Turning Minds Around

The outbreak of coronavirus was a discontinuity in our lives, and it left many individuals and institutions to confront the sudden lack of control that came with it. I wonder how, as institutions especially try to make themselves more robust to this now experienced shock, we will see some of these short term changes stick.

In the last post you made excellent points about the changing nature of education. Professors do seem to have managed ok, although not without the occasional funny anecdote arising. What do you do when a one hour class is forced into 40 minutes because of limitations in teleconferencing? What about when your audio cuts out or half your class is in their PJs? Still, this has not turned out to be an insurmountable challenge.

In the long term, I expect Universities will have a more comprehensive online strategy so that these changes don't come as such a shock. More classes will be recorded, more assignments administered electronically, ways to write exams. And with these changes, I think will come some economies of scale. Fewer professors will be needed for the same class sizes, having different sections with different professors will be a thing of the past, TAs and exam proctors may be less in demand. Times for those just starting the journey towards academia may be getting harder.

At the school level, the situation is much less clear. Parents will always want some way to get their kids out of the house. And younger children do seem to thrive best in a structured environment that encourages socialization.  Perhaps the economies of scale won't emerge here, which may be good news for teachers. A dose of the realities of homeschooling may also make parents more appreciative of the hard work done by their kid's teachers. I fear this gratitude may be short lived, but this may finally be an opportunity to change the way that we in North America think of this career.

As we near the possible end of this first wave of Coronavirus, with some cities and states opening up, and deadlines set for others, I do wonder what the commercial impact of the virus will be? How will a short term downswing in the velocity of money pair with the exuberance of coming out of isolation? Will we fly less as more workers go remote? What does this mean for the hotel, airline, and short term rental industry? And the knock on effect on housing prices? I'd love your thoughts as I continue to develop mine.