Answering students' questions and concerns
Are you a student with a disability who would like to make me aware of eligibility for any accommodations that you did not previously elect to use for this class?
In a separate email, the administration asked that we include the above question in the survey we sent out to you. Unfortunately, I sent the survey before reading the separate email. (A few of you added it by yourselves. Thanks!) In any event, if you answer to the above question is, was, or would have been "Yes," please feel free to email me privately so that I can make sure all relevant accommodations are being provided.
For the record, as far as I can tell, two of the more common accommodations no longer apply. For one thing, since there are no more lectures, there will no longer be a need for a designated note-taker. If I make videos of me talking through some of the slides, those videos will be available to you for as long as you need -- and of course, you'll be free to pause, rewind, and re-watch as many times as you need. The rest of the "lecture" component of the course will likely take the form of either blog posts or posts in a discussion forum-type thing -- which, again, will be available to you to read for as long as you need.
And for another thing, since all exams will now be take-home exams, the need for extended time should also no longer apply. (Though, if there are other types of issues or circumstances preventing you from finishing an exam in time, just let me know.)
For the record, as far as I can tell, two of the more common accommodations no longer apply. For one thing, since there are no more lectures, there will no longer be a need for a designated note-taker. If I make videos of me talking through some of the slides, those videos will be available to you for as long as you need -- and of course, you'll be free to pause, rewind, and re-watch as many times as you need. The rest of the "lecture" component of the course will likely take the form of either blog posts or posts in a discussion forum-type thing -- which, again, will be available to you to read for as long as you need.
And for another thing, since all exams will now be take-home exams, the need for extended time should also no longer apply. (Though, if there are other types of issues or circumstances preventing you from finishing an exam in time, just let me know.)
How will the "participation" component of the course be handled moving forward?
As I've said, I intend to conduct courses asynchronously. We won't be live-chatting over Zoom or some other application. There won't be a specific time that you're required to log-in and comment. I'm thinking that class discussion will now take something like the form of a subreddit-style forum. Is it ideal? No, of course not. But will it both (a) allow us to do philosophy together, and (b) allow me to keep track of who's participating and who isn't? Yes.
And as far as your grade is concerned, I don't have a particular system or formula in mind. For example, I'm not awarding X number of participation points for every comment you leave in the forum. Obviously, that would only encourage people to leave a bunch of unoriginal, uncritical, devoid-of-any-thought comments consisting of little more than an emoji or two. I take this to be fairly commonsense. If you post really thoughtful comments about each (or most) of the readings, raising useful and insightful questions, posing interesting counter-arguments, etc., that'll earn you a very high score for participation. If you post little or nothing, that'll earn you a very low score.
Also, for the record, even though the course will be conducted asynchronously, there will nonetheless be some sort of time limit placed on your participation in the forum. (For example, I can lock particular threads after a certain amount of time.) So, to be clear, you will not have the option of waiting until the end of the semester and then posting a flurry of comments. I'm not waiting until the first week of May to count up everyone's comments. I'm paying close attention, each week, to who is and is not participating, and to the quality of their participation.
And as far as your grade is concerned, I don't have a particular system or formula in mind. For example, I'm not awarding X number of participation points for every comment you leave in the forum. Obviously, that would only encourage people to leave a bunch of unoriginal, uncritical, devoid-of-any-thought comments consisting of little more than an emoji or two. I take this to be fairly commonsense. If you post really thoughtful comments about each (or most) of the readings, raising useful and insightful questions, posing interesting counter-arguments, etc., that'll earn you a very high score for participation. If you post little or nothing, that'll earn you a very low score.
Also, for the record, even though the course will be conducted asynchronously, there will nonetheless be some sort of time limit placed on your participation in the forum. (For example, I can lock particular threads after a certain amount of time.) So, to be clear, you will not have the option of waiting until the end of the semester and then posting a flurry of comments. I'm not waiting until the first week of May to count up everyone's comments. I'm paying close attention, each week, to who is and is not participating, and to the quality of their participation.
Why NOT do some sort of live-chat or video-conferencing for discussion?
A few reasons.
First, based on the surveys (and also, as probably anyone could've guessed), not everyone has access to the internet at the same times, or with the same quality, as others. Some students said that their internet connection at home is weak and/or spotty. Others said that they'd now have to share a computer with siblings and parents, and could not guarantee that they'd be able to use it at a specific time.
Second, even when all parties involved have decent-to-good internet connections, in my experience, all video chats seems to turn into a laggy disaster, with everyone accidentally talking over everyone else, or not knowing when they're able to talk, etc. There's a funny (until it gets very dark) Key & Peele sketch about this, if you're in the mood.
Finally, over the past few days, I've received 2 or 3 emails about how we're required to make the online version of our courses compliant with the requirements laid out by the Americans with Disabilities Act. And to make a long story short: as it turns out, it's surprisingly difficult to make an online course ADA-compliant. Frankly, I'm still not really sure I've done so. But one thing became abundantly clear after reading those emails: it's especially difficult to make courses ADA-compliant when they include a live-chat or video-conferencing component.
First, based on the surveys (and also, as probably anyone could've guessed), not everyone has access to the internet at the same times, or with the same quality, as others. Some students said that their internet connection at home is weak and/or spotty. Others said that they'd now have to share a computer with siblings and parents, and could not guarantee that they'd be able to use it at a specific time.
Second, even when all parties involved have decent-to-good internet connections, in my experience, all video chats seems to turn into a laggy disaster, with everyone accidentally talking over everyone else, or not knowing when they're able to talk, etc. There's a funny (until it gets very dark) Key & Peele sketch about this, if you're in the mood.
Finally, over the past few days, I've received 2 or 3 emails about how we're required to make the online version of our courses compliant with the requirements laid out by the Americans with Disabilities Act. And to make a long story short: as it turns out, it's surprisingly difficult to make an online course ADA-compliant. Frankly, I'm still not really sure I've done so. But one thing became abundantly clear after reading those emails: it's especially difficult to make courses ADA-compliant when they include a live-chat or video-conferencing component.
How will graded assignments be returned to students?
Great question! I currently have a stack of PHIL 102 exams sitting in my home office. Once I figure out how to use the Moodle grade book, I'll post those grades to Moodle. But of course, I anticipate a handful of you wanting me to explain why you received the grade that you did, and frankly, I'm not entirely sure how to do that at this point. If it's only a few of you, I guess I could scan your exams and send them to you as PDFs, with explanations included in the email. But if it's all 32 of you, I won't be able to do that.
Moving forward, though, all assignments (papers and exams) will be submitted electronically, via email. So, for all of those, I can both (a) post your grade in Moodle, and (b) give feedback via email. I prefer to give feedback using the margin comment function in Microsoft Word. So, if you'd like feedback on any of your assignments, I strongly encourage you to submit the documents as Word files. (This is actually a requirement for the PHIL 102 paper.)
Moving forward, though, all assignments (papers and exams) will be submitted electronically, via email. So, for all of those, I can both (a) post your grade in Moodle, and (b) give feedback via email. I prefer to give feedback using the margin comment function in Microsoft Word. So, if you'd like feedback on any of your assignments, I strongly encourage you to submit the documents as Word files. (This is actually a requirement for the PHIL 102 paper.)
What if students have questions about reading assignments, writing assignments, exams, or other course-related things that they'd rather not post publicly in a discussion forum-type setting?
Email me. It may not be ideal, but it's the best I can do.
I'm worried I won't be able to maintain my typical motivation and focus now that I'm at home, cooped up in a house with siblings and parents, surrounded by old familiar distractions, etc.
I get it. Trust me. I've had to kick the kids out of my office 7 or 8 times just while I've been writing this. One of the foster kids just discovered the world of Star Wars, and he's got a Star Wars-related question to ask me every 10 seconds.
Thankfully, most of you indicated on the survey that you do at least have a quiet place where you can go to do your work, like a bedroom, basement, home office, or whatever. To the few of you who may not have a place to go, I don't really know what to say, except: (1) I'm very sorry; (2) feel free to take advantage of the asynchronous nature of the course, and do your participation very late at night or very early in the mornings, whenever you're less likely to be bothered; and (3) if, after a couple weeks of this, you honestly begin to worry about your ability to do the work and pass the course, just let me know. You may need to either withdraw or switch to a pass/fail option.
For what it's worth, I made it through eight years of graduate school, married for all eight years, and a father for six of them. Not long after becoming a parent, I realized that I could get a kind of "second wind" of energy and focus around 10pm every night. So, I'd spend my evenings hanging out with Molly and the kid(s), and then, once Molly went to bed around 10, I'd sit at the dining room table and work for anywhere from 2 to 6 hours every night. Was it great? No, it definitely was not great, especially since I had to be awake around 6 every morning, changing diapers and preparing to teach. But I made it work. Maybe the late nights won't work for you. But I do hope you're able to find a window of time that does work, at least a couple days a week, for you to read, think, and do a little philosophy with me.
Thankfully, most of you indicated on the survey that you do at least have a quiet place where you can go to do your work, like a bedroom, basement, home office, or whatever. To the few of you who may not have a place to go, I don't really know what to say, except: (1) I'm very sorry; (2) feel free to take advantage of the asynchronous nature of the course, and do your participation very late at night or very early in the mornings, whenever you're less likely to be bothered; and (3) if, after a couple weeks of this, you honestly begin to worry about your ability to do the work and pass the course, just let me know. You may need to either withdraw or switch to a pass/fail option.
For what it's worth, I made it through eight years of graduate school, married for all eight years, and a father for six of them. Not long after becoming a parent, I realized that I could get a kind of "second wind" of energy and focus around 10pm every night. So, I'd spend my evenings hanging out with Molly and the kid(s), and then, once Molly went to bed around 10, I'd sit at the dining room table and work for anywhere from 2 to 6 hours every night. Was it great? No, it definitely was not great, especially since I had to be awake around 6 every morning, changing diapers and preparing to teach. But I made it work. Maybe the late nights won't work for you. But I do hope you're able to find a window of time that does work, at least a couple days a week, for you to read, think, and do a little philosophy with me.
Most/all of our readings are PDFs, and I (a) no longer have access to a printer, and (b) have issues reading things on computer screens.
Once again, I get it. And once again, I'm not really sure what to tell you. If your issues fall into the category of annoying-but-not-necessarily-debilitating, then my only advice is to find ways to cope -- by, e.g., reading in short spurts, transferring the file to an e-reader that isn't back-lit, etc. But if your issues are genuinely debilitating, and you really cannot print anything, email me privately so we can discuss your options.
