[sega_sai]

I appreciate this view, but I'm in academia, and with covid19 we are teaching remotely, doing exams remotely, etc. If the systems are down that can have a real disrupting effect on students not being able to submit homeworks/exams, us delivering lectures. And that potentially applies for the whole university (thousands of people).

[deadA1ias]

To extend the OP's line of thinking does it really matter. Exams can be rescheduled, extenuating circumstances taken into account. As someone that has fallen ill quite suddenly through examination periods due to chronic illness I never appreciated the dogmatic approach taken when administering tests. I'm a human being, things happen, systems go down...

[sega_sai]

What I meant is when whole systems go down (i.e. canvas, blackboard, office365 or similar) as opposed to the internet for one person, the problem is the amount of stress and extra-work inflicted on thousands of people is (I think) can be quite large. Sure, nobody died, it's nothing like that, it's just people get upset about it because it is something outside your control and affects many people.

[bsder]

> Exams can be rescheduled, extenuating circumstances taken into account. As someone that has fallen ill quite suddenly through examination periods due to chronic illness I never appreciated the dogmatic approach taken when administering tests. I'm a human being, things happen, systems go down...

The problem is that any "leeway" will be taken up by cheaters. And the cheaters far outnumber the people like you who genuinely need some slack.

When I taught, I tried not to be dogmatic. But people have to understand that when a prof gives leeway, he's putting his ass on the line ... he doesn't have authority to do that and he could get burned if someone gets riled up about it.

So, if your prof cuts you slack that you needed, keep it to yourself and STFU.

[Griffinsauce]

> And the cheaters far outnumber the people like you who genuinely need some slack.

Citation needed.

I suggest reading "Human Kind" by Ruther Bregman, which is an interesting (and substantiated) counterargument to this idea.

[bsder]

> Citation needed.

My class.

Quote from student: "Thanks for having the best class."

Reponse from me: "Best?! You're getting clobbered in my class."

Quote from student: "Yeah, I'm not doing that well, but the bullshitters who always manage to butter up the Professor and skate through are actually failing for the first time ever. Everybody knows where they stand in your class. And, they know that if they put in the work they get the grade and if they don't, well, they get hammered."

Response from me: "Thanks, I guess?"

I considered it a compliment only because my father who taught high school for almost 4 decades said: "You're teaching a class. The students have to think you know your material, and they have to think you are fair. Nothing more. If they like you and/or respect you, so be it ... but those are non-goals. Your goal is to teach them the material, not be their friend."

[Griffinsauce]

That sounds great but it's second hand anecdata and says absolutely nothing about the ratio of cheaters:non-cheaters.

[UglyToad]

I understand your point. But, and forgive the vagueness and wooliness of my thoughts around this subject, does this not highlight the "software has made everything shit"-ness of academia? Wouldn't a little less software or a little more downtime be good here?

Instead of being able to make a judgement call or respond appropriately to changing circumstances; instead of being relied upon for your ability to judge the needs of your students accurately, you risk being flagged up for not sticking to protocol in matters of ~student~ consumer interaction.

If a cheater slips through, does it matter, that much, if the cheating is getting an extra few days of time to complete an assignment?

Aren't universities meant to be about expanding knowledge, places of learning? Aren't we making a mockery of the whole idea of tertiary education getting so caught up in catching 'consumers' gaming the system and the risk debasing 'consumer currency points' or exam scores in order to justify the busywork of admin departments? Software and software enabled culture is incredibly powerful but it also removes human factors and discretion and has made many things worse.

[fpgaminer]

> If the systems are down that can have a real disrupting effect on students not being able to submit homeworks/exams

Pre-COVID, schools shut down for other reasons, like snow days. Doesn't seem much different.