When we finally get back to campus, let's admit that, necessary as it was, the long-term damage from putting whole universities online has been significant
I really think the Great Disengagement, as it were, has very little to do with the pandemic (which is a point that CHE article gets at), much as the Great Resignation stems from what has been happening to work for the last two decades. The pandemic just acted as an opportunity to recognize what had been building up and a justification to act (or disengage more) in response to that recognition. I think with academia, in the case of institutions that still have somewhat functioning TT systems, it's not about dismay at the pay levels or work process (though I think even well-paying institutions have been eroding faculty pay through 'emergency' freezing, reductions in benefits, etc.). It's that we felt like we mattered in our workplaces, that we had a real share in shaping what they did and how they did it, and that we felt a real connection to our leadership (even with the antagonisms that are an old part of faculty-administration relationships). Now I think most of us feel like we don't matter in our workplaces, that we don't have much of a share in decision-making, and that leadership is part of an overall national culture of management that has no real feeling for academic institutions and no respect for employees of any kind, whatever their qualifications and capabilities. That happened over the last decade and it was the kind of shift that was hard to fight or slow because it came from everywhere and nowhere at all.
Regarding not being interrupted by text messages: a few years back, a tech-savvy assistant prof taught me the pleasure of the "do not disturb" feature in the Mac OS. It has since been renamed "focus." You can schedule it for set times, or just turn it on and off as you like. When it's on, no text, email, or other alerts will pop up. This is also VERY useful for when you are screen sharing or delivering a lecture and don't want, say, a personal message from your mom to suddenly appear to all of your students! Here's a link on how to use it: https://www.macworld.com/article/353477/how-to-macos-monterey-set-up-customize-focus-modes-mac.html
I happened to be in the kitchen preparing lunch yesterday while my freshman (sorry, first-year) son was watching a lecture. I felt so sorry for the professor, who was obviously talking to a matrix of profile photos and initials, unable to gauge reactions from body language or expressions. She seemed so lost. She could barely keep it together, and I could totally see why.
I think you may have parted ways with FB, but I recently joined a group called "The Professor is Out" (moderated by the Karen Kelsky of "The Professor is In") and over there it certainly seems like people are leaving academia in droves, or at least considering. At all levels: from folks leaving their PhD programs b/f getting a degree to tenured and TT faculty members, as well as the likely suspects (adjuncts, VAPs, and other contingent people w/ no security). As of today the group has 17, 400 members.
Given the state of tech in classrooms (which at TNS is ... variable), I prefer zoom for classes in which I can use online materials seamlessly (NB my courses are primarily analog, focused on reading/analyzing texts). In general, I think I'm a better teacher on zoom from the standpoint of what I can deliver (I have no idea about student experience, however). Also, whereas there was little engagement with students outside of class meetings prior to March 2020, now more students seek me out for individual meetings (on zoom).
General faculty meetings, which once netted 20-30 people, are now attended by 50-70+ (on zoom).
Prior to the pandemic, I scoffed at online courses. But now, given issues of access and convenience, I'm more open to slating at least part of the regular university curriculum as online courses. Whether parents/students will pay $60K for this is another matter.
It is such a pity. Last semester, I had university-level Spanish students whom I was coaching on how to get their professors to even respond to their (very reasonable) questions about unclear assignments or weeks of ungraded homework. Their professors seemed to have just checked out. On the bright side, I did teach them some thing about how academic hierarchies work!
I really think the Great Disengagement, as it were, has very little to do with the pandemic (which is a point that CHE article gets at), much as the Great Resignation stems from what has been happening to work for the last two decades. The pandemic just acted as an opportunity to recognize what had been building up and a justification to act (or disengage more) in response to that recognition. I think with academia, in the case of institutions that still have somewhat functioning TT systems, it's not about dismay at the pay levels or work process (though I think even well-paying institutions have been eroding faculty pay through 'emergency' freezing, reductions in benefits, etc.). It's that we felt like we mattered in our workplaces, that we had a real share in shaping what they did and how they did it, and that we felt a real connection to our leadership (even with the antagonisms that are an old part of faculty-administration relationships). Now I think most of us feel like we don't matter in our workplaces, that we don't have much of a share in decision-making, and that leadership is part of an overall national culture of management that has no real feeling for academic institutions and no respect for employees of any kind, whatever their qualifications and capabilities. That happened over the last decade and it was the kind of shift that was hard to fight or slow because it came from everywhere and nowhere at all.
Regarding not being interrupted by text messages: a few years back, a tech-savvy assistant prof taught me the pleasure of the "do not disturb" feature in the Mac OS. It has since been renamed "focus." You can schedule it for set times, or just turn it on and off as you like. When it's on, no text, email, or other alerts will pop up. This is also VERY useful for when you are screen sharing or delivering a lecture and don't want, say, a personal message from your mom to suddenly appear to all of your students! Here's a link on how to use it: https://www.macworld.com/article/353477/how-to-macos-monterey-set-up-customize-focus-modes-mac.html
I happened to be in the kitchen preparing lunch yesterday while my freshman (sorry, first-year) son was watching a lecture. I felt so sorry for the professor, who was obviously talking to a matrix of profile photos and initials, unable to gauge reactions from body language or expressions. She seemed so lost. She could barely keep it together, and I could totally see why.
I think you may have parted ways with FB, but I recently joined a group called "The Professor is Out" (moderated by the Karen Kelsky of "The Professor is In") and over there it certainly seems like people are leaving academia in droves, or at least considering. At all levels: from folks leaving their PhD programs b/f getting a degree to tenured and TT faculty members, as well as the likely suspects (adjuncts, VAPs, and other contingent people w/ no security). As of today the group has 17, 400 members.
One cheer for zoom after the Great Dispersal.
Given the state of tech in classrooms (which at TNS is ... variable), I prefer zoom for classes in which I can use online materials seamlessly (NB my courses are primarily analog, focused on reading/analyzing texts). In general, I think I'm a better teacher on zoom from the standpoint of what I can deliver (I have no idea about student experience, however). Also, whereas there was little engagement with students outside of class meetings prior to March 2020, now more students seek me out for individual meetings (on zoom).
General faculty meetings, which once netted 20-30 people, are now attended by 50-70+ (on zoom).
Prior to the pandemic, I scoffed at online courses. But now, given issues of access and convenience, I'm more open to slating at least part of the regular university curriculum as online courses. Whether parents/students will pay $60K for this is another matter.
It is such a pity. Last semester, I had university-level Spanish students whom I was coaching on how to get their professors to even respond to their (very reasonable) questions about unclear assignments or weeks of ungraded homework. Their professors seemed to have just checked out. On the bright side, I did teach them some thing about how academic hierarchies work!