Randy Picker's Early Lessons from Zoom
UChicago community finds new ways to learn together
Prof. Randal C. Picker is a veteran of online teaching. Four years ago, he became the first scholar at the Law School to launch a massive open online course, spending roughly 40 hours in a studio recording lectures on the relationship between law and technology. But standing under those bright lights didn’t give him a way to interact with students.
“It’s like being on stage,” he said. “You can’t really see what’s going on.”
That hasn’t been the case so far during his Spring Quarter classes at UChicago. Along with his Law School colleagues, Picker began remote teaching last week, and said early lessons have gone “unbelievably well.” After holding nearly 30 practice calls on Zoom, what stuck out about the software was the way it helped him connect to the 32 people in his Network Industries class.
For Picker, the “light bulb” moments of the physical classroom have translated to the computer screen.
“We’re doing it together,” he said. “When I tell a joke, when I say something funny, I can see them. I can’t hear them laugh because they’re muted, but I see them laugh. When I go one-on-one with a student, I can see exactly what they’re getting and what they’re not getting.”
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