Human nature has a way of classifying experiences or issues for that matter. There is the group that identifies itself as the “glass half full” believers and the other group, which tends to view things from a “glass half empty” perspective. We traditionally categorize the former group as optimists while identifying the latter as pessimists. I belong to the former!

During the lockdown period, which is gradually diminishing, a lot of us have experienced an unprecedented amount of virtual interactions or communication. These interactions range from individuals, families, institutions (schools, businesses, weddings, conferences, funerals, etc.) and even virtual “lovebirds.” And the sky is the limit. The picture, unfortunately, has not been uniformly rosy. For example, problems faced by students, parents, and teachers suddenly exposed to online teaching and learning as a result of the pandemic included lack of preparedness, inadequate support from parents, limited access to internet services, etc. According to EducationSuperHighway, in 2019, an estimated percentage of US students with no access to internet services ranged from less than 15 per cent to more than 25 per cent. Canada is unlikely to be too different, although according to Statistics Canada, only 21 per cent of households had no access to internet connections in 2010.

One likely question that seems to be common among these groups is “Is this another dimension of the ‘new normal’?” Necessity is the mother of invention, as the adage goes, and these transformations have only demonstrated and confirmed that belief. One challenge that lies ahead is to convince those non-believers that this transition is indeed a way forward. They are those who still believe that having a pre-pandemic office environment still remains a viable and compelling option.

If the current euphoria around these increasing online social activities is any indication, the changes are here to stay for the most part. For example, in one of his recent announcements, the CEO of Facebook (FB) proclaimed that many of his workers would now be permanently working full time from home. The benefits of such a strategy are undoubtedly bound to outweigh the risks. And this is looking at both the workers and the institutions. How widespread the proliferation of this model is going to be is anybody’s guess. The jury is still out. My personal thoughts are that this new “normal” is the way forward in many instances and here to stay. Whether implementations will be uniform or “personalized” remains the big question. While we are still on the subject of FB, I’d like to share with you a disgusting, insensitive, divisive, incendiary, and potentially very controversial article – a report that illustrates the extent to which some businesses will go to improve their bottom line. In a recent story, The Wall Street Journal  reported that Facebook had conducted research using an algorithm aimed at exploring humanity’s affinity to divisiveness! The level of abomination in a story like this illustrates the callous, inhumane, and unacceptable ambitions of this and similar institutions; an effort that continues to destabilize society and enrich shareholders with total disregard to ethical and social implications.    

Over the last five years, I have had the privilege of delivering a course to graduate students at the University of West Indies (UWI) in Mona, Jamaica. Over the years, participants of this course have from come from several countries including, Trinidad and Tobago, the UK, Germany, Africa, and Belize. I have written about this experience in one of my earlier articles. Unfortunately, and for selfish reasons, this year is likely to be my last Zoom course. In effect starting next year, UWI has decided to move this course to an online platform. Dehumanizing as it may seem, it is definitely a decision consistent with our contemporary dynamics.

During these five years of lecturing, I have always admired the ease provided by having access to the Zoom platform. It gave both students and me opportunities to interact in real-time with no glitches. Their motivation, interest, and enthusiasm also motivated me to look forward to the course. But, as we also know, every good thing comes to an end at some point! The session this year was no exception. 

Every year, before the sessions went live, I always had an opportunity to conduct a dry run two days before the actual lecture. And during that time, things always ran smoothly and glitch-free. That is until this year’s session. While the dry run went as planned, the live session did not. In my earlier sessions (for those conversant with Zoom and similar technologies), both parties (students and I) had the opportunity to see each other during the entire course of the lecture. This year, with all the experience, sophistication, and my optimism, I wrongly assumed it was going to be business as usual. 

This was a three-hour session. Barely forty-five minutes into the lecture, the screen just went off. Neither the students nor I could hear or see each other. The university’s technical team in Mona did everything possible to reconnect us. For a while, the problems seemed to have been addressed and things started to pick up momentum. This was only the beginning of bigger challenges. My screen subsequently froze and all attempts to address the issue failed. I remained optimistic. My colleague (a professor who was in the actual classroom) and I decided to continue the lecture through cell phone communication – this time with neither party seeing each other. While I spoke from my end, my colleague followed from the other end using the PowerPoint slides I had prepared. And that is how my lecture series ended this year. At the end of the session, I apologized to the students, reminding them that what can go wrong will go wrong as Murphy’s law states. Not long after these challenging moments, I read stories about how Zoom was being infiltrated by cybercrime perpetrators. So, while we all look forward to a new way of life – the new normal – let’s constantly remind ourselves that comfort comes with risks and vulnerabilities!