Remote teaching

I had a trip to California last week for a workshop that I really had to go to. Knowing how hard it is to reschedule a class in a way that isn't unfair to at least someone, I decided to try an experiment - remote teaching.

We, and where I visited, have Polycom systems. So the thought was to use the polycom, me teaching from the conference room in California (which had a whiteboard, etc), and the students back in Michigan in our small conference room. We did two classes this way, both quite discussion orientated.

Well... it actually worked pretty well. Feedback was overall positive (I am likely to have to travel again for one class, and in a vote 8/10 students preferred us trying to polycom for the class I'd miss owing to travel rather than trying to reschedule). The interaction with the students was definitely less rich, and I was a lot less connected with the 'vibe' of the room, and couldn't listen easily into conversations to find out if things were on the right track or if there were problems/misconceptions, etc. But because the Polycom has such good sound and picture quality, and can zoom/pan, I was able to facilitate on the whiteboard in California, and the students could see that record reasonably clearly. I don't know if I'd want to be the only facilitator of a class without using something as reliable and clear as Polycom though.

Now, would I try this with an undergrad intro class? I don't think so - not unless there was a great 'hook' for me having to present from the remote location (e.g., I was at a telescope, and I'd have the class doing a tour of the telescope with me, for example) and there was someone in the classroom to facilitate there. But, as an option for more advanced classes, it might be worth considering.