Happy Saturday,

I have been teaching online now for the better part of 3 years. It began before it had to, which was a relief to me. At least when the pandemic first hit, I did not have the same learning curve with Zoom already in my back pocket. However, the new pressures that come with educating in a digital space make it worrisome.

I have taught 3 courses this past Fall online and spoken at 5 different conferences. I haven't had to leave the comfort of my own home office and for that, I am grateful and privileged. But, I am also drained, tired and lonely.

The energy generated in a room of keen, ready participants is simply unattainable online. I believe it is mostly due to the fact that the electric, measurable energy itself that a human body creates cannot be transmitted via a digital interface. Without sounding too wooshy or scientific, the kinetic energy that transmits between human interaction is lost when not in the same shared space. It’s a fact that impedes trust building on an ethereal level. Most of the way we feel about others is simply that. . .what we feel. It is felt long before it can be understood or articulated and so, with a Zoom screen and microphone, this transmission is lost.

Beyond the loss of transmission, when our energy combines with others, it affects change in our energy. The image below is all of the system in our bodies that are effected by energy:

It's humbling to think that online education short changes this transaction between not just the teacher but also the students themselves. Could it even be a contributor to us being unwell? Science isn't totally clear on this yet but, I have a sneaking suspicion it might.

All in all, we need to get back to shared learning in proximity to each other. Although technology has afforded the education system a new way of working, I don’t think we can deny ourselves each other indefinitely. 

I’m all for online as another option but I don’t want to contemplate the cost of it becoming our only option. What about you?