Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Monday, March 30, 2020

Paradigm Shift

As we move into the bold new world of distance learning, it will be interesting to see what sort of vestigial effects the Great Distancing of 2020 leave behind. When we emerge into the other side of this, I think we will rush back into our social spaces. I miss the lunch table with colleagues.

The counterweight will be the push from employers who will be facing critical economic pressures to do more remote work.  Telecommuting will simultaneously get a boost and pushback. 

School is tough.  Ultimately, school is about personal interactions. It's face to face. Doing this online is going to feel artificial.  My eldest son is already really struggling with that (he's not a big fan of school anyway).

It seems unlikely that we "return to normal" because we are shifting what normal is.  The pressure will be to recreate human spaces in the face of "market pressure" to maintain cost efficient distance work.  I think I'm safe as a teacher, but I don't know what will happen in other forms of employment.

No comments: