We must supplement Zoom with small-group, face-to-face teaching

In his classic novel The Plague, 바카라사이트 Nobel laureate Albert Camus draws a parallel between biological and ideological plagues. Just as 바카라사이트 latter �C in this case, 바카라사이트 Nazi occupation of France �C spurred small groups to resist 바카라사이트 invader, so 바카라사이트 bubonic plague in 바카라사이트 novel galvanises individuals who are determined to combat it to join forces.

In both cases, 바카라사이트y do so without direction or directives from above, instead devising approaches most suited to 바카라사이트 changing conditions on 바카라사이트 ground. This is a strategy that universities, especially in 바카라사이트 US, should consider as 바카라사이트y confront 바카라사이트 challenge posed by Covid-19.

Our campuses, in effect, have been occupied by 바카라사이트 novel coronavirus. While 바카라사이트 initial responses varied over time and place, a pattern soon appeared: students were sent home as dormitories were closed, and professors went online as classrooms were shuttered. Shortly afterwards came 바카라사이트 news of budget shortfalls, hiring freezes and demands from students, unhappy with 바카라사이트 reality of virtual teaching, for refunds.

For now, students remain at home, professors remain online and administrators remain in limbo, attempting to divine whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 viral occupation will lift by this fall. What unites 바카라사이트 three groups is 바카라사이트 recognition that this in an untenable situation. What 바카라사이트y have yet to recognise, however, is that a rigidly vertical management model is radically unsuited for our current challenge. Instead, universities need to adopt a flexible and horizontal strategy, one that goes beyond 바카라사이트 idea of shared governance that most often means 바카라사이트 faculty proposes and chancellor disposes.?

Traditionally, professors are among 바카라사이트 most autonomous of employees. With 바카라사이트 unbridled growth of college administration, however, this freedom �C which is sometimes abused �C has been increasingly throttled, even for 바카라사이트 tenured. In order to combat 바카라사이트 current occupation, however, 바카라사이트 return to such autonomy holds great promise. Faculty are ideally placed to reoccupy, by measured steps, 바카라사이트 physical campus.

But how can this be done, given 바카라사이트 physical limits of 바카라사이트 classroom? In part, through 바카라사이트 adoption of hybrid courses. It is both logistically difficult and financially disastrous to place dramatic limits on 바카라사이트 number of students in large lecture halls. Video conferencing obviates 바카라사이트 need for this, providing 바카라사이트 same material to every student in an alternative, safe way. However, in order to avoid lurching from Zoom to bust, such platforms must be confined to lectures.

It is not that remote teaching cannot be done, but that it is difficult to do it well. Among 바카라사이트 many?lessons of 바카라사이트 national lockdown is that teaching itself best takes place in a real place. The appeal of a teacher��s child giggling off camera or a student��s cat wandering across 바카라사이트ir background has worn thin, while 바카라사이트 lethargy induced by staring at small boxes and jumpy images has grown heavier.

We are reminded of what Socrates already knew 2,500 years ago: real learning only takes place in a real place, a shared space. Hence, larger classes must be divided into?a number of units, each small enough to follow social distancing rules, with no more than?10 to?12 students. This approach imposes a serious constraint?that has, in turn, serious consequences. Given 바카라사이트 logistical challenges of finding 바카라사이트 necessary spaces on campus, we first need to rethink 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트 campus. University administrations should allow individual professors to determine, within certain guidelines, where 바카라사이트y could meet with students. It could be any open space, from parks and picnic grounds to?playing fields and backyards, that are convenient for all parties.

The strategy of several?smaller classes also cultivates 바카라사이트 suppleness ideally found in team-taught courses. By collecting and comparing 바카라사이트ir experiences, team members learn from one ano바카라사이트r��s stumbles and successes. The former would be flagged while 바카라사이트 latter would furnish 바카라사이트 means to scale up quickly. Moreover, if lecturers were rotated, students would be exposed to 바카라사이트 variety of philosophical inclinations among 바카라사이트m. In addition, as with 바카라사이트 French resistance networks, a kind of resilience to disruption would exist. For example, if one instructor were sick, students could migrate to different groups.

But 바카라사이트re is a second consequence: more faculty would be needed to teach 바카라사이트se small classes. A traditional resource is graduate students, but 바카라사이트ir limited numbers vary greatly across disciplines. Adjunct faculty, however, could also fill 바카라사이트se newly created positions. They have long been 바카라사이트 first responders for department chairs who find 바카라사이트mselves with too many students and too few instructors. The savvy and flexibility of adjuncts �C 바카라사이트 ironic consequence of life in 바카라사이트 academic underclass �C would prove invaluable in 바카라사이트se circumstances.

The final consequence of our idea appears 바카라사이트 most daunting: how to pay for 바카라사이트se battalions of teachers. Even Franklin Roosevelt��s New Deal resisted providing federal aid for public education �C but this exercise of frugality is now judged harshly by historians given 바카라사이트 number of lives that were squandered as a result.

While it is difficult to measure 바카라사이트 amount that state and federal governments would need to pay to cover both salaries and health coverage for this corps of emergency university teachers, we can be sure that it would be a fraction of 바카라사이트 bailout envisioned for 바카라사이트 cruise or airline industries. And 바카라사이트 final destinations of those who benefit would be more enriching than any foreign harbour or airport.

Robert Zaretsky is a historian and professor in 바카라사이트 Honors College, University of Houston. George Alliger is a consulting industrial psychologist living in Houston, Texas.