F
ollowing a week-long closure from March 16 to 23, classes have resumed in an “alternate format.” Online discussion boards have replaced in-class seminars and email has replaced face-to-face office hours with professors. For some, this has been a huge adjustment.
“I usually don’t take online classes, particularly because I know it’s hard to motivate myself to do them,’ said third-year animal biology student, Rose Neil. “But now, I basically have five online classes.”
Many U of G professors are doing everything they can to ensure that students are still able to get the most out of class and finish the semester as painlessly as possible, but a lack of student participation appears to be a major problem they now face since courses have gone digital.
“A few students continue participating online, just as they had in class, and others have disappeared,” said Professor and Acting Director of the School of English and Theatre Studies, Martha Nandorfy. “This might be because there aren’t a lot of marks to be gained by participating, unless you still have to do a seminar presentation or response, but it also shows you how students might feel less accountable online.”
Clear communication between professors and students is vital to classroom success, but a lack of communication seems to be another issue students are facing.
As a student of Professor Nandorfy, I can say that she has answered every email I have sent her in a timely manner and offered help wherever she could, but Neil said that not all of her professors have been as attentive. While some of her professors have done a good job of maintaining a schedule and keeping their students up to date on what they need to know moving forward, others have been less forthcoming with information. Neil said that one of her professors has posted all remaining course material to Courselink but has yet to tell their students about how their upcoming exam will be taken.
“I miss actually talking in class. One of my classes was a seminar, so the discussions were the counterpoint of the class, and quite insightful,”
said fourth-year Classical History student, Sumana Gupta.
“I feel like there’s a lot of things that the University didn’t think about when they decided to move everything online,” said Neil.
Where some students are finding lack of motivation to be the biggest obstacle they are facing, some are simply missing the opportunity to be in a classroom.
“I miss actually talking in class. One of my classes was a seminar, so the discussions were the counterpoint of the class, and quite insightful,” said fourth-year Classical History student, Sumana Gupta.
For classes with an emphasis on discussion and debate, the transition to online may present a substantial issue.
In an email sent out to all students, Enrollment Services said the university recognizes the strain that COVID-19 has placed on the well-being of students, and added that the university understands “that the changes we have had to make may affect students’ abilities to cover original course material and be assessed on the learning outcomes.”
Despite the substantial changes to classes, some students have said they have not noticed much of a difference.
“It’s no different because I have always found lectures useless,” said Dillon Penton, a second-year International Development student. “I never went to class, so it’s pretty much the same for me.”
As the semester comes to a close and students move toward exam season, there is a sense of uncertainty in the air. The university has declared that all exams will now take place in a modified format, but they have been very vague in regard to what this will mean for students, saying only “[exams] will be conducted in a modified format (i.e., not face-to-face). Your instructor will be able to provide further information.”
Students are of varying opinions when it comes to online classes and how they are handling the sudden changes to their schedules, but what is certain is that this is new to everyone.
A version of this article appeared in print in The Ontarion issue 188.4 on April 9, 2020.
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