The coronavirus has taken this world by storm. I mean look at us right now, all of us were forced to go home and participate in online school for our spring semester as freshman because of the coronavirus. I know the change can be very stressful especially for us because we are literally going from learning in a classroom setting to online school in the span of a week. So, is this online school system working?
Now I know many of us are a bit fearful about what’s going on and how the transition is going to happen. I interviewed a few people in my African American studies course, and many of them expressed concern. Many of them agreed that there is a difference between online class and an in-class environment. They all agreed that there is a special connection that you lose in online classes. We also lost access to different on campus resources. For instance, we had high tech computers, printers, advisers, writing workshops and TAs, that we no longer have access too. This has left many students fearful for their quality of education.
Now these are some valid concerns that many of us, including myself, have. However, Penn State has done a great job at trying to make this switch from in person to online class. There is canvas, ZOOM and piazza to keep discussions going. Many professors, TAs, LAs and advisers are now holding meeting with students via ZOOM. As Penn State students, we are definitely lucky compared to other schools, who do not have the infrastructure for online school. Some colleges extended their spring breaks for two weeks to set up online learning. Many public schools do not have the resources to offer online school, so they gave their students a two-week break instead of online school.
Zoom, which offers video calls and messaging. Available on computer as well as phone.
So, these next few days might be a bit stressful and many of us are worried about our quality of education. Thankfully, even the Penn State administration agrees about the stress and now the University has also offered a pass/fail option. So, now students can focus on learning rather than maintaining grades. So, all in all, Penn State has done a decent job at transitioning to online school. However, not everyone is lucky, especially students who are in Labs or Studio classes. This has led to fear, but the University has put in effort to reduce our fear. As of now, there is not much we can do, and we cannot tell how online school is going to affect our education. So, rather than stressing about school, stay safe. We will all get through this somehow.
An example of a typical zoom class.
I know I personally am not enjoying the online classes. I acknowledge that a lot of hardwork is going in on all directions from all people, however nothing can truly replace the impact that learning something in person has. I personally feel like I am working harder than I worked in college and am actually learning and comprehending less than I normally would. I am counting down the days until we can get back to learning in person because I notice not only is my mood better when I am not staring at a screen all day but I also feel better with the daily interactions I have with everyone there.
As a freshman engineering student, this situation could not be better as I am trying to get the last of the weed-out courses done. Next semester I will be starting my actual courses titled “Electrical Engineering” and I definitely look forward to that. As for the current courses, I get to choose whether the grade counts towards my GPA or not because of the pass or fail ideal. This is amazing because I barely made the requirement last semester because of having more difficult courses than everyone else.