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So I'm Caterina Scaramelli.
I'm an environmental anthropologist,
and this semester I'm teaching a class called culture and the environment.
[MUSIC]
Hello everyone and welcome to this course.
I am professor Scaramelli.
In this course we will consider some of the most pressing environmental issues
of the contemporary moment.
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Because there is a global pandemic going on, this semester
we're following a model of teaching that BU has called Learn from Anywhere.
The idea is that students can join a class from any location
whether it's in the classroom itself or somewhere else in the world.
So the first thing I've done, I've moved the lecture online. I prerecord them at
home, I edit them, they are shorter than a live lecture would be.
The first class we did entirely on Zoom
so that students got a chance to meet each other and see each other's faces.
I'm really happy to introduce you virtually for now and
in a hybrid mode very soon
to Culture & Environment. This is--it's a big class
It's an important class, it studies the relationship between human societies and
the environments and landscapes in which we live.
And the second week of classes we started meeting in this
hybrid, remote, in-person setting.
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I'm just double checking that we are going to CAS 229.
The class is divided into two groups, so we'll only see 15 people today and
half of them will be on the screen.
And at this point I expect 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
people in person. We'll see, it's possible that it will just be one.
When you step into a classroom this semester,
it looks very different from before.
For example,
my class typically would have a 30 person capacity now it only has 15 seats.
You will also see microphones hanging from the ceiling and
a camera typically mounted at the back of the room.
There are new challenges with the hybrid model.
There is a sort of a barrier between the group of students in the room and
the students that are joining remotely, which in a classroom would be projected
onto the screen.
Could you hear Chloe?
No? Thumbs down if you couldn't.
What about you, remote students? Can one of you volunteer to unmute yourself so
that we can hear you speak?
>> [SOUND] >> Okay.
[LAUGH] Now, that was very loud.
>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH].
All right, perfect, this is good.
This is much better.
The fundamental goal is to make sure that they all get comparable
experience whether they are in the room or
whether they're logging in from China or Turkey or California.
However, the remote students have access to varying
degrees of broadband. Typically during the class
I would lose a couple of students as their Zoom connection ends. So they cannot
participate in a discussion in an equal way. For the students in the class
it's hard for them, for example, to work in small groups, because they can't
physically move from their assigned seats.
The seats are set six feet or more apart.
So when we have a discussion section in the class they kind of have to scream to hear each
other and it's, it's hard.
You know, you want to be there.
You want to see your classmates.
I certainly want to see my classmates, but
there's always this like lingering sense of loneliness and isolation.
Even when I'm in person.
We're far apart.
It's kind of just weird.
It's a very interesting experience, since I'm
studying remotely, I'm sitting in my room and my desk.
I expect everyone to be in the same environment as me.
But when the camera turns on I saw there's a big screen in the classroom.
When you still see the classroom I feel like, you know, contextual effect
when you are inside a place where you usually study you study better.
Yes, so this is a new kind of way of being in the class, and the students have to
figure out for themselves, what works and what doesn't work.
And this is a personal decision.
And I think in that process
they have come to a greater awareness about why they are in my class.
I feel like they have read more carefully than ever before in my classes.
There seems to be a sense of purpose
for being here. This semester I've found them particularly well prepared and
particularly committed and
ready to engage in discussions even when the format is a little awkward.
And yet I think the students have compensated that with their enthusiasm and
their preparation.
And I'm impressed.
All right, everyone, I don't know where to wave.
I guess you are over there.
Bye. I'll see you next week.
Thank you for your patience and your participation.
>> Thank you.
>> Bye. >> Thank you.