Episode 4: Zoomversity

Collegeland

Rebecca Barrett-Fox tells us why she advised professors to “do a bad job of putting your courses online” in a blog post that went viral as colleges quickly pivoted to remote learning last March.
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Among other things, 2020 was the year of the Great Virtual Shift, when college campuses across the country pivoted to emergency remote instruction in response to the pandemic coming to the United States in March, just before spring break.
While Zoom classes have now become a regular fixture of university life, many instructors had a rocky beginning moving their courses online. Enter Rebecca Barrett-Fox, coordinator of online learning at Hesston College, who wrote an encouraging blog post called “Please Do a Bad Job of Putting Your Courses Online.”
Within a week, the post had a million views. The message was just what every teacher needed to hear: It’s okay if you’re not perfect at this teaching online thing right away. Be gentle with yourself and supportive of your students in this difficult time.
We sat down with Rebecca to learn more about her story of “going viral” and her (online) teaching philosophy, including kindness as pedagogy and her take on the screens on/screens off debate.
Co-hosts Nan and Lisa weigh in with their own experiences teaching online and sign off with a new edition of Office Hours, where they answer a listener’s question about community college.
Have a question for Office Hours? Email us at [e-mail] or send us a voice memo on Anchor.fm.

About our guest
Rebecca Barrett-Fox is Visiting Coordinator of Online Learning at Hesston College in Kansas. Previously, she was an assistant professor of sociology at Arkansas State University. She maintains a blog at her website, anygoodthing.com.
Here are a few of our personal favorite posts from Rebecca’s blog:
“Please Do a Bad Job of Putting Your Courses Online”
“Students Love Discussion Board—When It’s Well-Designed”
“How to Help Your Students Rest”
“Successful Grading in an Online Classroom”
Produced and edited by Richelle Wilson
Theme music by Josh Wilson
Show cover art by Margaux Parker
Episode cover art by Joseph Mucira on Pixabay
A special thanks to Wisconsin Humanities for their support.