PCC full-time and part-time faculty are handling the demands of the Covid-19 situation with their usual aplomb. We’re not only making the shift to online instruction–many of us for the first time–we’re also keeping busy at home with innovative instruction. Creative solutions include at-home online piano studios, homemade ‘whiteboards,’ prop hats, cameras, and microphones.

Remote instruction allows some interesting glimpses into lives: corners of living rooms, dining room tables, kitchen nooks, dens, garages, even bedrooms show the personal touch, along with domestic sounds of dogs, doors, pots and pans, and children. Virtual backgrounds–too many possibilities there! Not everyone is dressing up as much as before it’s the new casual approach!

Some of us are in the process of learning how to manage online programs, such as Zoom, that are a whole new habitat. Some of us whose classes never needed Canvas are fast-learning that tool to reach our students. (The online tutorials are helpful to learn these new methods, and friends and coordinators are a great source for help.) Some faculty have found that Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are reliable aids for communication with students. PCC colleagues can be found all over the web, including sites such as “DiscoverLosAngeles.com”, and are filming demonstrations and lectures in alleys, patios, driveways and any space conducive to presentation needs.

We’re keeping busy in other ways. (ex: Charlene Potter of Languages has added chickens to her urban farm, and plans setting up a beehive in a colleague’s backyard.)

We’re doing more cooking at home, and needing good, long walks to keep the calories in check! Some are using the situation to clean cupboards, organize closets and garages, sort paperwork and files, and get caught up on back-burner projects.

Stumbling blocks are not unheard-of, including the learning curve for those who have never taught online. Materials must be scanned and otherwise converted to an online-acceptable format, and then uploaded and identified. Some subject areas require face-to-face for subtle facial cues and pronunciation nuances, which do not transfer through screens.

Some faculty have received “loaner” computers and found that they may be a different platform (PC versus Mac) and in some cases, loaded with vintage software that did not interface easily with other systems. It seems to be for some of us as good time as any to purchase new computers and absorb the cost (ouch!).

At other area colleges (LMU, for example) adjunct faculty are allowed to charge to their pay reports to cover added costs for the necessary extra labor involved in pedagogical work, technology upgrades, etc. Perhaps PCC could follow that lead?