One advantage of Zoom University: Classes can continue during inclement weather

And students can easily watch recorded classes even if they are affected by the weather.

As I type, Hurricane Laura is headed towards the Louisiana/Texas border. It is still not exactly clear where Laura will land, and how strong it will be. (I encourage everyone to check out SpaceCityWeather.com for objective, non-hyped weather forecasts). My College has announced that the building will close on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., and will remain closed on Thursday. (Friday is TBD). But, classes will continue virtually for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. One key advantage of Zoom University is that the entire campus can seamlessly transition to online classes during inclement weather.

In 2018, classes were cancelled for nearly two weeks because of Hurricane Harvey. Rescheduling classes became nearly impossible. All nights and weekends some became clogged with makeup class requests. Now, we are fully equipped to go online, immediately.

Unfortunately, many of our students will be affected by Hurricane Laura, and will be unable to watch the classes live. Some of our students are under mandatory evacuation orders. Thankfully, Zoom University will allow these students to watch the makeup classes when it is safe to do so.

I hope everyone in our region stays safe and dry.

Comments

[Armchair Lawyer]

Unless you're in California and having the power blacked out...

[TwelveInchPianist]

Biggest advantage of recorded classes: You can play them back at double speed. A 1.5 hour class in 45 minutes!

[Rat on a train]

The DMV area will still close schools if a single snowflake is forecast. Southern Californians can handle snow better.

[Miss Greenparker]

"I hope everyone in our region stays safe and dry."

Thank you from Houston, and all the best to Volokh readers and Blackman's Zoom students in the wild weather's path. Buy extra water in the morning and watch classic movies, if the internet goes down. If the power goes out, meditate, play bridge, or read class notes by flashlight.

Hopefully, the next day or two won't be dramatic, and we'll all have reserve water for the next scheduled disaster.

[KenveeB]

Most students would call that a bug, not a feature. 🙂

[PFSchaffner]

Houston must be unique! Around here (SE Michigan), an ordinary thunderstorm is enough to knock out power (and often internet as well) for a few days. We've had three outages this year totalling about ten days. On the other hand, the University has closed for inclement weather maybe twice in ten years. So inclement weather is a far greater threat to online than to in-person classes. At least in Ann Arbor.

[styledme]

Zoom is the finest way nowadays to get in touch, but What about others who just imagine they’d really enjoy visiting places.