April 13 Day 36: Don’t Call it Online Teaching

I was struck by the words of a colleague today. He said “this isn’t online teaching, this is emergency teaching” and he is absolutely right. There was no plan, no training, no intentional curriculum development—there was only a global health crisis. We responded because we had no choice. Every day, faculty, students, and staff battle this emergency despite additional pressures from isolation, increased home responsibilities, financial stress,  fear for (or loss of) loved ones, and health anxieties. Well, what do you call someone that continually answers the call during an emergency situation? Someone striving to create normalcy in these far from normal times? That’s right…heroes.