From the Editor
We Will “Zoom” Through the Corona Virus Emergency
OLLI life has been upended but it hasn’t stopped.
Like a majority of learning institutions, we’re keeping as much going as possible through online capabilities. Many of our classes and other activities are becoming “virtual” in this spring term. And many of us are becoming acquainted with apps that enable us to communicate with individuals and in groups via desktop, laptop, iPhone, tablet and other devices. The idea is to maintain “social separation” to avoid the dreaded coronavirus – but we don’t want social isolation.
With both state and national emergencies in effect and with an abundance of caution, OLLI President Barbara Lane and OLLI Executive Director Megan Whilden made the decision that OLLI would offer online classes to substitute for classroom meetings. Nearly half of the instructors who were scheduled to teach this term have agreed to give online presentations.
We’re doing it with ZOOM, an easy-to-download application that enables audio and video teleconferencing. You may already be aware of the various classes (online of course) on how to use ZOOM that have been offered to OLLI members.
I’m far from being a techie, so imagine my surprise when I found I was able to download and log on to ZOOM with little trouble. This site provides an easy-to-download icon for your computer’s toolbar so you can click on to a meeting with little work. If you have bandwidth limitations, as those of us living out in the sticks do, you can dial in to the audio-only portion, or you can call in and participate conference-call style.
Hats off to all concerned for saving our spring semester. Pandemic or no pandemic, learning at OLLI goes on.
Classes will be the usual 90 minutes duration, and thanks to ZOOM, participants can ask questions and have exchanges with their instructors. If you paid for a course or courses before the online alternative was put in place and prefer not to do your course on line, you have three options: Request a credit for a course you can take when we return to “actual” classrooms; Get a refund; or Donate the course fee to OLLI (which can certainly use the cash).
Along with our virtual catalog, we are offering a virtual OLLI Update, to keep you abreast of our organization’s happenings.
Whether you’re a newcomer to OLLI or an “old hand” be sure to read Peter Bluhm’s article, “What Makes OLLI Tick?”. You’re sure to learn a good deal. Our president, Barbara Lane takes a light view of the online experience with a piece on her “Virtual Cocktail Party,” that sets the scene for our own virtual classes. Read about Will Singleton, one of OLLI’s directors, and his concern about “A Racial Divide in America.”
You don’t have to be a folk-music aficionado to enjoy Kathy Zdeb’s piece on Doug Mishkin and the course he will be teaching on folk artists in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. But if you are an aficionado, you will really appreciate learning about Mishkin’s background. And you can keep up with OLLI’s audiophiles if you’re into circuit design and other critical factors that make for “Absolute Sound” in stereo equipment by reading Peter Bluhm’s “A Day in the Life of OLLI’s Absolute Sound SIG.”
Also learn about members who have been tapped by OLLI’s governance committee to serve on our Board of Directors. Their election by the full OLLI membership will take place at our annual meeting later this year.
I close with heartfelt wishes for your continued good health and I look forward to seeing many of you through ZOOM before too long.
