image via https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2016/01/06/lessons-from-mclennan-community-colleges-virtual-educator/
March 22, 2020
Brianna Yacovelli
COVID-19 has been the front-runner of the headlines in today's global news. Businesses are closing left and right, and schools have sent their students home. Trying to adjust to this crisis, schools grasp on to online learning to help continue education.
One of the reasons why a lot of people chose Loyola was for the small classroom setting, which allowed for better personal connections with the professors, but also a space to work collaboratively.
Now that the student body is spread out across the map, that personal, collaborative workspace has transformed. Online classes allow students to continue their education, no matter where their home is.
While it seems like an easy switch, many students have struggled with the transition. Richnie Pin ’21 faces different obstacles with online learning at home than when she was learning on campus.
Having to complete classes at home was not something that college students signed up for. Some people do not have the proper technology to participate in Zoom classes or to complete the necessary work at home.
Some people, like Pin, have to learn to balance at home responsibilities with college responsibilities. She also expressed that there are a lot more distractions trying to do a class over Zoom at home than being in a classroom at Loyola.
Unfortunately, students who were abroad also had to come home and begin online classes. Emma Roth ’21 was in Argentina before the virus started to spread and shares how coming home has limited her experience.
Being pulled away from a study abroad experience has been hard for Roth and adds more pressure as she tries to complete her classes from the United States.
Another obstacle online classes have is for labs or studio art classes. Without having the tools on hand to complete the lessons forces instructors to amend the lesson plans to offer some insight to what could have been learned.
With the limit to technology, displacement of students, and diverse courses, college students around the world are trying to readjust along with everyone else to the new world that we are in.