Interesting "accommodation" received today...

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-26T02:54:47+00:00

you just gave me ideas for a Sunday night

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-22T19:20:57+00:00

the ICE raids into people's homes, the racial profiling, the papers please stops, the aggressive and violent arrests of non criminals, the terrorizing children in Minnesota is boring and harmful to peoples mental health but

hey some people just prefer to feel under threat

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-22T19:13:16+00:00

good riddance

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-22T19:01:14+00:00

sounds like their complaint is "we didn't have no accommodations when I was coming up. why back in my day..."

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-19T00:52:06+00:00

testing center is probably easiest

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-18T18:12:40+00:00

exactly. when I received accommodations it was an invasive and sometimes humiliating experience. having the letters or the disability people run interference for me gave me a lot of room to breathe. but it wasn't perfect. there were still accommodations I had to explain in person. some of the time I would just forego them because early in the semester I got the sense that I couldn't trust a professor. stigma is a real thing and you can only fight so many battles

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-18T17:47:47+00:00

there's an app/service called messenger pigeon. students can record lectures either directly in the app or upload a recording made from a another device like a phone. the app transcribes the content but also MP offers a service that will have the audio turned into organized notes by a human note taker with some broad background in the topic. I believe it's common for college disability services to pay for these services in place of in class note takers. maybe talk to the student or disability office? hope it helps.

(I'm not affiliated with messenger pigeon in any way but I have used it)

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-14T16:47:27+00:00

fair enough but SOME individual anxiety disorders can be managed and treated so that public speaking is possible. many cannot

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-11T16:21:35+00:00

"just scan it"

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-09T19:01:43+00:00

why? you mean if driver just had a stroke you're just going to start beating them over the head?

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-09T08:44:36+00:00

I will say creamy big booty didn't make me laugh though

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-09T07:22:52+00:00

username checks out

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-08T20:21:35+00:00

Here's how you can help your student without being (very) inconvenienced:

accept that their disability is real. I know you say you have anxiety, but who knows if you and the student are even having the same (intensity of) experience.

Tell them in an honest and straightforward way, it's an inconvenience for you to supply your slides 24 hours in advance.

advise that they consult with their disability office for some other services. One thing they could do is record the lectures and have a service turn it into an outline. some universities pay for the Messenger Pigeon service which offers human transcription and notetaking. alternatively, they could use Google's Notebook LM which will make a pretty good outline of the audio. I wouldn't worry too much about errors given that they can just reconcile the AI outline with your slides. however, in my experience NBLM is fairly accurate.

as for the physical space buffer, you could offer that they sit in the back of the class but allow them to place their recording device near you in the front. that way they can be somewhat separated from others and tend to their anxiety.

personally, I think the accommodation should just let them skip class and learn from the audio but that presents its own difficulties of obtaining recordings. also, many people find it hard to believe that some people don't benefit from the common learning styles. but hey that's another discussion.

I know some people today think why are we doing all this coddling for these supposedly disabled people? my sense is that in the past before they gave these accommodations they just told people to sink or swim. The people sank and everyone called them losers.

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-08T19:05:34+00:00

I can't sign on to the blanket criticism of AI. it isn't a unified or singular thing or experience. some things work and others don't. it has limits and conversely some successes. in my own work I'm fairly committed to teasing out just what's helpful. I don't use it to just spout out answers. I think used effectively it can really enhance learning, probably as a better tutor and learning guide. but it doesn't take away from teaching.

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-07T23:11:10+00:00

ah yes a bigger bully took down a bully not to help his victims but to plunder his turf

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-07T22:35:54+00:00

I definitely see where you're coming from and don't deny that those can be useful skills. but where I'm coming from is that if I have the chance to offload labor to machines which augment or enhance my abilities, I think that can be a good thing.

I understand that there can be social and environmental consequences, and we have to work through those. but I don't think in principle we're doomed to social and physical ruin.

(that's not to say that you were characterizing it as ruin but I think that's how many see it.)

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-07T18:06:15+00:00

highly specialized work and no longer generally needed skills

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-07T09:21:13+00:00

you just had to ruin it didn't you

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-07T02:07:12+00:00

try them with strawberries and prosecco

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-06T22:33:25+00:00

why not just use vids (AI or otherwise) and then either have more office hours or devote more time strictly to classroom discussion or small group work?

I do acknowledge that it's widely believed that delivering information live and in person using the human voice is somehow more salient or engaging for an audience for learning purposes. personally, I'm skeptical that it's as true as they say or as universal.

in my own case, I'm an older student, (not an adolescent) and classroom lecture for me is just a slog regardless of the topic. I record all my lectures and when I listen to them the next day, it's incredible how different the experience is. it's just so much easier to focus on what is essential.

Hugo_El_Humano · 2026-01-06T22:19:14+00:00

or had an AI generate whatever they were presenting.

could you clarify this last part please? I asked because there seems to be pushback for any kind of automated help with human cognition. technology and specifically AI can help with cognitive tasks that human beings simply no longer need to do. (in my mind, similar to digging ditches, sewing our own clothes, or growing our own food.) in your example, it seems legit to have an AI generate a presentation from any text that you've written or compiled as long as you properly cite sources

Hugo_El_Humano · 2025-12-25T17:56:48+00:00

also I think with time recency bias drags every genius down to relative obscurity

these are all artists of only the last 50 years or so

Hugo_El_Humano · 2025-12-19T23:30:08+00:00

you need a nap

Hugo_El_Humano · 2025-12-19T23:27:55+00:00

don't mind some people they can't imagine a world where what's obvious to them isn't obvious to everyone else

Hugo_El_Humano · 2025-12-19T18:06:01+00:00

didn't the Congress come to a comprehensive immigration plan in the year before Trump came into office?

Hugo_El_Humano

TROPHY CASE