Teaching Across Borders

When campus moved to online instruction in Spring of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students began to travel home--some to the Central Valley of California, but others to Saudi Arabia, China, New Zealand, Turkey, etc. The clear challenge was trying to find times for synchronous meetings that would fit everyone's schedules easily. Obviously, instructors want to avoid teaching a class several times in one day, and students would rather not participate in a class at three o'clock in the morning (although many have!).

Here are a few ways to make synchronous meetings easier:

• Consider how many synchronous meetings you really need. Make sure each meeting has a purpose.

• Poll your students to find out where they are, preferably before class begins. Don't make presumptions about their locations. Just because they're identified as a "domestic student" in university records doesn't mean they haven't gone to Morocco to be with family.

• Use a time zone planner to find optimal meeting times.

• Assign students geographically for small-group work so they can meet independently at convenient times

• If you're teaching a class that has other sections and instructors, check into the possibility of moving students between sections if timing is better. For example, if one section has only one student in Australia, and several in Switzerland, and another section has a few Australian students and one in France, it may make sense for the Australian students and the European students to be in sections together.

Geoblocking

Geoblocking is the barring of access to certain internet content based on one's geographic location. Although geoblocking is often associated with countries that limit access to social media, it's more widespread and nuanced than that. Here are some reasons content might not be available to all students in all locations:

• A site is blocked by a specific government entity, either a country, state, province, or city for political or cultural reasons

  • Example: Facebook in China, or YouTube in Iran

• A site is blocked by an educational institution or workplace

  • Example: Blocking sites such as Netflix used by students or workers to "waste time"

• Copyright holders restrict access to certain countries or areas

  • Example: Certain films and music videos being limited to US streaming services

• Content is blocked for being against various social policies

  • Example: Blocking sites for pornography, hate speech, or violence

• Bandwidth protection

  • Example: Commercial airlines not allowing video streaming on their onboard wifi systems

• Limited access

  • Materials may be licensed to a particular group, such as university students and staff, but not to other

Note: Zoom is generally available, but does have a few restricted areas to be aware of.

VPN Use

One way around geoblocking is by using a VPN, which masks the user's location. VPNs are often used by travelers who want to access their home country's Netflix offerings, for example, instead of the selection available locally. VPNs are also used to access limited content, such as library materials that are restricted to certain sets of users. And, of course, they are also used to access forbidden sites.

If you are teaching students who are located across the globe, there are a few guidelines to follow:

• Make them aware of Berkeley's VPN and proxy services so they can access University-related materials and restricted sites. The Library's Connecting from Off Campus page has all the information students and staff need for access.

• Do not ask students to circumvent their local laws by using a VPN to access sites that are illegal for them. What students choose to do is up to their own decision-making. But, it puts them in an uncomfortable position to be asked by a person in authority (i.e., their instructor) to violate their local laws.

• Contrary to some news that is out there, it is not illegal to use a VPN in China. However, there are some VPNs that are blocked there. The campus VPN is not among them.

Alternative Sites

When you assign internet materials, the first thing you should do is check to see if the site you're recommending is banned. For example, Wikipedia gives a list of where YouTube is banned. A simple internet search will turn up similar lists for other sites.

Instead of asking students to break their local laws, if you are suggesting Vimeo videos, for example, it is helpful if you know if there are other sources available to students in their locations.

Working with students who may be geographically dispersed can present issues in access to materials. Students may have very different access to books, or even to ebooks, depending on global distribution of titles, speed and availability of delivery service, etc. Not all countries have household or individual postal service, so even mailing students copies of things may not work, either. Gather information from your students in order to understand what limitations they may have on accessing materials.

It's also important to model ethical practices by not simply providing copyrighted materials to students without the appropriate permissions, licenses, or fees.

There are ways to address this before deciding on materials:

• Investigate what online resources and ebooks the university has licenses for. The Library website has a page explaining ebook access and how to search for licensed materials.

• Give yourself two or three options, and poll students about their access to these options.

• Notify students about what materials they'll need before class begins, and give them a clear schedule of when materials will be used so that they have time to secure copies.

• Look for open-source textbooks or books not under copyright, such as those found on Project Gutenberg.

Bonus tip: If you are accustomed to working with paper copies of books or articles, remind yourself to get out of the habit of directing students to page numbers. Students may have to search for passages or information by key word searches or knowing which chapter and paragraph, for example, a passage is found in.

The security and privacy of student information is essential in all circumstances, but especially in online environments, where breaches in security can expose sensitive information. The choice of internet tools to use with students should be made with as much information as possible. As you research a new tool to use with students, some questions to ask are:

• What type of data is going to be exchanged when using this tool?

• Who has access to that data?

• What will the app or platform owner do with that data?

• What types of privacy measures are in place for the data?

• What measures can you and students take to ensure the security of student information?

Recent concerns about Zoom and its privacy have been made public, including incidents of "Zoom bombing." But more worrisome than the random stranger entering your class Zoom space is the concern of the access to information produced in Zoom sessions. Two relevant readings:

• "Is Zoom Safe for Chinese Students?" Chronicle of Higher Education, June 12, 2020

• Zoom Security Issues, explaining updates to Zoom 5.0