What is life really like on college campuses (or remote learning) during this pandemic? All this semester, we’ll be following profs and students on 6 campuses to hear their stories on this podcast series on the EdSurge Podcast.

The stakes for professors feel high: “What I’m most concerned about is that one of my students will get sick enough that they are forever affected, or sick enough that they don’t make it,” says Rachel Davenport, a senior lecturer at Texas State University, in one of her audio diaries. “And then if that happens, will I wonder, did they catch it in my class? Could I have done something different to have prevented it?”

Meanwhile, students are having a campus experience that some colleges are even comparing to a minimum security prison, like one Syracuse freshman who describes his quarantine in his dorm. Online students, too, face challenges, like the first-generation student who talks about her struggle to find a quiet place to study with two kids at home.

Update

We’re thrilled that the podcast series won support from the Education Writers Association through a reporting fellowship.

I talked with Higher Ed Geek Podcast about our new series and what we’re learning so far.

The Chronicle of Higher Education noted the launch of our podcast series.

I sat down with the TeachLab podcast at MIT to talk about what we’re learning so far from our series.

The podcast series has been reviewed in a couple places, including at eLiterate and the PhilOnEdTech blog.

I also joined this new online event series, Blursday Social, to discuss issues raised by the podcast series.