Arts, Engineering Colleges Getting Creative to Move Classes Online
March 19, 2020
The Boston Business Journal looked at how Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology and other colleges offering art or tech-based programs are getting creative to move their classes online during the coronavirus crisis.
The article says:
Schools are discovering that not just dance and music classes, but any other subjects that rely on specific facilities, tools and in-person interaction are more challenging to teach virtually than, say, business or writing classes. As higher ed institutions train faculty and staff on how to use online tools in a matter of days, they must find creative ways to translate classes that haven’t been taught online before.
The majority of BFIT’s students are from low-income backgrounds, so president Tony Benoit said the school also needs to ensure its students have access to laptops, tablets, Wi-Fi and whatever other tools are needed to complete the semester. The school has an emergency fund it could use to buy students laptops, Benoit said.
“It will be interesting to see once this epidemic is over what will the changes be,” Benoit said. “I’m pretty sure BFIT will be more comfortable with online offerings that would have taken us years. I think institutions will have to rethink how they think about place. Online (learning) today is almost treated like a separate business line.”
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