COVID/online teaching: are you assigning less?

In our August "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I am preparing Fall 2020 syllabi for mid-to-upper-level courses.

Synchronous-online instructors, how much reading material are you all assigning?

How much are folks assigning relative to what they would have assigned in a non-COVID-in-person scenario?

Good questions. I'm currently scheduled to teach a hybrid format: in-person in the classroom while livestreaming to other students via Zoom. However, for obvious reasons, I've designed my courses to be able to transition to online-only delivery easily. In brief, I've assigned the same amount of reading for my classes as usual. But what I have done is reduce the number and type of graded assignments students have to complete. The rationale for this is simple: anyone could get sick, both me and my students. Given that my lectures (which will be posted online) help students to understand course readings, it didn't seem to make sense to me to dramatically change the readings I've assigned. Graded assignments, however, can take real time to complete and if someone is out of commission for an extended period of time, then missing graded assignments could be a big burden on everyone involved. I'm not sure this is the right strategy--as, like many people, I'm designing courses like this for the first time--but it seemed to me the best way to go.

What about all of you? Are you assigning the same amount of reading material relative to non-COVID/in-person teaching? Have you reduced the number or type of graded (or even ungraded) assignments you're planning? Etc.

Comments

[Michel]

The readings are the same. We're all online, and the decision was made months ago, so everyone is forewarned. If it was a mid-semester shift, I'd consider some cutting of the readings.

What I've done, however, is change my assessments a bit (they're imposed top-down, so there's a limit to what I can change). In particular, I've reduced the number of essays to just one (the required number), and shifted a chunk of the other assignments to online quizzes and exams which can almost entirely be marked by the LMS.

[Paul Carron]

Much like Michel, the readings are the same, and the assignments are such that a sudden pivot to sudden online won't be onerous for me or the students. I have never used online quizzes before, but did so in the summer and think that it is really effective. I make them open book/pen note but timed, so basically if they read reasonably closely they should do well. I am assigning less formal writing, however, and using Packback, an AI-driven discussion board that will require much less of my time. Basically I am not giving the students much less overall, but I am making changes to lessen my grading load since teaching online takes a lot more front-end prep.