Online Learning During a Global Emergency

I decided to drop one of my two synchronous online classes of the new semester within 180 seconds of meeting the professor. In this short time, every nightmare I had regarding the transition to online learning was confirmed as reality.

I showed up to class early in the hopes of breaking the ice with my new classmates. I was excited to see that Zoom had handy buttons for students to communicate with the teacher in a non-distracting way during lessons. I was generally pretty hopeful to see what educators had planned for online learning!

A few minutes before class started, the Zoom spotlight landed on an unkempt man framed by a library-of-doom-type filter background. Upon getting adjusted, he bellowed out a “Hello” to the unanimous void of “everyone” he assumed us to be. Without missing a beat, he continued his greeting to demand that we “Reveal [our] faces! Turn on [our] cameras!”

Immediately, people’s videos began blinking on. To ensure I would not be negatively marked for attendance, I moved to turn my camera on, but my video did not appear. I sent a message to the class chat that I was having camera difficulties with my new laptop but was present and paying attention, which was true.

Admittedly, I had no intention of using my camera more than necessary for the class, so I forgot to do a camera run on Zoom with my new laptop. With no response to me, he begins speaking about the class while he individually requested students with their cameras or microphones off to reveal their video and unmute.

The professor proved he did not know the platform as well as he needed to successfully run the class or he simply doesn’t respect his students’ needs in an online setting enough for me to be successful in his class. I personally did not feel inclined to stick around long enough to find out which it is.

The problem exhibited here is not even an issue specific to online learning.

The problem exhibited here, really, is an issue of humane treatment toward others online.

If we are talking about online interactions as we would any other relationship, we have to be willing to say no one person is to blame for the chaos that is (a lack of) internet etiquette. Everything is very new and nobody knows what they’re doing. Being willing to admit that we don’t know what we are doing is an essential step to making humanity successful.

What the Battle Looks Like

Educators + Employers

If you are feeling nervous about the transition to online functioning and see a lot of problems but are not engaging offered solutions, it’s time to take a step back and put on your thinking cap. Really take stock of what you are capable of accomplishing this semester given your requirements but also your limitations as a human.

Every single person is having a lot asked of them right now. It’s not fair, but it is necessary.

Take the time to name the problems you are facing. Then, name the simplest and most sustainable solutions available to you right now.

To fantasize about a scenario where the people you are in charge of will fall in line without extra assistance to the point you’re willing to show up to class expecting obedience is naive and unfair to yourself and the people you’re leading.

If you worry that your students or employees will not match your energy, then you need to be willing to match theirs and build them up to where you want them. This is part of the role you must assume.

Students + Employees

I understand what it means to pursue an education or career path with the hopes that it will one day provide you some sense of security. I understand what it means to take out loans, make unethical decisions, and sell yourself out to make this path worth it.

In other words, I understand what it means to spend an entire life planning a pathway to safety only to discover it is too corrupt to safely walk without either changing life course or doing some systemic overhaul.

Education was supposed to be America’s grand equalizer of opportunities. Instead, we’ve ended up undervaluing our worth because it’s the only way we can survive now.

At what point do we take back our power and make the change?

How bad does it have to get?

What does this have to do with being kind or human specifically?

The way we treat each other online is a direct reflection of how we relate to ourselves. When we treat people poorly online, even more than in person, it reveals how we are doing internally.

The strong steer toward the weaponization of technology by professors (and the fear surrounding it) proves that we are not as pleased with reality as we sometimes tell ourselves. I believe that we, as a species, are so anxious about our insecurities that it permeates even the best parts of our existence.

Because we are incapable of thoughtfully saying things we are not thinking about, everything we do is affected by our thoughts. What we teach, share, and learn are all real-life applications of what we are energetically attracting. We can only say what we are thinking. We can only experience what we are experiencing.

We must meet ourselves and each other exactly where we already are at or we will be dangerously disillusioned when it comes time to take action. If we can each agree to hold ourselves accountable, then it becomes significantly easier to take care of each other.

The simplest and most sustainable path forward is to trust people to be the authorities on themselves and to embody that change you wish to see.

I’m not advising you to take every person you meet at their word, but we each can tell when somebody’s actions and words are not matching up. Refusing to adapt to that information means not holding yourself or others to the standards that you deserve to be treated by and held to.

This is true now more than ever given the disempowerment that is being catalyzed in 2020, where people do not feel comfortable asking for what they need.

This is a Global Emergency!

Now is the time to ask for what you need.

We shouldn’t disempower ourselves by detaching from the reality of 2020 just because it’s dark. If we fall into that trap, we will end up slipping into 2020 anxiety.

The path forward cannot begin until we decide to take the first step of becoming the authorities on ourselves and trusting that others are taking note.