Supporting our Students

Our students face their own challenges trying to learn in potentially distracting environments, from different time zones, potentially without reliable access to the internet, all within an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty.  In addition to structuring your class in a way that takes these difficulties into account and meets them where they are, here are some resources you can direct them to:

• Fordham’s  Remote Learning for Students page, which informs them of the suite of tools they can get from IT for free (including Microsoft suite, antivirus software, equipment rentals, and more).
• Spectrum is giving K-12 and college students 60 days of free WiFi. (Note: customers who sign up for the free service will automatically be billed for using internet access after the first 60 days unless they call Spectrum to cancel the service.)
• Mays Imad as a post on Inside Higher Education, 10 Strategies to Support Students, with advice like offering students an opportunity to exchange phone numbers and, for those who are interested, help them create a WhatsApp chat group. Or, you could create a community discussion board for them to share what is happening in their lives, especially given the stress, fear and strains in these uncertain times.
• This Reddit post provides tips on how to handle the transition.

Some of your students may be Chinese internationals who might not be able to reliably access their Fordham email accounts or Blackboard back home (if they have returned home). Some alternate ways of connecting with them include WhatsApp and WeChat, both of which are widely used and accessible on the mainland.  You can encourage your students to set up a VPN (subject to student comfort). Or, you can post your lecture materials on YouTube.

These are just some options for how to support your students. We welcome more suggestions!