CU over Zoom: fall semester begins online with new technology

With a $2 million investment, advances in Chapman technology will better cater to the needs of successful remote instruction.

Classes in the fall will return on Zoom, a video conferencing platform the university first widely used in March. Unsplash

In correspondence with recent orders from the California Department of Public Health that universities may only reopen if they have been off of a County Monitoring List for over 14 days, Chapman has made the decision to transition to fully online classes for the fall semester until further notice. This presents an entirely unique set of challenges for students now forced to navigate their course loads for an entire semester in a remote setting. 

However, the university has invested over $2 million in equipping classrooms with the proper technology to ensure the most accessible and comprehensive online learning environment possible.

Virtually every classroom on campus has been renovated with cameras that provide students a higher quality perspective of white-boards. In doing so, faculty are encouraged to continue using their classrooms and take advantage of the new technology. Provost Glenn Pfeiffer explained that protocol and methods for teaching courses – for instance, synchronous or asynchronous learning – are being left to the discretion of the respective professors.

“It’s hard to come up with a plan that satisfies every type of class that’s out there,” Pfeiffer said. “So I’ve left a lot of the planning up to the individual faculty because they know their own class material, and they know their own teaching styles.”

Pfeiffer is confident the semester will prove to be much smoother than the previous, with one of the biggest changes for student convenience being adjusting to a singular grading platform. Even before the pandemic hit, the administration had discussed the possibility of switching from Blackboard to Canvas, attempting to gradually cycle faculty into the new software throughout last year. 

“Once we removed to remote (instruction), the numbers just grew with Canvas,” Chief Information Officer Helen Norris said. “By the end of Spring we had about 50% of the faculty on Canvas.”

Given the circumstances, the plan has been accelerated so all courses will be based out of Canvas by fall 2020. Informational videos will be provided on the software for students to adjust to the new platform. With the ultimate goal being consistency, Zoom and Canvas will be almost exclusively used for all academia, with students studying law and pharmacy also having access to Panopto.

Norris elaborated that this technology is being used to augment science labs to better simulate the hands-on element. As faculty continues to creatively problem-solve, the ideas are limitless, with an increasing possibility of professors wearing GoPros to show an overhead perspective of experiments. The same difficulty with replicating application-based classes is being confronted at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Despite the inability to partake in any form of production until at least the spring semester, Dean of Dodge College Stephen Galloway remains optimistic.

“There is a kind of myth that the better the equipment, the better the project,” Galloway said. “It’s not true.”

With a newly instated three-day quarantine period required for borrowed camera equipment and an inability to collaborate with the Screen Actors Guild labor union at this time, Galloway encourages Dodge students to take advantage of the time period to work with the equipment they already have. Galloway also eagerly discussed the opportunity that remote learning presents for hosting master classes and guest speakers within Dodge – one of the most notable guests confirmed for this semester being President of NBC News Noah Oppenheim.

Dodge will also be providing a range of remotely accessible software, from Adobe Creative Cloud to Avid, depending on a student’s needs for their enrolled courses. Dodge students can view a full list of available post-production software on the Dodge College website. If students’ devices are unable to handle the software, the Marion Knott Studios facility and editing suites will be available for students to use.

“The ‘digital divide’ is a real thing,” Norris said. “There are people whose internet access is limited.” 

The effort to provide accessible resources to students lacking WiFi or an electronic device is not singular to Dodge, but shared across campus. Norris revealed plans to continue distributing laptop loans to students in the coming semesters through a partnership with the Student Government Association. Access to the Leatherby Libraries and Argyros Forum will be allowed with occupancy restrictions, but several shaded, socially-distanced workspaces will be implemented around campus. These outdoor spaces will feature improved WiFi connectivity, specifically in areas such as the Attallah Piazza and the patio next to the Musco Center for the Arts.

According to Pfeiffer, it’s likely that even when classes do resume in person, physical attendance will not be forced upon either students or faculty, especially considering the classroom capacity with health and safety regulations will cut the average class size by at least 50%. Pfeiffer acknowledged that an immediate transition back to campus mid-semester may not be a feasible reality for international students, but discussed the idea of potentially delegating days off of school for students to transition back to Orange –  should they choose to return. These days would then be compensated for later in the year.

“I know that we’re going to have to do some things after we’re able to come back to help students get up to speed,” Pfeiffer said. “But, the faculty has been adapting quite well trying to develop lesson plans … so that this time around it’s going to be a better experience for students than it was immediately transitioning to online (in the spring).”

The most significant exception to the distanced-learning plan applies to the Rinker Health Science campus. Following a July 24 update from the university, essential healthcare workforce programs may continue limited academic activity in order to complete critical tasks such as clinical rounds, in-person labs and physical therapy. This being said, students and faculty will be required to wear extensive personal protective equipment and follow social distancing guidelines.

The decision came as a result of Gov. Gavin Newsom rapidly pushing for the transition of health workers into the California Health Corps, which will assist the COVID-19 crisis.