ENG 221 – COVID-19 EDITION

Stable Zoom Class Meeting Link: REMOVED POST-COURSE

  • Please join the class meeting a few minutes ahead of 11, just as you’d show for class a few minutes early, to give you time to ensure your tools are working before class starts.
  • I’ve activated a “Waiting Room” for our meetings, as I’ve been reading about “Zoom Bombs” and don’t want that happening. Sit tight in the waiting room; I’ll get you in.
  • If you can’t join our Zoom class, email me. I’ll try to troubleshoot a bit via email. (Again, this is a good reason to join the meeting before 11.)

My goal is to maintain as much continuity as possible in our move to an online modality. We have used Google Docs a bit. QCQs have been submitted each day. And post-class reflections have been a key feature. We have used the Course Site to know what’s due and when. And we have been publishing our QCQs and post-class reflections to our ePortfolios. All this will continue, with a bit more reliance on the ePortfolio publishing and the submission of QCQs via Google Docs.

Our class resumes on Tuesday, March 24, and QCQ #11 (Rawls I) is due by 11:05 AM. Share it with me as a Google Doc (for help, see GoogleDocs Quickstart Guide).

I want to share TWO BIG CHANGES for the COVID-19 Edition

BIG CHANGE ONE

In recognition of hard realities, I am placing the course on two trajectories, Plan A and Plan B (described below). My intention is to treat Plan A as the default approach. Anyone who cannot do Plan A may follow Plan B.

Plan A

Plan A is our default mode for the class. It requires us to come together as a class through a live Zoom seminar.

  • >Cripps hosts a Zoom meeting and everyone joins in for twice-weekly class meetings at our normal time (TR 11-12:20 PM).
  • >Class runs much as it has all term, only with extreme social distancing.
  • >QCQs are due at the start of class (11:05 AM)
  • >Post-class Reflections will happen in your ePortfolio.
  • >There are some extra steps to take to ensure Plan B students can participate, but they’re minimal.

This has been our culture in the class, and Plan A maintains that approach.

Plan B

  • >Do not join the Zoom seminar every Tuesday and Thursday, 11-12:20
  • >Tuesdays and Thursdays remain key days each week.
  • >QCQs are due at the start of class (11:05 AM).
  • >In lieu of the Zoom seminar and post-class reflection, Plan B students substitute:
    • Reading at least 4 students’ QCQs (found via the QCQs Forum)
    • Writing a 350-500 word response that examines at least two connections between the selected QCQs. Post the response to both the “Plan B Responses” Forum and your ePortfolio.
    • “Plan B Responses” forum posts are not due until 11:59PM on the day class meets, in recognition that it takes time to read QCQs, consider the ideas, and prepare a meaningful comment.
  • >There are some extra steps to take to ensure that all can participate, but they’re minimal.

Plan B is for those of us who cannot join the live Zoom seminar meetings. It has all the basic requirements of Plan A, but makes a couple adjustments.

Both plans involve roughly the same amount of “time on task.” Plan B requires more reading and writing. Plan A requires attendance in two Zoom seminar meetings each week, with post-class reflection completed at the end of each meeting.

BIG CHANGE TWO

The “Podcast on a Contemporary Justice Issue” project, which was to be 25% of the course grade, has been eliminated. Instead, following the class discussion on March 24, I am substituting five “Brief Writing Assignments.”

Each Brief Writing Assignment will run 500-750 words and will be worth up to 5 Points.

Updated Final Project(s) – COVID-19 Edition