1/ A thread on why universities need to keep teaching online for the rest of this term.

2/ The government's last guidance to universities was issued on 3 February. It instructed HE providers not to offer any face-to-face teaching - outside exempt subjects such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary science - until at least 8 March.

3/ By the time the guidance was issued, 12 universities and colleges had already announced that they were keeping non-exempt teaching online until the end of this term or semester. Since then 3 more have done so, and another is keeping teaching online until at least 26 April.

4/ See

5/ On Monday the government is expected to issue new guidance. Based on their past guidance documents, they may well say that HE providers can start offering face-to-face teaching to certain groups of students from 8 March, but to other groups not until later dates.

Today, January 3, 2021, the portals for taking applications for a new crop of teachers will go live. That begins a new process to fill our schools with qualified and competent tutors who will teach our children in basic classes and senior secondary schools across Kwara State.

It is an enormous task that we do not take for granted. It a task for which our administration will be judged — coming after we painfully nullified a process that had thrown up some 2,414 teachers.

Without mincing words, no patriotic person should defend the nullified process. It was egregiously faulty. Political interests had a field day dictating which individual got a place in our classrooms with scanty regard for merit.

So bad was it that they overshot the legal approvals to engage just 1,100. I do not dispute that a few great hands survived the process. My heart bleeds that those ones were caught in our decision to start the process anew. However, such great hands were exceptions.

A vast majority got the jobs because they knew somebody who knew somebody that knew somebody on Ahmadu Bello Way. Those affected knew this to be true. We couldn’t in good conscience allow that to stand, particularly after we initially gave everyone a chance to prove their worth.

Tonight I'm reflecting on the incredible & overwhelming work, resilience & commitment of Alberta's teachers, school staff, administrators & school boards over the past 4 months. And I want to tell them all that I bear witness. #ableg #abed

🧵

I watched as my daughter's Kindergarten teacher cheerfully spent extra time outside w/ them so she could take her mask off to show them how her mouth looked when she pronounced French words that were new to them. The kids had no idea this was different than usual. #ableg

I watched as my son's Grade 2 teacher brilliantly signed them up for virtual City Hall School and my son might now be more excited about what happens at City Hall than the Legislature. His teacher has done extraordinary things to keep them engaged & he's never loved school more.

I watched as our school principal & vice principal stood outside every morning, picking up dropped masks, cheerfully reminding kids which door to go in & to stay distanced, while greeting parents & sending regular videos to let us know about changing protocols. #ableg

I watched and listened to our school custodian tell me that in the over 40 years he's been at the school, this year stands out as the hardest in memory, but to proudly talk about the custodial staff and how hard they've worked to keep staff and kids safe & healthy. #ableg

The #NGSS propose diff experiences 4 Ss n sci classrooms, a ‘practice turn’. Recognizing this, we (Hyunju Lee @LonghurstMax @tjscience Dan Coster @LisaLundgren21 ) sensed a need 4 a survey 4 Ss 2 report their experiencs. Here’s a thread👇abt it 1/n

So what’s a ‘practice turn’? Forman (2018) shared how the practice turn is a move toward emphasizing the professional activities that scientists undertake 2 refine & critique explanations about events that happen in the world #NGSS 2/n

We started from National Academies of Science’s Taking Sci 2 School (2007)/Ready Set Science (2008) 4 Strands of Sci Learning mapped 2 3-D learning in the Frameworks 4 K-12 Sci Ed 2 as features of science classroom experiences we wanted 2 ask Ss abt 3/n

These 4 strands of science learning include 1) Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge 2) Generating Scientific Evidence 3) Participating Productive n Science & 4) Understanding Scientific Explanations 4/n

Next we developed questions 4 our survey w several questions about the 4 strands of learning (see example of questions some of these strands) - trying 2 use language from NAS documents as possible/appropriat 5/n

The new semester starts tomorrow so I thought I'd share some useful advice on how I made friends during remote learning from scratch - I just finished my first semester at a new university taught entirely online so I haven't met anybody in person nor have I set foot on campus

1) Send emails introducing yourself to ppl in your cohort. I emailed the other two PhD students starting with me after we attended our virtual induction and started a group chat. I also emailed another student whose work I knew of already and started a friendly chat using that

2) If your class doesn't involve breakout rooms, ask your lecturer to perhaps introduce them. I am taking German and 50% of the class takes place in breakout rooms. It's a place to vent, laugh, and make the small talk that normally happens before/after class

3) For classes that can't have breakout rooms: I asked a lecturer if they could put my email in the zoom chat during class if anyone is interested in starting a group chat. It worked, I hadn't spoken to anyone during class but we were all in the same boat and now the chat is lit

4) Ask your supervisor/lecturer to put you in touch with others in your department - particularly those who have similar research interests. Trust me when I say I get so excited if someone new emails me asking if they want to chat, and others probably feel the same

Education secretary @GavinWilliamson now delivering a statement in the Commons on plans for bringing children back to school. Stay tuned for live updates.

The government's response is proportionate to the risk at hand, @GavinWilliamson says.

.@GavinWilliamson says in a small number of areas where infection rates are highest, only vulnerable pupils and children of key workers will attend primary school face-to-face. This is NOT all Tier 4 areas. The overwhelming majority of primaries will open as planned on Monday.

For secondary schools, it will be a staggered start, says @GavinWilliamson – with staff testing starting from 4 January, exam years returning on 11 January and everyone back in by 18 January

In particularly hard-hit areas, @GavinWilliamson says that exam year students, as well as vulnerable students and children of key workers, will still attend secondary schools in person, with all other classes taking place remotely

Clearly, anyone who thinks school closures are doing great harm to children is just playing politics. That's why publications on the right, such as NPR, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and CBS News have all chimed in to support it.

NPR article 1 - in which they have the audacity to suggest that schools are not contributing to spread and that "going to school is really vital for children." What a Trumpian statement.

NPR article 2 - in which they relay a vast right-wing conspiratorial talking point that 3 million children have gone missing amidst the pandemic, with school closures as a culprit. Is this responsible journalism, NPR?

GOP squawkbox Washington Post: "Researchers say that in some cases, closing schools, and leaving children in the care of adults who do not force them to wear masks or socially distance, may put them at higher risk of contracting and spreading the virus."

The alt-right New York Times, quoting an expert from Hillsdale -- err, Boston University: "The more and more data that I see, the more comfortable I am that children are not, in fact, driving transmission, especially in school

It's 2021! Time for a crash course in four terms that I often see mixed up when people talk about testing: sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value.

These terms help us talk about how accurate a test is, but from different viewpoints. 1/

Viewpoint 1 is about the status of the person taking the test. Are they infected, or not infected? How good is the test at identifying these people? That's sensitivity/specificity. 2/

A test that is very *sensitive* will be very good at accurately identifying people who are infected.

A test that is very *specific* will be very good at accurately ruling out infection in people who are not infected. 3/

Viewpoint 2 is about the result of the test itself. It says positive or negative (or detected or not detected). How much can those results be trusted? Did the positive or negative actually "predict" the situation correctly? 4/

A test that has a high *positive predictive value* means you can really trust a positive. Most of the positives that come out do really mean that person is infected. 5/

The current issue of #schoolclosures is so complex I am loathed to add my opinion to the twitter soup

Massive uncertainties✅
High stakes✅
Huge health trade offs✅
Opposing opinions ✅
Easy answers 🚫

I'll just add a few simple thoughts

1/9

Firstly, don't be fooled by twitter

It has the most shouty and polarised opinions only, the moderates have been largely hounded out

Both public and scientific opinion is almost certainly much more nuanced and balanced than this platform would fool you into believing

2/9

Next, advocating for widespread closure is a legitimate opinion in the current environment

Massive, uncontrolled community transmission and looming hospital capacity issues, with high prevalence of infections among children (esp teens) are a bad mix

3/9

BUT, this would be be associated with massive, lifelong harms to children, who have already missed months of school due to the pandemic

BUT, trying to run schools with frequent, large scale closures/isolations/staff sickness may be a losing game, esp for secondary schools

4/9

I can understand the government wanting to keep them open, and I 100% believe they should be the absolute priority: Last to close, First to open

Have we reached a stage where the risks of opening now outweigh the harms of closure?

I don't know the answer

5/9

Can we talk about remote learning for a minute?? So, we've been doing this since March. Which means that every teacher & school staff member is now an expert in what works/doesn't work far above every single district bureaucrat or politician anywhere. They have ZERO experience.

So...what are we seeing?? (Keep in mind I teach 1st-3rd)

1) Whole group lessons should be kept to a minimum. Some community building, announcements, maybe a quick read aloud. That's it. Small groups & 1:1 instruction is far more effective.

2) Less is more. Teaching through a screen presents unique problems. Tech issues, not being able to see student work in real time...Teaching ONE concept thoroughly with practice is so much better than more complicated work.

3) Reduce Screen time. I mean, duh. But seriously on this one. Doing RL should not mean staring at a screen all day. Quick, targeted lessons in small group/1:1 settings, then allow choice in follow-ups to practice. And the indep work MUST be work than can be done without help!

4) I'll repeat this one: Less is more. Shorter school days, more breaks, targeted small group/indiv lessons works best. The push for RL to mimic the pre-pandemic in-person school day is absolutely ridiculous.

Masters Scholarships for guys that wanted more.
Open Scholarships Thread:
LEGAL.
Master in Transitional Justice Scholarships
Program: Masters
Organisation: Geneva Academy
Country to study: Switzerland
Course: Not specified
Deadline January 29,

DAAD-EPOS
ENVIROMENTAL SCIENCE
MSc WASTE
Scholarship Type: Masters Organisation German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Country to study: Germany
Application Deadline: February 15,

Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth
OPEN COURSE
Scholarship Type: Masters Organisation Commonwealth Scholarships
Country to study: Bangladesh, Barbados, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania.
Deadline: January 18,

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
HEALTH
Type: Masters
Organisation: LSHTM
Country to study: United Kingdom
DeadlineMarch 28,

University of Oulu
OPEN COURSE
Masters
Scholarship Type: Masters
Organisation: University of Oulu
Country to study: Finland
Deadline: January 20,

#PhD INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE + TIPS/TRICKS (mine were for #biomed)

A thread.👇

Before I begin, all of you are awesome and never let anyone tell you otherwise😃

Share and RT 😁❤
@AcademicChatter @OpenAcademics @PhDspeaks @firstphdchat

You made it. You have an interview for a #PhD program! And we are in the middle of a pandemic! Be proud of this accomplishment, you are amazing 👏

It took me a while to become confident and actually acknowledge this as something to be excited about and not anxious about.

Remember that the committee is impressed and wants to recruit you.
They would want to impress you with their the same way you want to impress them.

Now let's move on to interview prep.

An interview really is you marketing your best self as a candidate to the committee/your faculty interviewers.
If you know your interviewers prior to your interview (I also had the opportunity to pick them), read up on them, their research, recent publications/projects.

Faculty interviewers will be impressed if you have an understanding and interest in their work. It is also a good conversation starter.

One on one interviews with faculty will have more room for conversation than panel interviews.

Why I love learning.
Personal reflections from an #ActuallyAutistic perspective.
#ActuallyAutistic
#AllAutistics
#education
#edutwitter
#teaching
#studying
#autistic
#autism
1/

I realised I loved learning at nursery school. I pressed my painted palms onto sugar paper and slid smooth wooden beads on an abacus. I sat on a vintage tractor in the grounds and marvelled at its mechanics. To learn was to wonder.
#earlyyears
#education
#nursery
#autism
2/

I loved the fabric of the building. A small human sized door set in a large wooden gate. My coat peg with its sunflower motif. The canvas and metal camp beds we slept on after lunch. Collaborating with my cousin David, who helped do up my buttons, while I tied his shoe laces.
3/

My memories of primary school are even more vivid. Immersing objects in water, seeing what would float. Making kites out of sticks and paper. Translating shapes on paper into meaning and sound. Planting seeds then scraping back the earth to find red radish globes. Watching.
4/

One day we made a sorting machine out of index cards with holes in different places threaded onto knitting needles. It would answer questions for us. It was a rudimentary computer. I learned that I could answer questions myself by reading books, or sometimes just by thinking.
5/

Why does online learning not work, the younger the child is, & less supported at home?

Teacher cannot

1. Check for understanding
2. Hold child to account.

Parent has to get child to focus, check the learning & do what the teacher normally does in the classroom 1/10 THREAD 👇🏼

It works well with highly motivated Sixth Formers.

They are mature and ambitious enough to make use of the teacher’s knowledge to further their own ambitions.

But even at Sixth Form it cannot work with kids who need teacher to do what teachers normally do! 2/10

What do teachers do in classrooms?

They don’t just lecture! Not if they are good teachers.

They constantly pepper questions to check for understanding.

They test knowledge retention to judge whether something needs reteaching.

This cannot be done on Zoom. 3/10

Why can’t it be done on Zoom?

Kids have answers in front of them. So teacher can’t test.

With a challenging intake, audio from kids undermines teacher’s authority and allows one child to derail entire lesson.

Kids turn off video and then disappear- not hearing a word! 4/10

Why do we think it can be done on Zoom?

1. We mistakenly think kids are like adults and can lead their own learning & behaviour. They can’t.

2. We imagine parents are able to support at home. Many cannot, won’t, do not know how

3. We want to believe there is a solution. 5/10