Like the thousands of students around the world, I have joined the ranks of attending zoomiversity. I would like to add that I did not invent the term zoomiversity, I saw it on Twitter and it made me laugh. I had never anticipated what it would be like to do my degree from the comfort of my bedroom and yet here I am. I've just completed my first week and I thought I would share my thoughts on using online platforms to learn.
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| My old university desk that I am missing a lot right now. |
The Beginning
When we went into lockdown back in March, I only had around three weeks of teaching left. As it was so sudden, like most students, it was a difficult adjustment and then content provided was not adequate. However, I was at the stage in the term where I was moving away from teaching to focus on my assessments for the year. We had a policy introduced that meant that we couldn't do worse than we had been doing pre-pandemic as this was a stressful time.
I didn't have any classes online. Anything that was available was tasks we did by ourselves or pre recorded lectures. It was a fairly easy adjustment, just doing the work when I had a spare moment and being able to do it at my own pace. I had heard stories from friends and online about dreadful transitions, and although the teaching standards weren't what I usually had, it was better than nothing. It was a very sudden adjustment and I am prepared to be lenient as it happened so quickly. We don't give enough thanks to the teachers and lecturers having to adapt their jobs to this.
Zoomiversity
We found out in May/June that all our lectures were going to be online. There is some promise from in person teaching but this will be limited, especially for my course as we can survive without in person teaching for the moment. It does make me sad that the last year and a half of my degree will be impacted by this. That I won't get the typical university experience and will never get it.
I was anxious about how this online teaching would work. As I study Creative and Professional Writing, we spend a lot of time working independently during lecture time. Did this mean I would just be sitting in my bedroom working on tasks by myself? Would this style of teaching actually work for me? I am someone who works well alone. I find it difficult to concentrate with other people around me. In theory, this should be my idea of heaven. I can sit in my room and fully concentrate on what's happening. Yet, I was very anxious. The main thing that made me anxious was interacting through cameras. I don't know what it is about using a platform like zoom, but it turns me into someone who cannot function as a normal human being. I just flail and become inherently awkward. It also plays into my hatred of forced social interactions. In a classroom, I can sit with my friends but now I have to talk to people I wouldn't normally. My nightmare becomes a reality.
So how did I find zoomiveristy? Honestly, not as bad as I thought it would be. I like that it's acceptable to take photos of the slides and no one knows. I can do the work at my own pace. It's also mostly acceptable to never turn on my camera or mic. I can be anonymous. It also means I can feel no guilt if I do anything embarrassing as no will ever know. I like hiding behind my laptop. I do not like sitting at my horrible desk for two hours as I physically hurt after sitting there that long.
There are advantages and disadvantages to working and learning from home. I miss having the two separate. I liked how university and home were two different things. I could keep them as two different parts of my life. However, you have to think of the positives. It is nice to finish a lecture and then be able to go about my day. I have more time to play with. I can make my life fit nicely around it. It's nice to have that option. At the moment, I am on three weeks of general training and getting used to being back at university. It's good to test it and see if it works. I've made a little schedule so I can make the most of my time. Make my days count. I had missed the structure that university brought to my life and now I have it back.
Advice?
To anyone who felt like me, unsure and let down, I will say it's not as bad as we thought. Yes, it is not ideal to be paying this much just to sit at home. But at least we are lucky enough to have access to our education. They are trying their best to make this work for us. I will be happy to walk away from this with my degree next summer. Try and find the positive in this situation. I know it's difficult, but when the world is on shut down, you have to keep moving.
Carenza :) x
