China News Service, May 7 (Xinhua Daily) According to the US "World Daily" report, in the face of the spread of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, students at Harvard University (Harvard University) experienced an unprecedented big retreat, after the Spring Break (Spring Recess) end Back to school home to take classes remotely. Harvard students living in California have now changed their traditional learning models.
Lawrence S. Bacow, the president of Harvard University, issued a withdrawal order on March 10, requiring students to withdraw from the campus within five days and not to return to school after the end of the spring break. At the same time, they are ready for distance learning from March 23 Start a remote class at home. In addition to online teaching, students who need to stay in school will have strict restrictions on activities and interactions within the school.
Kevin Tan, a Harvard university student who lives in Arcadia, said he, like many Harvard alumni, now uses the Zoom platform to teach online every day. At home, many courses have been structured and changed.
For example, his major in "Life Science", including live lectures, expert lectures and laboratory video calls, has been recorded and archived. If someone misses the class time during this time, they can be transferred to watch it again. The assignment form of many courses has also been changed to facilitate students to submit assignments online and provide flexible deadlines. The spring semester grading method generally adopts two levels of "satisfaction / dissatisfaction" instead of the traditional letter-marked level 5.
Tan Jinghua believes that online learning in a virtual classroom is not as appealing as face-to-face interaction with classmates. Similarly, questions and discussions have changed, because it is difficult to have a smooth conversation in video communication. It is also difficult to discuss cooperation with your classmates on the exercises, because you are not in the same classroom and cannot write instructions or comment on assignments.
The spring semester progressed as planned, but there were not many face-to-face activities. At the end of the semester, the graduation ceremony and many famous year-end activities were cancelled. As for the summer courses and internship projects are still under evaluation, because it is not clear when the epidemic can be effectively controlled.
Harvard University computer science student, Michael Wu, who lives in Irvine, said that in addition to the international students who stay on campus, he and many alumni live online at home.
In fact, the teaching form is very simple. It is to connect the laptop computer to the monitor on the table and set up an online course through the Zoom platform. These courses are live broadcast for students who want to attend classes on time, and the content is also recorded and saved.
However, there is a three-hour time difference between Massachusetts and California, where Harvard University is located. There are early classes in Eastern Time, and many people in the Western United States have not yet gotten up. Therefore, the attendance rate of live broadcast courses is affected. Some courses that rely on group interaction are also difficult to complete online. However, as far as personal learning efficiency is concerned, he believes that studying at home is hardly affected, and he can still call and discuss with his classmates and work together on the Zoom platform. The academic progress will remain unchanged for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. As for the fall 2020 study program, the university has not yet given any instructions.
The president of Harvard University pointed out in the notice that ordered the students to evacuate from the campus, "No one can predict the future, but I hope everyone understands that the new coronary pneumonia epidemic is also the ability to test the human kindness and generosity in the predicament, and to surpass self and self-interest. Ability. The world we are facing is more complicated and confused than ever before. The current task of the Harvard is to fully demonstrate the glory and noble behavior of human nature. "
Well-known universities that have canceled face-to-face teaching courses, in addition to Harvard, there are Princeton University in New Jersey, Columbia University in New York City, Rice University in Houston, Stanford University in California Wait. (Ding Shu)