Well, I'm Covid free, and we've shut down our brick and mortar classes. I have mixed emotions about that decision. It's the right thing to do for student safety, of course. But I absolutely despise teaching online. I'm not too bad at it, and we're doing a special hybrid type of course: The students Zoom in with me twice a week. It's an ok alternative to being together, but it's nothing to write home about.
I hope that one of the things that emerges from the pandemic is the realization that online learning is a poor second to actually being together. I'm in a new faculty orientation program this semester, and so many people seem to think that this kind of online hybridization will become the new normal. There's a huge split between the millennial faculty who grew up online and the Gen Xers who were in their late teens or early twenties when the technology started to develop. I was actually 25 when I sent my first email. Those days seem like a million years ago.
The only people who really benefit from online education are the big ed tech companies. These folks have been salivating like dogs since the outbreak of COVID.
Last year, when I was an area director of a small English department in New Mexico, I was practically attacked every day with a bombardment of emails from big ed tech companies wanting to "help" me. The most outrageous emails started coming after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. A couple of companies wanted to "help" me put together diversity readings. I can't believe they were so opportunistic. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Back when I worked in college textbook publishing, I remember putting together the photo package for a student success textbook. My boss said, "Wait a minute.There aren't enough ethnics here. Get me more ethnics." I don't even want to drill down into that one.
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As I do every year, I'm interviewing for the University of Pennsylvania. I've spent the last week talking to several students seeking admission to the university.
This year, one of the students started talking about famous alumni. I hadn't realized that Warren Buffet had studied at Penn for two years. The student was interested in Elon Musk as well. Lots of people who went to Penn do well, but so many students are interested in the real super stars. I've often thought that the real biggies--like Musk and Trump--are more like forces of nature than they are normal (even Ivy League) students. I'm not sure I would ever aspire to that kind of success.
It's funny. The student didn't mention our current and soon to be former president. Nobody ever mentions him when we do the interview. I'm actually kind of surprised. Well, not really. I would think that most of the students applying to Penn skew left. The exceptions might be engineering or Wharton students. When I went to Penn's College of Arts and Sciences, we used to call Wharton the school of evil.
The interviews aren't as fun as they usually are since everything is virtual this year. Still, though, it's fun to talk to incredibly motivated students.
