Faculty Approaches to Students Missing Class from Illness or COVID Concerns

Other faculty have developed their own solutions

David Torres, a Professor of the Practice in Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health, has been Zooming in students using a laptop.

“I established and shared a Zoom link before class for the absent students, and set up Zoom on my laptop at the front of the class, facing the class. I used my Apple AirPod Bluetooth headphones to connect to the laptop. With the sound setting on transparent (not noise-cancelling), I was able to manage my lecture / discussion for the class, and the students online were able to hear me clearly, and even hear questions and answers from the students in the class space.

If a particular student in the class had a very soft voice, I repeated the question or answer. I typically walk around the class to engage with students. Without the headphones, and because I don’t stand behind a lectern, my voice would fade in and out for the students online. The headphones allowed for almost normal participation for the absent students. If they had questions, they could ask me and I would hear their questions through my headphones.

If professors use slides, distributing them to the absent students along with the zoom link would allow the online students to follow without the need to share screen.”

You may have your own innovative solution. If so, please don’t hesitate to share with us and we will add your approach here.