Connecting to Students During the Pandemic

The student-faculty connection is integral to learning, and some say using social media to reach out to students can bridge the gap as we all struggle through remote learning.

Here are some tips for reaching your students using social media.

• Choose a platform to complement your usual communication modes. The best platforms allow students to follow you but do not require them to do so. Twitter and Instagram both meet this criterion.
• Share your own coping strategies and experiences regularly, essentially modeling for students how to live in the coronavirus world.
• Engage students by using polls, questions, and quizzes they can respond to.
• Promote your institution to help students feel a part of their college. Tell students what’s going on behind the scenes to provide them with a valuable educational experience.
• Tout student successes as steps towards admission into a graduate program or attainment of a job or internship.

From Faculty Focus

Nailing a Zoom Job Interview

With many organizations not operating in their bricks-and-mortar locations, Zoom job interviews have become the norm. A Zoom interview is much like a face-to-face interview, but be aware of unique-to-video considerations before logging on with a potential employer.

Familiarize yourself with the platform prior to the meeting. To prepare for potential technological challenges, be familiar with whichever platform the employer is using for the video interview. Ensure that your device is updated and ready to avoid last-minute glitches and delays.

Dress for success. Dress as you would if you were going for an in-person interview. Yes, that includes dress pants or a skirt and shoes. Stay away from stripes or prints, dangling or metallic jewelry, and glasses, all of which may reflect light in a way that makes looking at you difficult.

Don’t be too early. With in-person interviews, it’s always a good idea to be at the location fifteen minutes early. Not so on a Zoom interview. Be ready to log in, but don’t do so until shortly before the set time.

Consider the background your audience will see. Avoid distracting backgrounds such as bookcases, awards, art, and anything unusual to ensure the focus is on you, not your décor. Never use overhead lighting; any light should come from behind the monitor and be diffuse. Focus the camera so that you are seen from mid-chest up.

Be alert. Body language is especially important during online interviews. Maintain eye contact with the interviewer and sit up straight. Practice active listening and take notes. Use your head and hands for gestures, and don’t be stingy with smiles.

Of course, prepare, prepare, prepare. Research the company just as you would if you were visiting its offices. Nothing can turn off a hiring manager more than not showing interest in the organization.

From Los Angeles Times

Ancient Greeks Named What We’re Feeling Today

Listless? Unmotivated? Bored? Fearful? Turns out we’re not the only era suffering from a panoply of woes. The ancient Greeks even had a word for it—acedia (uh-see-dee-uh).

After months and months of corona-induced fatigue, Zoom parties have lost their novelty. We’ve all seen too many posts of home-made bread. And while working from home in jammies may have been fun for a few weeks, those Covid-19 pounds are most decidedly not fun at all.

So it stands to reason that we are feeling acedia, another word for being in a funk, unable to complete tasks, or feeling hopeless and trapped. So why bother with a new word for what we already know we feel? Because according to experts, putting a name to an emotion helps us deal with it.

Next time you find yourself dreaming of going out for drinks with friends, hugging it out, or not thinking twice before jumping on a plane, remember you’re feeling acedia, and it’s part of the human condition.

From inc.com