Social distancing requirements
and
remote
learning
have
substantially
altered
previous
conceptions
concerning
how
education can be accessed by
students, facilitated by faculty
and applied beyond the classroom.
From primary school teachers to
the deans of graduate programs,
educators and administrators have
learned a lesson or two themselves
about
adapting
education
methodology to best meet the
needs of their students.
The
Michigan
Daily
spoke
with teaching faculty from the
University of Michigan’s various
schools and colleges about the
past months of virtual and hybrid
learning and what they are taking
away from it all going forward.
As COVID-19 cases among the
campus community increased in
the late fall and into the winter
term,
in-person
learning
was
rarely a viable option. However,
some
professors
had
the
opportunity to experiment with a
hybrid classroom in the fall. In this
format, professors simultaneously
teach students online and in
person. Typically, small cohorts
of students rotate in and out of the
physical classroom during certain
days or times to reduce class sizes,
while the remainder of the class
attends virtually.
Dennis Oswald, an accounting
lecturer and visiting assistant
professor,
adopted
a
hybrid
teaching style at the start of the
year. Although hybrid teaching can
be difficult in practice, Oswald said
for him, the benefits outweighed
the
drawbacks.
He
enjoyed
delivering lectures in person to
students in a classroom setting.
“I was still teaching in person,
I was still in a classroom,” Oswald
said. “I didn’t make a lot of changes
in terms of the way in which my
material
was
being
delivered
because I was still teaching it, just
I was teaching to a camera (too).”
While Oswald did not have
to make drastic changes to his
teaching style, he admits the
sudden shift to hybrid teaching
was not ideal.
“I’ve been teaching for 20
years,”Oswald said. “This is the
first time I’ve ever had to do
hybrid, so I didn’t have the skills of
20 years of hybrid teaching behind
me.”
The majority of professors at
the University taught completely
remote with either synchronous
live instruction or asynchronous
pre-recorded activities—or in some
cases, a mix of both.
Mary Gell, a lecturer in the
German department, said she
switched to remote learning as
soon as the University sent students
home last March and has not
physically taught in the classroom
since then. She said the transition
to virtually teaching a foreign
language was stressful because she
had to quickly reevaluate how to
present several aspects of her usual
curriculum.
“There’s so much to think
about,” Gell said. “You have to
rethink your whole course. That’s
what can be so overwhelming, just
thinking, ‘how do I have this make
the most sense for this (online)
format.’”
2
Thursday, May 13, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
What the pandemic has taught
U-M faculty about virtual learning
Former Ann Arbor coffee shop
Espresso Royale and boba shop Bubble
Island both closed in April 2020 due
to financial constraints caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic. David Lin,
former owner of both of these Ann
Arbor staples, has since dedicated his
time to assisting other small businesses
in the endless fight to remain open and
continue to generate revenue amid
changing COVID-19 restrictions. Lin’s
fundraiser, the COVID Rescue Fund,
holds the goal of helping to bring back
100 small businesses across the United
States through community donations.
On the fund’s website, visitors are
able to vote for a small business they
believe deserves financial assistance.
Based on the amount of votes they
receive and their current financial
situations, businesses can be granted
up to $100,000 to make up the revenue
they have lost in the last 14 months.
These grants are awarded monthly
based on a variety of eligibility
requirements, such as having fewer
than three locations in 2019.
From his own experiences with
Bubble Island and Espresso Royale, Lin
said he has a great deal of empathy for
similarly struggling business owners.
Lin said he knows first hand that
entrepreneurs who have dedicated
their lives to their establishments can
be left empty-handed and emotionally
distraught.
“Most of these people have been hit
so hard financially that they don’t have
resources to go start a new business,
and their credit might be so destroyed
that no one will loan the money,” Lin
said. “So the only outcome for most of
these people is to go work minimum-
wage jobs, and it’s just a huge mismatch
of what their talents are, and I think
that’s a huge tragedy.”
Businesses across the country, from
dance studios to coffee shops, have
applied for the potentially life-altering
grant Lin is offering. Lin highlighted a
Tae Kwon Do instructor from Texas
who is on the brink of permanent
closure of his studio.
“(The
instructor)
has
trained
Olympians, he has trained U.S.
national team members, his son was
one of the coaches of the U.S. national
team,” Lin said. “He’s been doing this
his whole life, and his dojo is about to
go out of business. We need to help
people like that, who are excellent at
what they do, get back to work so they
can be productive and help society.”
One of the fund’s current featured
applicants is Ann Arbor’s very own
aUM Yoga, which formerly had studios
on North University Avenue and South
University Avenue. The owner, Jessie
Lipkowitz, is a University of Michigan
alum who is deeply invested in the
Ann Arbor community. Lipkowitz
said she hopes to receive a grant from
the COVID Rescue Fund in order
to continue to provide a space for
improving health and wellness in Ann
Arbor.
“I care wholeheartedly about the
demographics that I work with and the
communities that I serve,” Lipkowitz
said. “I do a lot of community work
through the yoga studio, and I hope
that I’m given an opportunity so that I
can continue the mission statement of
this business.”
Former Espresso Royale owner
establishes ‘COVID Rescue Fund’
for struggling small businesses
MAANASA BOMMINENI
Daily Staff Reporter
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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday
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MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily
Faculty have had to adapt to new teaching methods.
JARETT ORR/Daily
David Lin hopes to bring back 100 small businesses.