How are we going to deal with grades? This has garnered a lot of attention since COVID-19 struck. Over on the AP side people wonder if colleges will give credit? Do the tests mean anything? What about the material they won't be testing? We also have had standardized tests canceled and a variety of grading policies. I'm going to stay away from AP this time around - you all know my feelings about the college board.

I taught my first two online classes this morning. The first one from 8:10 - 9:25 and the second from 9:45 - 11:00. Toolset: Zoom meetings Emacs (yes, not just an editor) First up Zoom. I think I want a video camera on policy. All my students should have laptops with working cameras. Some students might have issues with showing even a small bit of what's behind them so I don't want to make it required but I really wish they'd also have cameras on.

Hunter's classes are still on hiatus while we figure out how we're going to deliver instruction remotely. I have it easier than most. First, my students all get laptops as being part of the Daedalus program. This doesn't mean they have great internet access or access at all but it does mean they have a device that can run everything we need them to run. I don't yet know if they all have adequate internet access but I'm hoping it's either not an issue or one that we can easily figure out.

Austin Cory Bart tweeted this a little while ago. I don't always consider how much power I have as a faculty. Right now, I'd really like to expend that power to make my students understand that I don't want them focused on my course during a global pandemic. Not right now. Later, but not right now. — Austin Cory Bart (@AustinCorgiBart) March 13, 2020 While Cory's right about this it's also good to remember that as we're all going remote, focusing on our courses can be important for our students not merely due to content but in this time of uncertainty to have something to focus on to remind us of community and remind us of normal.

I've been seeing some tweets over the past couple of days about the wonders of online teaching. How it's at least as good or better than in person or how we should have been doing it all along. Rubbish. If you say that online is better than in person that says more about the (low) quality of your teaching than it does about the quality of online tech teaching resources.