Suspending Classes Without Stopping School

For the executive director of online operations at Sam Houston State University in Texas, the coronavirus threat has meant dusting off their "academic continuity plan" from Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

                      (“Six Ways Universities are Responding to Coronavirus,   NPR, 3/6/20)

Ahh yes!  The old “Academic Continuity Plans” from my days as an administrator.  For the uninitiated, “Academic Continuity Plans” (ACPs) are plans written in a vacuum, about problems that are abstract, for an audience that is completely undefined.  They might address hurricane disruptions or terrorist threats.  They also address viral outbreaks.  I remember sitting in a meeting in Florida, as one of the administrators proudly announced that she, following her ACP, had recently purchased 100 respirators for when Bird Flu become more lethal.  When asked who was going to run the respirators, she seemed surprised to learn that pulmonary specialists were needed to manage that level of care.  I think she pictured them being run by an RA, not realizing that they weren’t something that the average Resident Assistant might be comfortable operating. 

So, how did Jiaotong deal with the outbreak?  Did they consult an ACP, or did they move more organically?  My gut is it was an organic move. At the same time, I have no complaints in how it all unfolded, and think that it probably offers a better game plan than trying to speculate in 50 page report about what might or might not happen after this or that outcome.  

If there was a plan, here is my guess at what it mighthave looked like:

This is the picture taken of a dorm room
 in Gengdan  University (Beijing).
 My students say it is quite similar in Jiaotong

Step 1:  Determine the threat level.

Chinese student dorm rooms are cozy, to put it kindly.  Four to six students share a bunked room.  Desks are crammed into the room, as well, so students study and sleep in very close quarters. (This isn’t that different from the recent moves in the UC system to house all of the first year students on campus.)  Suffice it to say, close quarters is not ideal for healthy students.

Last term, I assigned my students a persuasion paper.  The prompt was:

The University has been granted 70 million yuan ($10 million dollars).  Write a persuasive essay to the University’s Chancellor that argues for the improvement of one aspect of the living experience on campus. 

 Some students called for a Student Union.  Others asked for better food and lab space. But far and away, the most common call was for better resident halls.  When you read what life is like for the students, you can see how soft American students are!

One student explained that each room has 4 people living in a single room in double-bunk beds. “We study and live in that room.  If one student gets sick, everyone else pays the price.”   

Another pointed to the inherent problem with the bathrooms:

“Bathrooms should be equipped with a shower and hot water.  In the student dorms, there is no shower.  Students must walk across campus to take a shower at the public bath.  The public bath is very cold, and you have to wait in long lines for the shower.  The dormitory’s location is so far from the public baths that some students just take their shower in the washroom.  They use a big bucket to collect water.  This is responsible for a large majority of students need[ing] to wait for the students to finish gathering the water.  This takes too much time.  Especially at night, I usually see there are a large number of students waiting for water receiving in my dormitory. Also, because of the lack of waterproof layer on each floor, when the students collect water, the ceiling of the room downstairs is always dripping.  Besides, the hot water quickly runs out, and the temperature is very cold.  What’s more when we push the button (I think she means flush) there is always a bad smell from our toilet.  ”

The essay continues describing the fact that the buildings are 10 stories high, but only one of the seven halls has an elevator. 

“During the time that I had pneumonia, it was very difficult for me to get to the seventh floor in a short time.  I always had to take many breaks in the stairwell. For students who break their legs or have some other disease, elevators play an important role.”

The student concludes: 

“In order to provide a groovy and comfortable study environment, the University must improve dormitory facilities by upgrading the bathrooms, building showers that are not outside and building elevators.  If not, the living conditions will influence the students’ health and happiness.  When given a choice between saving the school money and supporting students, the latter must always come first.”

(Unrelated to close quarters, this is a grade
board, posted in the entry foyer.  They are
The averaged grades of the 4 people in the
room.  Basically Peer Pressure exerted by
roommates to get your grades higher!)

So, if Step #1 in the school’s contingency plan is to determine the threat level, the dorms clearly are a risk.   Nursing homes, hospitals and student living-quarters are all places that are ripe for contagion.  When we received notice that the schools would be closed indefinitely, it seemed a bit extreme. But, with close quarters like these, it was probably wise. Residence Halls finally are petri dishes for infectious disease.

Step #2:  Offer on-line classes. 

A letter was sent out via WeChat to all of the teaching faculty announcing that the school would  “suspend classes without stopping school.”  The teachers – Chinese and foreign, alike  –  were puzzled by the paradox.  At that time there were no on-line platforms in-use at the school.  We received a link to a downloadable program called   "Rain" that was built by the faculty at Tsinghua University.  David and I dutifully downloaded it.  However before we had played around to see how it worked, we were told that the Chinese faculty had a day-long seminar on it, and were confused by all of its widgets.  Both Dave and I found it extremely glitchy, particularly the English language version. 

So Step #3: Backtrack!

After the Chinese teachers’ training seminar, a note was sent to the English-language faculty saying that although the school would suspend-classes-without-stopping-school, school would stop for us.  We could have a holiday, until further notice.  At this point, some of my colleagues decided to return to the states.  Dave and I, however noticed that some expat websites were starting to talk about using Zoom, which is a US-based meeting platform.  I used it a couple times at a previous job.  Dave and I downloaded that program and started running practice meetings with each other to see how the program worked.  I sent out a note to the other faculty saying that the program was quite robust and would be happy to help others figure out how it works.  I got a funny note back from one of our expat friends:

“Hi Wendy, I think this current situation has revealed our real characters.  You and David are clearly calm and rational, I’m reckless an abrasive, while others are panickers.  I think this is even clearer when it comes to the teaching issues.  It really reveals our professional attitudes.  You’ve clearly gone into Dean mode, finding ways to solve the problem.  I’ve gone into union official mode:  nothing new unless the contract is renegotiated and my members are paid more for taking on management roles.  In another life, we might have crossed swords across the negotiating table….”

Ha -- Truth! 

Although we may have looked like problem-solving deans, the fact of the matter was that I had used the program before. At the time, we were confined. Dave was bored.  I was bored. The students were bored. If it worked at all, that would be a higher bar than what the teachers had set for us – which was to sit and wait for the disease to blow over.  (For the record, that is another “Dean trick”:  under promise so the bar is set incredibly low. Then any success is a win!)

 We are now three weeks into the semester, and Dave and I are living the paradox:  “suspending-school-without-stopping classes."  I teach two classes on Tuesdays and Thursday.  Dave teaches one on Saturday.

  Zoom is an electronic room that students sign into.  You can talk to your students, and they can talk to you.  You can upload a PowerPoint, and there is a blackboard that you – or they—can write on.   You can even  put students in small discussion rooms and then pop in and see if they are actually discussing anything.  Dave entered one, and found them all speaking Chinese -- for which he reprimanded them.

Here, you can see some pictures of my Zoom classroom.  

In the Black boxes, you can see the students with their English names, class name and ID number.  I can ask them to turn on their videos so that we can see each other.  I however don't require it because the internet system is very sketchy here, and with all of the new on-line classes that are being offered, it quickly becomes unstable.  They therefore keep their videos off when I'm presenting my PPT.  They then turn it back on, when we discuss something.

The instability of the system is a drawback.  Articles have been published by the Government worrying about the viability of the Internet with so many schools using WiFi.  The Education Ministry has banned Training Schools from teaching on-line to protect bandwidth for credit-bearing schools and Universities like Jiaotong. 

In the slide above, you can see my Power Point.  I asked my students to answer the following:

1.   "What they learned last term?"  

2.  "What they found surprising about the way I teach"  

3.  "What they would like me to do differently" and 

4.   "What they are going to do differently now that they know how I teach."

  I ask them to write it long hand, and then take a picture and send it to me through "We Chat." This allows 2-way communication in the classroom, which keeps the students engaged.   Below are some responses.

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Due to our flexibility and willingness to jump in, Dave and I were written up in a report to the administration of the school. 

    自2月17日开始，外国语学院英语系全体教师响应学校“停课不停学”的号召，积极开展网上教学。英语系的多名外籍教师，更是克服了语言和设备等方面的障碍，主动要求从第一周开始就通过综合运用多个网络平台，开辟出了高效而气氛热烈的专业课堂。

[GoogleTranslate:  Since February 17th, all teachers of the English Department of the School of Foreign Languages ​​have actively responded to the school's call for "suspending classes without stopping school" and actively launched online teaching.  Many foreign teachers in the English Department have overcome the obstacles in language and equipment, and actively requested that from the first week, a comprehensive and efficient use of multiple network platforms be opened up to create efficient and enthusiastic professional classrooms.]

Wendy Bashant 和David Bittleman 是一对年近六旬的美国教师夫妇。在疫情爆发后，他们坚守在西安，为的就是等待疫情过去后，能第一时间为回到教室的学生们授课。在得知学校准备开展网上教学的当天，他们在没有被要求的情况下，就开始主动学习雨课堂的使用，并和中国老师们一起积极地讨论了其它网络平台的情况, 为网络授课做好了充分的准备。

[Google Translate:  Wendy Bashant and David Bittleman are a couple of American teachers in their late fifties.  After the epidemic broke out, they stayed in Xi'an in order to wait for the epidemic to pass before they could teach students back to the classroom.  On the day when they learned that the school was going to launch online teaching, they started to actively learn the use of the rain classroom without being asked, and actively discussed the situation of other online platforms with Chinese teachers, and prepared for online teaching  Fully prepared.]

在2月17日当天，Wendy就顺利地给英语系三年级学生开始了“美国文学史及选读”的网络授课，并取得了极好的效果。学生们反映：“Wendy是一位非常好非常负责的老师。虽然现在只能在网上教学，但课堂的互动仍然和平时一样热烈。她综合运用了Zoom软件的小组语音视频讨论功能和线上笔记讨论功能，同时将课堂作业与课后作业相结合，帮助同学们温故知新、保证了学习的进度与质量。课后还要求我们对作业进行自我评测。在Wendy老师带领下，线上课很好地结合了她特有的教学模式与良好的课堂氛围，同时课堂效率更高了。我们能感觉到Wendy老师为了让线上授课更接近线下课堂，甚至超越线下课堂而付出了大量的时间和努力，真的很感谢她！”

[Google Translate: On February 17th, Wendy successfully started the online teaching of "History of American Literature and Selected Readings" for third-year English students, and achieved excellent results.  The students reported: "Wendy is a very good and responsible teacher. Although she can only teach online, the interaction in the classroom is still as enthusiastic as usual. She uses the group voice and video discussion function of Zoom software and online notes.  The discussion function, meanwhile, combines classwork and homework to help students learn new things and ensure the progress and quality of learning. After class, we are also required to self-assess the homework. Under the leadership of Teacher Wendy, online classes are well combined. Thanks to her unique teaching mode and good classroom atmosphere, at the same time, the classroom is more efficient. We can feel that Teacher Wendy has put a lot of time and effort in order to make online teaching closer to and offline classroom. I really appreciate her! "]

David Bittleman 是医学方面的专家，他这学期担任的是英语系的辅修课“学术英语交流” 的教学。和他的妻子Wendy 一样，David 积极地做了各种准备，并在辅修课开始的第一天，为几十名不同专业的学生顺利地进行了网络授课。学生们也表示，David在这样特殊的时期坚守在教学岗位上，并且一如既往认真地授课，令他们十分感动。

[Google Translate: David Bittleman is an expert in medicine. This semester, he is teaching a minor course in the English Department, Professional English Communication.  Like his wife, Wendy, David actively prepared for everything and successfully conducted online courses for dozens of students from different majors on the first day of the minor course.  The students also said that David sticks to his teaching position during such a special period, and as always he teaches carefully, which makes them very moved.]

    英语系的其他外籍教师，也通过各种网络平台，克服了各种困难，尽全力帮助学生开展专业课的学习。他们的敬业精神和专业素养也鼓舞了英语系的全体学生和其他教职员工。正如Wendy老师在开课前给学生们的一封信中所说，（对于中国来说，这是一段异常艰难的时期。身在中国的我，为中国人民的强大力量和善良而深深地感动。这是一场我们共同的战斗，让我们并肩作战，一起坚持下去！）

[Google Translate: Other foreign teachers of the English Department have also overcome various difficulties through various network platforms and do their best to help students develop professional courses.  Their professionalism also inspired all students and other faculty members of the English Department.  As Teacher Wendy said in a letter to the students before the class, "Although this is a difficult time in China, I am heartened by the strength and goodwill of the Chinese people. This is our fight, and we will fight and beat the corona virus together! "

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That being said, clearly this outbreak or something in the future will test the capacity of schools. Just yesterday (3/6/20), The New York Times  announced that the University of Washing (with 50,000 students on three campuses) will shift entirely to on-line classes.  So, fellow administrators, dust off your Academic Contingency Plans.  Or better yet, work with your teachers and figure out together what works best for the moment.