What would be a reasonable approach to classroom teaching in the fall?

[spork]

Email from our academic affairs support staff: two out of twenty-four students in one of my fall courses will be completely remote/not on campus at all. So that's 8% already. This is one reason I am designing all my fall courses as 100% online.

[spork]

One person's experience with classroom teaching:

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/07/22/professor-describes-what-its-teach-person-college-classroom-during-pandemic.

[downer]

That makes me very glad I won't be teaching in a classroom this fall.

[Aster]

Yesterday I was at a restaurant and the waiter's mask muffled so much of his speech that I kept asking him to repeat himself. From four feet away.

This was not the first time. No, this happens roughly 1 out of 3 times that I interact with other mask wearers in the retail and services sector. Sometimes, I feel bad about asking people to repeat themselves so much (after the 3rd attempt usually) that I just give up asking and pretend like I understand what they're saying.

For people teaching in the classroom this Fall, perhaps everyone will be yelling at each other to make themselves fully heard through their masks. And then people will still be frustrated by not being able to understand spoken words.

And yet, medical professionals obviously have this figured out. I wonder if they receive some sort of vocational training on how to clearly articulate themselves with a mask on? That would be very valuable to educators, I think. Speech lessons with a mask on.

[polly_mer]

Mask muffling depends heavily on type of mask.  I recently changed from my folded bandana to a manufactured mask and it's a noticeable difference. 

I had as many layers on the bandana as I could get and that actually hindered my breathing as I climbed the stairs to my fifth floor office.  I was quite muffled when talking during meetings.

In contrast, with my purchased mass produced cloth mask, I can breathe easily while climbing the stairs and I don't sound muffled to my own ears at my classroom gets-all-the-way-to-the-back voice.  My conversational voice is slightly muffled so I purposely swap to classroom voice.

[polly_mer]

One person's experience with classroom teaching:

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/07/22/professor-describes-what-its-teach-person-college-classroom-during-pandemic.

That seems like a realistic experience that makes me cringe at the many process failures.

For example, desks should be cleaned at the beginning and end of a session.  Two half-assed efforts (student A leaving at 850 and student B arriving at 955) might come up to OK.

The open seats should be purposely rotated if the room is being used several times per day and the airflow isn't great.  I stood in line yesterday and the BO miasma from the previous occupier of that air meant I stepped sideways several feet instead of standing on the sign for the next ten minutes breathing the same air as the previous occupant.

In addition, the question I kept asking was why this class had to be in person.  A lab, studio, or other hands-on class with equipment might be worth the risk.  This seems like a class that would be fine as synchronous video with breakout rooms.

[spork]

[. . .]

And yet, medical professionals obviously have this figured out. I wonder if they receive some sort of vocational training on how to clearly articulate themselves with a mask on? That would be very valuable to educators, I think. Speech lessons with a mask on.

As polly points out, it's easier to speak and be heard through a surgical mask than a homemade mask of layered fabric or an N95 mask used for painting/construction. Also, unlike most TV and film depictions, interior spaces where medical procedures are performed -- ranging from the office exam room to operating rooms to ICUs -- are far quieter than the typical classroom, with people in much closer proximity to each other. No one is trying to be heard thirty feet away. And one person speaks at a time, people are not talking over each other. Nor are they checking Instagram on their phones. 

[downer]

Also there should be open windows and strong fans blowing air through the room. This will also increase the ambient noise in the room.

If I were to be obliged to be in such a classroom I would use a normal speaking voice. I would recommend that for students who can't hear me, they go home and listen to the recordings I have made available online.

[Stockmann]

Also there should be open windows and strong fans blowing air through the room. This will also increase the ambient noise in the room.

Those are pretty big assumptions - that they have windows that can open and fans.

[Parasaurolophus]

Are fans actually effective at cycling the air, or do they just disperse the droplets even more widely?

[downer]

CDC recommends ventillation:

Increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors if possible, and using fans.

Thus it seems clear that classrooms that can't be ventillated with outdoor air should not be being used.

[polly_mer]

Are fans actually effective at cycling the air, or do they just disperse the droplets even more widely?

Depends on whether there's additional air to exchange (e.g., good open windows that aren't blocked from outside airflow, like building corners or shrubbery) or whether the contaminated air just goes around the room faster.

We tend to live in hot areas and sometimes even a box fan on high in the open window isn't doing much to exchange air in a decent size room if we don't have a setup with two fans, one for intake and one for exhaust, that really do send breeze through the whole room.  Alcoves and corners can clearly have non-exchanged air even with a wind tunnel effect between the two windows. 

Having all the windows be on the same side of the room often means no cross-ventilation (i.e., the highest air exchange) and probably isn't doing a lot for you., even with a fan without some fancy planning.

[kaysixteen]

I see that this author is trying hard to do a good job, but mewonders whether the nature of her school aids her efforts.  My pointr is, Emory-Riddle, given what one studies there and what, I suspect, is the average demographic of the students, people wanting careers such as airline pilot, might well mean that these kids (and some, if not most, may well be slightly older than average, including perhaps a lot of vets), might well be more likely than the average undergrad to be submissive to authority and willing to do a lot of things to, ahem, get with the program.  She described a lot of, quite frankly, rather authoritarian and intrusive demands she herself, let alone the uni, was making on the students in the class, and I am not at all sanguine that many students, either those at elite slacs or mass enrollment state unis, would be willing to do so, esp after the first couple of  days of the semester.  Indeed, she said she sprayed sanitizer on the students' hands as they exited the classroom.  What would she have done with a student who did not want to be sanitized?  Heck, she cannot even know that any given student might not have some medical, or even religious, reason that they would not want to have someone forcibly sanitize them?

[AvidReader]

I'm starting to prepare for my fall semester, which is currently supposed to be in-person with half capacity. While I'm hoping the college will end up making things fully online (fingers crossed!), I want to be as well-prepared as possible for the classroom.

I definitely want to buy a mask (or several) to replace the handmade masks I currently use for my few excursions. I know any mask will reduce clarity. I'm keenly interested in the masks with windows I see on Amazon and Etsy, but can't tell if those would have too many gaps and/or fog up with breath and speech. Has anyone here tried a version of a clear mask?

I've also seen microphone suggestions (I think here, but the Coronavirus threads blur together). I have used a large recording microphone for online classes in the past, but have trouble imagining that in a classroom. Those of you recommending microphones, what sort of setup do you envision? Lapel mics connected to the classroom projector, or bring your own amp to class?

AR.

[Dismal]

I'm teaching one class online and a second smaller class in person.  The second class might only have 8-10 students and I have been assigned to a larger room.  I originally was not planning on teaching in person because we were told that all students must have access to synchronous or asynchronous content if they could not attend class, and that seemed like doing extra work to do that well.  Then I was told that there was no expectation that we teach in person AND provide content to folks at home beyond just posting the slides.  I actually look forward to teaching this small class in person.

Now I see that I have been assigned to a room with fancy new technology (a camera that follows me as I walk around!  Mics hanging from the ceiling so that the students at home can hear the class discussion!).  Apparently the IT guys think I will be teaching both in person and synchronously which I don't think I will do well.  The problem is that my online class and my in-person class are right after each other so I wouldn't have much time to set things up in the fancy room and I don't have a TA for that class.