The beginning of the school year got off to a rough start. Most universities in B.C. delayed the start of the winter semester by a week and then followed that decision by announcing the following week that courses would be online as well.
This decision left professors scrambling to change all the dates and deadlines in their syllabuses. Other instructors decided to move completely online for the rest of the semester, out of a concern that a COVID-19 outbreak would send them online halfway through the semester anyway.
Currently, half of my classes are online and half are in person. After two years of online learning, it’s the perfect way to bridge the gap between Zoom lectures and a post-pandemic normal.
Despite the trials and triumphs of watching professors adjust to new technology, it seems people still have a thirst for knowledge.
A lot of students I have talked to have mixed feelings about an online school.
The Canadian University Survey Consortium, which in 2021 polled almost 13,000 students at numerous universities in their graduating year, found that about two-thirds said they were happy with the instruction they received online, and about one-third said they were not.
Some people love online school because it saves them time on the commute. With gas prices right now, I don’t blame them. They can also study from the comfort of their home and in the company of their pets.
Some classes are asynchronous and online, meaning that they don’t have mandatory instruction times, which gives students the freedom to work around their busy lives. In addition to all that, studying from home means that they don’t have to worry about getting sick.
Other students fear that the quality of their education has become sloppy, and face-to-face interactions are better for retaining information. Not only that but they worry that the significant increase in screentime will have long term effects on their eyes.
These students also fear that their social lives are suffering as a result of barren campuses and the majority of extracurricular events being held online.
The rest of us realize the truth lies somewhere in the middle and we will just take what we can get. As restrictions continue to ease, we will once again have to pivot towards whatever news gets thrown our way.
There’s a specific point students reach in their degree where they just want to graduate. To stand and smile with that lowly piece of paper that says we graduated, whether that be over Zoom or not.
Jasna Rowse is a Kwantlen Polytechnic University journalism student and occasional freelancer for The Squamish Chief.
