[ExI] Telework is taking off, hopefully for good

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of
Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat
Subject: [ExI] Telework is taking off, hopefully for good



>...Telework is taking off, hopefully for good

>...Perhaps, when the pandemic is over, most workers and companies, students
and teachers, will be used to telework and choose to continue. I hope so...

https://giulioprisco.com/telework-is-taking-off-hopefully-for-good-3b7d54f9e
36e

I see it as a great example of social pre-adaptation.  Our local high school
was growing way beyond its capacity, so the city passed a rare bond measure
to provide 366 million bucks to upgrade and build a second high school on
land already owned by the school district.  However... this takes time.

The plan was to allow some of the students to do supervised study from home,
which was mostly online.  They would arrange for testing to be taken on-site
once a week and so forth.  They assigned the teachers the task of planning
what they would do if as many as 20% of the students were off site.

I don't think they planned for everyone to be out, but the staff was partly
or mostly pre-adapted for this by crowding.  They distributed ChromeBooks to
any student who didn't have their own computer.  They set up for free WiFi
for those who do not have home internet connections.  They put all their
materials online.

Community volunteers stepped up and expanded the free lunch program.  Now
the local school is offering free lunch, free breakfast, even free dinner
(all of it take-out) and to some extent free daycare of sorts for young
miscreants who would otherwise form roving bands of marauding youth.  This
last part has been mercifully light in local demand.

We are starting our second week of that today.

The biggest difference between the plan and the reality is that there are no
controlled tests or quizzes, so as far as I can tell, no practical way to
control cheating.  So one would assume that grades are meaningless and the
notion of a valedictorian is history, along with most grade-based admissions
to the kinds of universities where movie stars pay big money to get their
larvae admitted.

Before I offer any first hand observations, do feel free to speculate on how
it is working.  I talk and listen to a number of other parents because of my
role in scouts, so I am getting a lot of views on the whole thing, from
parents and students.

spike


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