khamsin: (david byrne)
We learned this morning that a dynamic and beloved adjunct instructor lost her battle with kidney cancer. Last month Taylor agreed to move to an assisted care facility because her regimen was just too demanding for her husband, mother, and home care nurse. Her recent posts were upbeat in spite of the setbacks. She sounded so herself. I suppose this news isn't unexpected, but it is still shocking. I barely knew her, but everyone who did recognized that she was a remarkable lady who gave 150% of herself to her work, family, and friends.

I don't know how the news got out. I saw Molly's tweet, and then frantically Googled hoping for confirmation. Karla IM'd me immediately after getting off the phone with Linda, who had just heard from Taylor's mom.

When students would graduate and leave our office, we would joke that ITD and GSLIS were like Hotel California. Today, more than ever, I'm thankful for that, because it meant that I heard this news right away, and that I knew there were people spread across the country that I could talk to, and with whom I could share the news who might not have heard otherwise.

Connection and community. It's what Taylor was all about. She was 54.

I might have mentioned that I work for a highly acclaimed, number one ranked distance education program that has an almost 100% retention rate.  When students come into the program, they come to campus for ten days of orientation, tech training, and one intensive course.  We give them an overview of "live sessions", the synchronous class time that involves listening to the instructor on a real audio broadcast stream, interacting with the instructor and other students in IRC-based chat, and viewing "slides" sent out by the instructor.  Many of the students freak out at this point, asking "how am I going to manage all of this and still take notes?!  how am i going to pay attention and still learn?"  We assure the students that by the end of their first semester, they'll be folding laundry, eating dinner, petting the cat, watching TV, AND doing all their class stuff.


My boyfriend is taking two online courses this summer.  THIS is what really goes on during an online class - drinking PBR, eating homemade sushi, and relaxing on the bed.

September 2021

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
121314 15161718
19202122232425
2627282930  

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 18th, 2025 03:14 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios