petition with over 25,000 signatures on it urging the admins to move classes online. In other news, organizations (local and school-related) have started cancelling events. I just got an email today regarding an April event. Cancelled.

[apl68]

Well, word is out today that we might now have a case in our state.  It's in a city a little closer to us than I anticipated, though still almost two hours away.  Reportedly people are losing their heads there, and the stores are in chaos.  I've been told that I need to buy some cleaning supplies for work this evening.  I hope the hysteria hasn't already resulted in the looting of our local shelves.

[clean]

"Stats software company should just give the product to students!!"

Huh?  I'm not suggesting that software companies should have to give out free stuff because of an emergency. 

What part of "just give the product to students" is NOT suggesting that software companies should give out free stuff?

[science.expat]

I'm on a plane and suffering from hay fever. No one next to me but the folks nearby are unimpressed when I sneeze or blow my nose.

Can't blame them.

[Liquidambar]

"Stats software company should just give the product to students!!"

Huh?  I'm not suggesting that software companies should have to give out free stuff because of an emergency. 

What part of "just give the product to students" is NOT suggesting that software companies should give out free stuff?

You're not using the quote feature very well.  That comment wasn't from me.

ETA:  I mean the first quote wasn't from me.  The second was me.  I replied to your post, clean, because your argument didn't seem to be logically thought out or relevant.  However, I don't really care so am done discussing this topic.

[FishProf]

I have now solved the problems created by my administration in response to Covid-19 five times.  But when we pivot to solve their latest scenario, they change the scenario.

[science.expat]

My place seems to be handling things quite well. Lots of preparation, good communication, and no panic.

[clean]

Quote
"Stats software company should just give the product to students!!"

Quote
Huh?  I'm not suggesting that software companies should have to give out free stuff because of an emergency.


What part of "just give the product to students" is NOT suggesting that software companies should give out free stuff?

You're not using the quote feature very well.  That comment wasn't from me.

Certainly SOME are advocating to "just give products to students"! 

IF there are companies that provide software to your labs, ASK them for or about student packages! They probably already have them available, but they are not likely free! 
I ve been inundated (as I m sure others have) by emails from publishers that are letting me know that they are 'ready to help' as universities go online to deal with redirecting classes to online delivery.

[Aster]

I'm not sure what our university will do considering there is an online petition with over 25,000 signatures on it urging the admins to move classes online. In other news, organizations (local and school-related) have started cancelling events. I just got an email today regarding an April event. Cancelled.

Petitions? Wow.

[spork]

I successfully purchased more coffee beans at the membership club today. Also a very large amount of toilet paper. I had coupons for both and saved $5.

I am now ready for the zombie apocalypse.

[clean]

No travelers from Europe.
No cargo from Europe if I understood, so IF you have anything from there that you want, stock up while you can!

[dismalist]

Glad to hear about no travelers from Europe: No additional visitors to my house, then.

Received eight 250g packets of dried meat filled tortellini [two orders of four] from Italy today, for eating in Brodo or with brand name bottled tomato sauce. Plenty wine from local delivery coming tomorrow.

Am ready to face the music.

[secundem_artem]

The word came down today to move everything to online forthwith.  I have never taught online before so I signed into the training session our IT folk put on this afternoon.

Said training consisted of watching the screen capture of 2 of our geeks zooming around the screen while speaking at the speed of light.  "You can do this neat thing over here!  But not over there!  And be sure to click this thing immediately or it will crash!!  But never do that thing over behind this menu!!  And remember, YOU are the first line of technical support if students are having trouble!" 

Next week is Spring Break.  I was hoping to take a week's vacation time.  Now I get to spend it teaching myself software.  Thanks for nothing. 

[spork]

I have now solved the problems created by my administration in response to Covid-19 five times.  But when we pivot to solve their latest scenario, they change the scenario.

Can you provide details? Similar situation here. For example, administration has directed faculty to prepare for 100% online instruction after spring break. Yet no one has surveyed undergraduates to find out whether they will have enough bandwidth off campus to receive the 50- to 75-minute live-stream video of lectures that many faculty assume equates to "online instruction." No one has considered where or what the students with campus meal plans will eat if they can't return to parental households.

[AmLitHist]

We got a general "while other local schools have gone all-online, we probably won't" email from admin Tuesday evening.  Then late yesterday, department chairs sent an urgent, answer ASAP email to faculty asking what additional resources we would need if we have to go online, which in our place means that the shift is pretty much a done deal.

I'm fine with it (and would actually prefer an all-online teaching option, every semester), but I know the vast majority of my dept. colleagues and others across the district are going to be up the creek if this happens.  The initial email alluded to the need for all faculty to be trained before going online, and since I developed our robust online training program that's still used 7 years later, I know that any such "emergency" training isn't going to be worth the time it takes to muddle through it.  It is what it is, though. 

I feel good about it for my students, because I use Bb so much in my F2F classes that the technical part of it won't be anything new for them.  I'm not going to use Collaborate or taped lectures, though, since I don't say anything in lectures that they can't get from the reading (IF they'd do it), so I'll shift the discussions into reading responses and discussion boards.  Discussion is where our real work gets done in Comp II.

I'm skeptical about our students having the equipment and/or internet at home, though, let alone the bandwidth for the bells and whistles. And knowing our school's infrastructure, even though it's been beefed up as a result of my pushing for it during my brief admin reassignment those years ago, I don't trust that we can realistically expect to avoid frequent and long-duration crashes if we go from maybe 15% of our classes being online to all of them being online.  We'll see.