Patrick Carruth
COVID-19 caused every students’ semester to take a complete one eighty. All classes were transitioned online to adhere to social distance policies in place across the country. Many students feel out of place because they are not receiving the face-to-face interaction in which they are accustom and believe learning has become more challenging.
“COVID-19 has affected me as a student because I am not getting to fully experience hands-on classes that my major requires. I am not someone who is good at keeping my stuff organized in all online classes. I am a better student when I get to be face to face asking questions and seeing the material first hand.” Lindsey Vernon, a senior Criminal Justice Major at Sam Houston State University says.
While some students are having a harder time dealing with the change, others have easily acclimated to the online schedule.
“So far learning from home has been about the same as learning in class. The only difference so far is that I don’t have to be up at a certain time anymore. Most of my classes have switched to either recordings or live-streams, so it has mostly been a smooth transition for me.” states Eric Williams, a senior Safety Management Major at Lamar University.
Another factor in online learning and classes is the degree the student is pursing. Some degrees have curriculum and classes that may be easier to convert to online learning. Students whose degrees are harder to format into an online learning environment feel this is unfair, placing them at a disadvantage, and possibly affecting their grade. Other students feel trapped at home due to social distancing and for them, this makes online courses even more challenging.
“In class, I am able to pay attention and really focus on what the professor is saying, it’s harder to do that at home because there are so many distractions.” states Matt Carruth, a Junior History Major at Lamar University.
“Taking class at home is definitely not ideal. I liked being at school because when I needed to focus, I could just go in my room or go to the library. It’s much harder to do that under quarantine with everyone being home.” Sarah Hawkes, a Senior Management Information Systems Major at Sam Houston State University says.
While students feel they are not prepared for the move to online classes, they also feel some of their professors were not prepared for the transition.
“I feel like all professors should know how to switch their classes to an online format before coming in. This would ensure that a professor could have an easier transition and could better comfort students if a crisis/problem did occur like COVID-19. This whole pandemic has created a lot of stress for some professors and then that then puts the stress on students also.” says Vernon.
This global pandemic has placed a huge burden on students’ academics but also their finances. Some students believe it would be very beneficial if universities issued partial refunds for tuition fees that are not accessible to the students anymore such as student recreational fees.
“I don’t mind paying for some of the fees if I am living on campus, but I feel that I should be refunded since campus has been closed. I’m paying for a library fee and a student center fee and I can’t use either one of those facilities.” Hawkes states.
Adjusting to online formats, professors not knowing how to properly run an online class, or paying for fees to have access to venues that are not available has been a major change for students. COVID-19 has impacted the lives of college students this semester, an obstacle for many students to overcome.
Published April 8, 2020 https://www.facebook.com/lutvnews/posts/10159645497615968
Comments