[onetimeusename]

Live streaming of class through Canvas is very popular. Quite a few people just watch from their dorms. So maybe people will have to come back to class, that will be entertaining. The class rooms are almost standing room only (sometimes they are) on the first day of class and then gradually thin out. Sometimes 10 or so people show up out of a class of 100. If Canvas is not back up soon I think it could actually be disruptive for that reason also.

[ecshafer]

This is awful to hear. The idea that students are just half assedly streaming the lectures is really just ruining things in the long run. This is a bit old manny, but showing up to lectures is good. You go to class, you get face time with professors, you can ask impromptu questions, you rub elbows with classmates, you talk on the walk between classes, you maybe run into a cute girl. Friction like walking to class and finding a nook in that annoying hour gap you have, are the things that make life enjoyable.

[gwerbin]

When I was in school, professors attitudes around attendance was usually "you're only hurting yourself, I don't care if you show up or not".

It's been long enough that I can't claim to be in touch with the current generation of teaching faculty. But it might be an element of that, combined with the desire to provide accessibility for the handful of students who do in fact need the accommodation.

[tokai]

Showing up to lectures is vastly overrated. Like note taking it's cargo cult behavior for middling students that care more about going through the acts of studying, than actual learning.

[ecshafer]

You'll note I didn't mention quality of education in my arguments. I am talking about the human experience. Though the studies typically show a correlation with grades and attendance.

[timdiggerm]

What a failure of university leadership to allow or even encourage that practice