Whose space are we in?

 This fall semester, Lansing Community College is being led wisely by upper administration to operate primarily online, with only a handful of classes meeting face to face. So we aren't facing the situations where many colleges jump into class as usual, even with face masks, and immediately have to shut it down when Covid-19 cases balloon.

So all of my classes are online. The college administration and faculty, since the wholesale switch to online last spring, have discovered real-time interaction in online classes. They distinguish online as being asynchronous, and online real time (ORT), as including real-time interaction. Of course, the utter ridiculousness of seeing online as only asynchronous has been something our institution and many others have swallowed, so it's a shock to them, when the idea of meeting in real time was thrust upon them. And thus it's a new experience for most faculty, and administrators.

Anyone who has followed this blog, though, recognizes that none of this is new for me. In fact, since 1996, I've been exploring synchronous interaction in online classes when I conducted text chats on Internet relay chats (IRC). Yes, asynchronous participation and work is essential as part of the makeup of an online class. Actually--it's a significant aspect for f2f classes as well, at least in college. Most work in college courses takes place outside of the real-time interaction of class sessions. Period.

What is new for me, as I mentioned in my last posting, is web conferencing. This semester, three of my classes will meet in SL, one on WebEx (and not by choice--I had a low-enrolled section of Composition II cancelled and had to pick up one where they would be using video conferencing).

So like it or not, I'll be using Hollywood Squares with one of my classes. I'll spell out more of my approach and experience later, but I do want to point out one thing (beyond what I mentioned last post) that I'm not sure many have thought of that I find problematic with web conferencing in college classes. 

Whose space are we in?

For face-to-face classes, we're on campus where we all congregate to work and learn together.

For virtual environments like MCCALVC Island on Second Life, the same. A place where we congregate to work and learn together.

WebEx or Zoom? We're asking students to bring us into their space. To open a video window into their bedroom, living room, dining room, back yard, office. 

• Does anyone see a problem here?

I've now used WebEx a couple times with students. I give them the option of using their webcam, or not. I've heard that some professors require webcam usage. I will never do so. And consequently, they do not use theirs. So, a scad of squares with initials, and me, using webcam when I'm talking. 

Now I get why they don't. Using video can be problematic with bandwidth, slow computers, lack of camera and the like.

However, another reason could simply be that webcams are invasive. We're not meeting in a neutral place. They are being required to show us their space. For some, that's fine. But for others, showing us their living area can be for some reason intrusive or embarrassing, especially if they are living in less than optimal surroundings. Which would not be unusual for community college students.

So requiring video? Or even encouraging it? 

• Seems to me it is a way of widening the socioeconomic gap that we have in higher education.

Yes, students can use a "virtual" background to obscure their living space in WebEx and Zoom. But I've found that the use of fake-looking backgrounds that distort the video image of a person's head is more distracting than beneficial. And it gives the impression one is hiding something. That one would have to choose to obscure the space is the point. Instead, having a neutral space to come to that is not their home/living space/park bench is important. And everyone showing up with an avatar--rather than some showing their face and living room, and some not--enhances an equal access and equal footing in the learning environment.

Now, don't get me wrong. Any online education exacerbates socioeconomic gaps. Our society is wildly deficient in making sure we're all able to access broadband internet. And my use of a virtual environment has its difficulties since you have to have a relatively beefy computer (no phones or Chromebooks) and broadband.

But--at another level, it's much more of an equalizer than web conferencing. Again, it's a neutral place. We all congregate not in anyone's living room, but in a virtual class area. We all have an avatar which we choose and can modify. We don't need to show our faces, which makes many people nervous. Even in a f2f class. And even though some of us have beefier computers than others, we all have to deal with the vagaries of a virtual environment that can glitch out on any of us at any time.

Real time interaction--in f2f environments or online environments--are essential parts of a learning community. And I'm glad to see many others are "seeing the light." However, we need to give as much thought to the space we meet in with students online as we do with brick and mortar classrooms.

And web conferencing ain't it.