Ever since the fear of the coronavirus swept through the whole world, everything that was normal then seems like a distant memory. Nearly every aspect of our lives that involved social contact has changed and when this is will all go back to what it used to be is uncertain. University classes were shifted online as one of the first measures to maintain social distancing and students across the world were able to attend classes from the comfort of their beds.
Jacobs University was no different in implementing online classes and cancelling lab courses; students and professors together, took to understanding what it takes to conduct and attend lectures from a distance.
We spoke to students in our community to get an insight into what their online lecture experience was like.
Isabella Maria Wilkie (Italy/UK) | BSC Biochemistry and Cell Biology | Class of 2020
1. Approximately how many classes have to had to attend online?
I had one lecture-based class, three presentation-based classes and a language class.
2. What has been the most convenient aspect of online classes? What about the most inconvenient?
I like being able to have class wherever I am (be it on my bed, the sofa or at my desk) without having to get ready and head out beforehand. I think that the most inconvenient aspect for me is that it’s harder to just “go up to” the professor/lecturer to speak to them at the end of a lecture, as you would have in pre-corona-times, and instead have to send emails and wait for their responses.
3. What is something you’ve learnt about technology while attending online classes?
I think that the most valuable skill I learned from the online classes is being able to present in front of an audience that I don’t see and doing it online rather than on person. I feel that this is a very valuable skill (regardless of whenever this corona viruses crisis ends), as it enables me to communicate better with others via different means.
4. Have you had a professor who had struggles adapting to online teaching? What was it like watching them learn?
Yes, I think that at the start everybody had some sort of learning curve, students and teachers alike. Honestly it was a mix of funny and frustrating… initially it can be quite entertaining to watch somebody struggle with something that to many of us seems second-natured, but after some time it does get repetitive to point frantically in some direction or repeat the same instructions over and over again. I suppose it is a type of role-reversal, in some cases we had knowledge that was valuable to our lecturers and had to transmit the information to them.
5. In one sentence, state your opinion of online teaching.
Personally, I have to say that I very much prefer in-person teaching to the online style. While it is convenient to attend class from my laptop, there are always more distractions and some lecturers have not yet adapted to this format either. I appreciate and send out my gratitude to everyone who is in a teaching role and has done their best during this transition period, as they allowed many people (myself included) to continue with their studies and finish their studies as planned!
6. Finally, Zoom or TEAMS?
TEAMS, I like Zoom too but the convenience of having all the courses on TEAMS makes it easier.
Mariam Endeladze (georgia) | Ba Psychology | Class of 2021
1. Approximately how many classes have to had to attend online?
To be completely honest, not that many. I only had to physically attend two classes through Microsoft Teams, three of my courses had pre-recorded lectures, and by the time we went on a lockdown, we were already done with the rest of the courses.
2. What has been the most convenient aspect of online classes? What about the most inconvenient?
Since most of my classes were pre-recorded, the most convenient aspect was definitely the fact that I had quite a bit of flexibility when it came to scheduling my day - not to mention that I did not have to get out of bed in order to get attendance and participation grade. The most inconvenient aspect was definitely the lack of face-to-face interactions with professors and students.
3. What is something you’ve learnt about technology while attending online classes?
That I am definitely not the best with it, also that I desperately need a new laptop. The amount of times it has crashed when I was attending several sessions back to back is honestly ridiculous.
4. Have you had a professor who had struggles adapting to online teaching? What was it like watching them learn?
I have actually not had any of those instances where the professor could not figure out what to do.
5. In one sentence, state your opinion of online teaching.
As convenient as it might be, it is definitely not for everyone, including myself.
6. Finally, Zoom or TEAMS?
Discord!
Faisal Qadir (India) | BSC Earth and Environmental Sciences | Class of 2022
1. Approximately how many classes have to had to attend online?
Only four of my classes were held online; the other ones were study-yourself.
2. What has been the most convenient aspect of online classes? What about the most inconvenient?
Online classes is the best thing that can happen to a lazy person like me. The fact that I can just wake up 5 min before (or after sometimes) the class starts and still make it in time for class since the only distance I need to cover is from my bed to my table(and even that can be pretty far someday, thus some classes were held right on my bed). Other than that, I also found it very convenient that I could multitask during the classes especially when something unimportant is happening. I would often use class time to finish small tasks like, making dough, cleaning my room, repairing my bike etc. While it may seem contradictory engaging in mindless activities while listening to your prof. did increase my focus on what was being taught. However, keeping focus in classes proved tough since you’re always in front of your computer, a gateway to worlds of entertainment and gratification. You have to constantly convince yourself that what is taught in the class right now is better than all the other things that you could be doing in life.
3. What is something you’ve learnt about technology while attending online classes?
Technology is great! But only until it works; current technology is great but still not stable enough for a lot of important things. Being in online classes did make me realise that technology has the tendency to fail sometimes and that we should be very flexible in the face of that and always ready with alternatives.
4. Have you had a professor who had struggles adapting to online teaching? What was it like watching them learn?
I’m sure a lot of professors had to face a lot of problems going online on such a short notice, but most of them didn’t let that struggle show in the classes and everything went smooth most of the time.
5. In one sentence, state your opinion of online teaching.
Great, but can’t replace in-person classes.
6. Finally, Zoom or TEAMS?
Teams is more well put together and robust. But zoom just works and has a lot of functionality. But why only those two? Hasn’t anyone heard of Skype meet, Google meet?
BY USHASHI BASU (INDIA) | CLASS OF 2020
