Stanford Shuts Down Traditional Classes, Moves Online

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Coronavirus-live-updates-Six-dead-in-Washington-15100710.php

 

I don't think anyone ever imagined that a pandemic would shift the education world into DL mode.

 

here's a roundup of "corona virus and higher education" for the week

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/03/06/roundup-weeks-news-about-colleges-and-coronavirus

 

Yet another announcement: Because of the coronavirus, next week has ben cancelled.

A shame, since last week was such fun.

As George Carlin said, "I kinda like it when a lot of people die."

Or, to quote Tevye in Fiddler On the Roof, "Die-dee-die-dee-digga-digga-dum."

Besides, who cares how many people die in Washington state? The only thing Washington ever gave us is Starbucks. They deserve to die for making us use the word venti.

 

So what will all the snobby Stanford students (who've never taken an online class but are sure they're all garbage and have vowed to never take one) do now?

 

Without checking I'd say that Stanford has few, if any online offerings. Certainly no online degree programs. Perhaps they will all graduate with an asterisk on their diplomas.

 

Stanford actually offers 11 masters degree programs. 10 of the 11 are through the School of Engineering. It is worth mentioning they have disclaimers stating that there is a possibility not all course requirements can be completed online. So take it for what it is. LOL

https://online.stanford.edu/programs?credentials[101]=101

 

Yes, you're right. Next time I should check first.

 

https://teachanywhere.stanford.edu/

Reportedly, Stanford has two students under quarantine for suspected exposure. (I don't believe that test results are back yet.) So the fear is that coronavirus already is in the Stanford community. They obviously want to slow its spread if it is.

https://healthalerts.stanford.edu/

They are also encouraging faculty and staff to telecommute and to work from home.

Stanford is on the quarter system and the Winter quarter is winding up. Only two weeks are left. So all of these students have already attended most of their classes in person and most of what's left are final exams and term papers and stuff like that. So no asterisks (yet).

The larger concern that I would have is the fact that the great majority of Stanford students (undergraduate and graduate) live on campus in a collection of very nice (everything at Stanford is very nice) residences, which often have themes and group students with similar interests together. So... even if they aren't walking over to class, the students are still going to be on campus and will still be in close proximity, unless they send all the students away.

The purple areas on the map below are student residences, dining facilities and associated amenities.

 

Pretty much all of the universities in Tacoma WA are joining the sudden headlong rush to going entirely DL. University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran U. and the U. of Washington's Tacoma campus are all doing it.

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article241015121.html

 

I would be interested how many times there will be a student who was doing well in class and then fails a now DL class and how the college plans to address that. It is one thing for a student to know at the onset they will be a distance student, but with a sudden change and no choice seems to be an interesting dynamic.

 

Well, I am going to assume if a student is intelligent enough to get admitted to Stanford, they should be intelligent enough to successfully complete a course via Distance Learning. There will certainly be a handful who are not, but for the most part, I do not see a major influence in terms of course grades for the student body.

 

Say, Dr. Levicoff, have you seen or heard any part of the Yiddish "Fiddler"? It will never go on the road, I'm sure, but I'd love to see it.

 

I'd be more worried about whether all those stuffy old professors can handle their end of the deal. The students were born with a tablet, the instructors not so much. I'll bet that there will be a whole lot of leniency in the grading this year.

 

I’m not sure that’s really fair. Transitioning a class to DL is less about technology barriers than it is changing the instructional methodology. Recording lectures is simple and will be easy for an institution such as Stanford. The rest, can be challenging for anyone used to traditional models.

 

This week is the last week of Winter quarter classes at Stanford. Next week is final exams. So all that's needed is delivering the last two or three lectures somehow (text or video lectures), administering exams online and students submitting term papers electronically as files. It doesn't sound like a huge challenge (many Stanford professors are scholars at the top of their game and the students are highly selected and no doubt already familiar with familiar applications of computers.

Stanford already has backup plans in place for professors to move classes online in case of anything from natural disasters to professors' family emergencies. They use Zoom and I suspect that many classes already have various online components.

For students

https://healthalerts.stanford.edu/2020/03/08/how-to-attend-classes-online-using-zoom-in-canvas/

For professors

https://teachanywhere.stanford.edu/

Stanford is saying that test results on the two students aren't back yet. The Stanford Hospital has a small number of cases sent to it from the surrounding Silicon Valley area, and one Clinical Professor of Medicine has tested positive as well and is in isolation.

They are "still assessing" what to do about spring quarter.

While classes have been moved online, research activity continues. They say, "Graduate students and postdocs can continue their research, including lab activities, unless you are sick, immuno-compromised or have other individual circumstances that should be discussed with your advisor or PI."

https://healthalerts.stanford.edu/2020/03/08/updates-on-self-isolating-students-campus-operations-student-travel-planning/