Colleges moving online because of virus

[natshar]

I'm sure you have heard about the corona virus. Well the brick and mortar college I attend is moving to online for now because of the virus. There many colleges and even some high schools doing the same.

[MrBossmanJr]

Yeah, Boston University moved to online courses as well. I saw on the news that UPenn, Penn State, and Villanova in PA did the same.

[eriehiker]

Most universities in Michigan, including Michigan and Michigan State are going completely online next week. University of Toledo in Ohio is doing the same. Also, Ohio State.

[LevelUP]

European flights all canceled, NBA season canceled. It's getting pretty bad.

[Merlin]

My wife is a college professor and her campus just closed and moved all lectures online. The school and most of the teachers weren't really prepared for this, so I'm sure it has been painful for the administration as well as for the faculty. They're basically having everyone use videoconference software, so all the instructors (and maybe students too) need to pick up webcams if they don't have them already.

Her school does offer a few online courses, but it is mostly a pilot program right now and those courses are pre-built (by the faculty) but using an approach closer to what we're used to seeing at places like Study.com or Straighterline (animated slides and lecture material coupled with textbooks, quizzes, and papers).

I imagine this same scenario is playing out across all these colleges struggling to move all their courses online. It should be interesting to see how things play out. It would be nice to see more schools move to adopt full-time online courses and degree programs as a fallout of this event. I'm also hopeful that something similar will happen with businesses, where they discover that remote workers are actually a positive thing.

[MrBossmanJr]

The positive in this situation is that this might be beneficial to online degree programs as a whole.

[ChilliDawg]

My son is an Engineering student at the University of Northern Florida. They have been told to head home for Spring Break and don't come back until further notice. Classes will resume after the break in an all-online format. My other son attends a private, Liberal Arts college that is relatively small and had been largely resistant to online offerings, and they have long dragged their feet over the prospect of investing in an online delivery platform. My wife is also a staff member at said college. They are in a real dilemma over what to do. They are going to try to use the books and Skype, Slack, etc. Professors are being mandated to come up with their own solutions. All while the parents of students are ringing the phones off the hook wanting their kids sent home, and wanting to know what the school will do to deliver content.

In the meantime, my WGU Grad program chugs along like nothing ever happened. My mentor and I had a great Coronavirus discussion during our weekly call. This pandemic is unfortunate, but I hope we become better and stronger for it. (Bring the medical supply chain back to the U.S., increased acceptance and investment in online education, etc.)

[Supermind]

Harvard announced it is going online once the spring break ends on 22nd March. Students have been asked not to return until further notice. Duke has announced the same.

[Lacedonia4]

I wonder how all this affects tests centers, I posted a thread with this very question, since I haven't seen it discussed it yet.

[Tireman4]

UH is not having classes next week...will go completely online starting March 23rd