Harvard Extension School helps move the College to online learning
Four years ago, Harvard Extension School officials asked senior preceptor in Romance languages and literatures María Luisa Parra-Velasco to teach an online version of her popular course on artist Frida Kahlo using Zoom, then a little-known video-conferencing platform. At first, Parra-Velasco was reluctant because she didn’t want to miss the face-to-face contact with students, but eventually she gave in. And now that the College has moved classes online for the rest of the semester she’s glad she did, particularly since much of the teaching will be done over Zoom. “It was great to see the students again,” she said after meeting with students in her “Spanish in the Community” class via Zoom on Tuesday. “It’s not the same as an in-person class, but everybody was engaged and eager to participate. I’m glad the Extension School asked me to do an online course four years ago. Right now, it certainly has served me...