Are you happy teaching online?

[Malarkey]

Like many, I'm now teaching online. Is this a good thing for you?

[downer]

Yes

[mamselle]

Except for the fact that there's always one side of the keyboard I can't see well, so I have to check fingerings more carefully, yes.

And I wanted to do theory classes but could never convene them easily and now I can.

I have other projects in the works as well.

So, yes.

M.

[spork]

Yes. I no longer have a commute. 

[AmLitHist]

I've loved it since teaching my first online classes in Spring 2005--and even more now.  (And like Spork, the elimination of my long commute is a nice extra benefit.)

[old_hat]

My preference is for in-person teaching, but I would much prefer online teaching to hybrid teaching or teaching in-person without sufficient testing or immunization.

[Parasaurolophus]

Yes and no.

Yes, because I'm working less and working less hard, and don't have to commute.

No, because I just can't duplicate the classroom experience for my students, and online education does my student population no favours. And because it has far fewer rewards than in-person education. I wish I had the energy to work more on my online pedagogy and to put a more concerted effort into making my classes online classes, rather than the replacement remote-learning classes they currently are, but the incentives currently only stack up to 'do a better job than your colleagues'.


I'm not in love with my job in the first place, so I lean more towards 'yes'. If I liked it more, I'd lean more heavily towards 'no'.

[ciao_yall]

No.

It's all of the boring stuff like grading, and none of the fun stuff like hanging out with cool, interesting students.

I miss commuting, people watching, getting coffee and chatting with the nice people at Starbucks, going to the gym at lunch and saying "hi" to all my gym friends.

I miss grabbing lunch and running into colleagues at the local spots, or just walking over with a few folks and dishing the latest. I miss running into colleagues and getting current with them.

[mahagonny]

I can tell you one advantage. Whereas in the old days if I wanted credit for the attending the lecture by The Chair of 'Why White people Suck' Studies  I'd have to sit there in the large room and stay awake. Now it's on zoom.

[fishbrains]

I've loved it since teaching my first online classes in Spring 2005--and even more now.  (And like Spork, the elimination of my long commute is a nice extra benefit.)

Ditto (although I started online teaching in 2003). As mahagonny notes, it's nice not to have to attend meetings in person, and I'm more likely to attend them now. I've also participated in more conferences this year because they are virtual and there's no travel.

In short, online teaching and now working at home fits my generally reclusive personality.

[Puget]

Hell no, and neither are the students. I taught hybrid last semester and the in person students were so much more engaged. I'm the only one teaching in person in my department next semester-- guess who's seminar filled up first and is now over-enrolled?

We did great with covid safety last semester-- 2x week testing, masks, spacing, zero classroom transmission and very low overall positive tests-- so I'm comfortable doing in person.

[clean]

NO
It is a lot more work. My students are not learning as well as they do in person. 

Perhaps this term will be a little different. I will keep better tabs on their progress and the provost has changed the stance on attendance. (NOW we can require attendance at the webex meetings - we were not allowed before.)  We can also NOW require that the students turn on their cameras.  (It was a privacy issue, or so we were told, but we now have available to the students a background so that we can not see their rooms). 

Bottom line:
A LOT MORE work on my end.
Students are not doing the work to keep up, thus not learning the material as they should.
Students were not attending the lecture times, and relying on 'watching the WebEx recordings' that were posted, but they were really only trying to skim them looking for key terms in the transcript to watch snippets of the recording.
MORE WORK on the Students' part (though they have always SUPPOSED to have read the chapters, NOW they NEED to read AND UNderstand what they read!... and they dont!!)

Anyway,  We SHALL SEE what this term has in store!!

[Sun_Worshiper]

I prefer teaching in-person, but there are some things that I like about synchronous online teaching (e.g. no commute, sweatpants).

I am currently teaching in the classroom with a handful of students attending in person and the rest zooming in. This is the worst of both worlds: Commute, lecture to a mostly empty room, mask on, hard to see if/how students are absorbing the material, difficult to facilitate group-work... it is terrible.

[nonsensical]

We can also NOW require that the students turn on their cameras.  (It was a privacy issue, or so we were told, but we now have available to the students a background so that we can not see their rooms). 

That seems to take care of some privacy issues, but not all. For instance, the background wouldn't cover other people who are present, including kids who wander into the frame. There's also a privacy issue due to recording capabilities, even if it's not possible to see what's behind the student. This is directed more at your school than at you, but I'm not quite following their reasoning here.

Teaching seminars online was fine for me. I'd prefer to do it in person with no pandemic, but given the presence of a pandemic, online wasn't terrible. I'm more nervous to teach a lecture course online, though.

[Caracal]

I prefer teaching in-person, but there are some things that I like about synchronous online teaching (e.g. no commute, sweatpants).

Those parts aren't great for my mental health. Sure, lots of days getting dressed in my teaching clothes and coming into campus wasn't particularly exciting many days,  but it provided structure. I don't get the charge of nervousness and excitement teaching on Zoom. Still preferable to worrying about exposure and having to deal with uncertainty. I was very glad I'd opted for all online when a week before the start of this semester hybrid classes moved online till February.