Dear faculty members,
In preparation for the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, below are a number of updates and suggestions pertaining to teaching, along with a few other matters.
Online Teaching
1. We start the academic year by using distance teaching and learning. We hope that during the semester we will be able to begin to teach in classrooms on campus, and we are continuing to carry out technological preparation for this. Kindly recall that login to the Zoom classes will be via a link on the course’s website on Moodle. Please create this link already now (in Moodle, go to “add resource or activity”; select “Zoom”; and follow the instructions there).
Teaching and learning through Zoom is challenging. Among other things, it is important to diversify the teaching methods as much as possible, by integrating discussions in Zoom rooms, polls, short videos, pre-recorded lectures, etc. This semester, numerical grades will be given, and we are already preparing for that.
2. It is essential to send a short letter to the students in your course(s), as soon as possible, and at least a week before the start of the academic year. The letter should briefly describe the course and introduce the course staff. Additionally, the letter should deal with aspects of “course culture” when using Zoom. Among other things, please address the following issues (which are also discussed below): turning on cameras, recording of lessons, how to participate during class, etc. Such letter is also an opportunity to remind students that communication at the University is done primarily via email, to discuss the obligation to attend classes, to discuss the need to avoid distracting actions during class, and to invite students to personal conversations.
3. Cameras: Like in (almost) everything else at the Hebrew University, on this issue, too, instructors enjoy academic freedom to set their policy regarding student’s obligation to open the camera during class, including prohibiting students who do not turn on their camera from participating in a class. At the same time, the University administration’s has set a policy in this matter, which is classified as recommended policy. The policy is based on the premise that the instructor should strive to achieve the desired result of cameras turned on through persuasion and explanation.
Please discuss the importance of turning cameras on with your students (in summary: there is no invasion of privacy, since students can apply a virtual background; etiquette suggests that students ought to allow the instructor to see them as they listen to class, respond to things in class; turning cameras off increase the likelihood of students distracted by other activities; etc.). Additionally, student who so requests, should be entitled to receive an exemption from the obligation to turn on the camera, provided that she gives a reasonable reason, in an application submitted before class. If the student’s reason is lack of equipment, she should be referred to the Office of the Dean of Students, who provides loan of equipment to students at no cost.
At the same time, we must keep in mind the distinction between the principled policy and its enforcement: The Hebrew University treats students as equal partners in learning, and encourages critical thinking. Exercising authority over students may be contrary to this ideal. Therefore, it is better not to enforce these rules of etiquette (as well as, for example, the obligation to attend classes), but rather, to make it clear that we expect students to act responsibly.
4. Students’ participation in discussions: It is important to encourage students to participate actively in class, including by answering the instructor’s questions, asking their own questions and offering comments and critiques. Asking the students questions during class is, to my view, the most important aspect of good teaching.
Alongside the traditional means for class participation, namely hand-raising (to raise hand in Zoom: press “participants”, and in the window that opens, bottom left, click on “raise hand”; click again on “raise hand” to cancel the request to participate), Zoom offers additional ways. One such way is posting a message (by chat). To avoid distractions during class, it is best to limit written discussion to set times, but it is not recommend to prohibit students from sending messages during class. Another option, which I especially recommend, is student group discussion (in “discussion rooms”) during the lesson. Discussion in Zoom rooms provides students with an opportunity to get to know their classmates and to discuss and clarify study material, by means of a joint discussion of a question that the instructor asked. Research shows that the best way to learn is "peer learning," both during and out of class (many of you probably remember this excellent video). Finally, it is very important to have an open forum on the course website on Moodle, for written discussions about the class.
5. Recordings: A major lesson that we derived from the Spring semester is the crucial importance of making recordings of classes available to the students. The recordings improved the quality of learning and the students’ satisfaction with the teaching. Our experience has also shown that recording lessons and making them available to students did not impair attendance at classes and there are no known cases of recordings being misused. In view of the fact that the current semester will also begin with distance teaching, our policy has remained unchanged: the lessons must be recorded (which is done automatically) and the recording made available for the use of the students studying in the course. The recordings are only available to students who are registered for the course and will be deleted at the end of the exam period. The recordings will not be used in any way without the instructor’s consent.
In the spirit of the distinction already mentioned between the policy in principle, and its enforcement, we have accepted the request made by the Union of the Senior Academic Staff, and determined that an instructor may prevent the recording. To this end, on each course’s page on Moodle there is a reference to the rules regarding restrictions on the permitted use of recordings, as well as guidelines on how to prevent recording (you can also see the guidelines here). This move, which the other universities have not made, does not stem from a position that the recordings are not important for the success of instruction; as stated, we believe quite the contrary. Rather, this move stems from the recognition that the Hebrew University respects academic freedom and acts on the basis of persuasion and consent. Availability of class recording is truly critical to the success of online teaching, and just as we expect students to behave politely and responsibly, this duty rests, even more so, on us as well.
B. Additional Updates
6. Town-gown relations: We continue to strengthen the University's connection with the community. An important move in this regard is an agreement that has been reached among the University, the Jerusalem Municipality’s Education Administration, and the Schwartz-Reisman Center, for the establishment of a science campus for physics studies for high school students. Similar to the model already operating in Rehovot and Tel Aviv, and for the first time within a University campus and in partnership with it, all physics studies in Jerusalem high schools will take place at the Center that is situated on the Safra campus. The construction of advanced laboratories will soon be completed for this purpose. The new center will operate in coordination with the Hebrew University’s Youth Division, which continues to operate, among other things, the Belmonte Science Laboratories Center. In addition to all of these ventures, we have the activity of the growing Kramim elementary school, which also operates on the Safra campus.
7. We send warm congratulations to two newly elected members of Israel’s National Academy of Sciences: our Dan Miron (Hebrew literature) and Simcha Emanuel (Talmud). Along with them, the Academy elected two members from the Weizmann Institute (Uri Alon and Yair Reisner) and one member from Tel Aviv University (Anita Shapira).
8. We are continuing to make a large investment, amounting to close to dozens of million NIS, to improve the University’s computer infrastructure. Upon completion of the new SAP system, work began on establishing a new computer system for teaching and student matters. The work is being led by the University’s IT department and the Student Administration division together with the BCI IT company. Concurrently, work is underway to establish the University Computing Center, which will provide infrastructure for big-data computing to all of the University’s campuses.
9. The annual meeting of the University’s Board of Governors, which had been scheduled to take place in June, has been postponed to October. We had hoped to conduct this meeting in the physical presence of all of the attendees. As unfortunately this will not be possible under the circumstances, the session will be held online, on October 25 and 26, 2020. Everyone is welcome to attend. We will send you the details and a link to the online meeting in the next update. Please take special note: the Doctoral Degree Awarding Ceremony (which will be also be conducted through Zoom), will take place on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at 5 p.m.
Best regards and good health,
Barak Medina, Rector