Thank you for your insightful thoughts. To your point, the culture around technology in the classroom shifted very quickly without much explicit discussion. For example, when I was in undergrad (’12-’16), it was not required or expected that you bring a laptop to class. And most of the time, I did not. I had one course that was marked “BYOC” bring your own computer. But that was it. Now, it is expected and almost required that you bring an internet connected device to class for in class activities, assignments, or other aspects. When did this shift exactly occur? And how did it occur without being explicitly named?

While I am speaking about the undergraduate level, what are the expectations or requirements of K-12 students to have or bring an internet connected device in the classroom? How is pedagogy going to change to adapt to this new trend?

Change does take more time for some people and institutions. I’m curious to know which fields are lagging behind and what you see that leads you to that conclusion? One example I can think of in my department is the residence requirement. When you had to have access to the university library that made a lot of sense. You don’t really need that now. Even meeting with your advisor and committee can be done really well through Zoom or another video conferencing tool. I think it’s a bit of an outdated idea we could do away with – at least in my discipline.

Thank you for your insightful post. I am just at the cusp of remembering being taught how to do research in a library but never remember actually having to do it. I believe the reach and openness to education and knowledge that the internet acheives is truly something no one could have foreseen 20 years ago but I also really think a lot of fields are lagging behind in how to embrace classroom online instructional tools.

Might you had close situation of this Sgafrouz back home, but as you said “the bright side is the newer generation which is more open to accept changes and modify the traditions.”. Thank you so much for your comment.

Thank you for your participation in this post Nayara. I think there is a big transition about the educational culture for Saudi women when they move to study in the U.S.

Thank you so much for your valuable comments, and I really appreciate that.

Love it. Provocation spurs a deeper understanding of the issues. I don’t have to agree with someone else’s views, but I have enough respect to listen. I try to keep that open mind and see it from their view so that I might understand where they’re coming from and why they believe what they do. It definitely isn’t easy, especially when it feels personal and uncomfortable. It might make my beliefs stronger, and it might change my opinions. It just might make me a better person. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Andrew, you raised a very valid point that we are all unique with infinite, unmatched worth. This observation quickly invalidates the mechanism of clustering for judging people. Thanks!

Hi Ray! I think teachers have key roles to promote respectful communications by treating students equally, establishing teamwork projects and sharing personal stories with emphasis on inclusion and diversity.

Setareh joon, thanks for your comment. As we discussed before, such cultural improvements are significantly slow yet definitely rewarding. We need to patiently invest time and energy to communicate with each other to build a diverse community full of peace and respect.