Hi everybody! Nice to see you.
Hi, I'm Elisa Baniassad and I am an associate
professor of teaching in Computer Science
at the University of British Columbia.
One of the things that I really love about
teaching is the interplay between me and the
students and the way we are generating ideas together.
And I was really worried that we would lose
that when we went online.
I was worried that it would feel like I was
just speaking into a void and that I wasn't
getting anything back from the students and
that we weren't able to build anything together.
Talking to students: Have you found that you've
been able to evolve yourself where more straightforwardly
but if anything...
It enhanced the experience of feeling like
students were even closer to me.
And so everyone's voice is equal in an online
environment which is wonderful for this process
of together discovering more about each topic.
One of the things that I started doing spontaneously
when we went online is actually having more
social connections with the students.
This is something that I never did before
but I knew really well that everybody including
myself was feeling really really isolated.
And so we started just having hangouts where
we actually wouldn't even talk about school
and it helped build personal connections which
was so nice because I was really able to become
a person to them and they were really able
to become people to me.
And it was actually a really special experience.
Talking to students: Okay, hi everyone.Welcome
back to the livestream update...
This is such a strange situation for everyone
to be in.
That we are all stuck at home feeling very
alone so being part of an online learning
community means that you have a common purpose
with a lot of other people.
All of whom are trying to do the same thing
you're doing.
It can transport you out of your isolation
into a joint activity.
What can students do to make online learning
work for them? What have you found? You've
all been having to grapple with this. Any
tips?
Some recommendations that my students have
made for succeeding in online learning are
to set up a seperation between work life and
home life even if you are just in one single room.
So, have an area that's dedicated to work.
Student: My bedroom is only for relaxing
That's a really good point.
Another really fascinating suggestion is to
remeber to go outside.
So you do like a fake commute?
Student: Yeah, I do a fake commute.
Second student: Oh, that's a good idea - I never thought of that.
And then when you get back you can really
feel like you have arrived at class and you
can engage in that way.
Even if you are just watching a video that
you have downloaded.
You'll be able to set up that boundary between
home life and work life.
I think we can all agree that if it hadn't
been for the online community, this pandemic
experience would've been really really different.
It would've been a lot lonelier and a lot
more confusing and a lot more frightening.
And because we can all engage online, a lot
of our lives have been able to continue on.
And computer scientists and developers in the
software industry is plunging forward into
a future that we had always thought might
be out there but suddenly is very present.
It's a devastating time for many. It's a very
frightening time for many but it's also an
extremely exciting time to be in Computer
Science.
Welcome to UBC Faculty of Science.
We are so excited to see you.
For now, we'll be seeing you online but this
is not forever. You will be beginning a journey
online that will continue incredibly richly
in person.
