Students and faculty have finished their first week of virtual classes after OCU switched to online for the remainder of the semester due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Since the switch, many professors have opted to use Zoom, a remote conferencing service, as an alternative classroom environment for lectures, group discussions and assessments.
Dr. Tracy Floreani, professor of English, said the technological transition to online teaching has been smooth.
“I’ve been in a lot of faculty meetings, as well as class sessions with students, and we’ve been lucky so far,” Floreani said. “We haven’t had a lot of technical problems. Honestly, students seem more comfortable meeting over video than a lot of the faculty.”
Floreani said her department’s leadership have been supportive to both students and faculty during the transition.
“Our leadership in the College of Arts and Sciences have been incredibly encouraging,” Floreani said. “They’ve been communicating with us regularly, and have offered themselves up as faculty resources. We feel very supported.”
Floreani said faculty are focused on providing students with positive academic experiences throughout the remainder of the semester.
“We all understand that this isn’t the ideal way to teach, for many of us,” Floreani said. “We are focused on keeping this a true OCU experience for students. That’s our main concern.”
Olivia Click, religion/philosophy junior, said her experiences with Zoom have been positive, but it doesn’t compare to on-campus learning.
“It feels different,” Click said. “I think you can get the education you need, but it doesn’t feel as good as it would if you were in an actual on-campus class.”
Click said she misses being able to communicate face-to-face with peers and professors.
“I really value person-to-person contact with my professors,” Click said. “That’s not really possible anymore, and communication is all through email or Zoom sessions. I really miss being able to pop in during office hours to ask questions.”
Click said she finds it a bit difficult to focus during Zoom classes.
“It’s a lot easier to focus and pay attention in real-life classes,” Click said. “Of course, it’s possible with Zoom. I guess it’s just different, but I will miss the old classes.”
Click said students have remained in good spirits.
“I had a Zoom meeting with some friends from my major, just as a get together,” Click said. “Everyone is laughing and joking, and they seem alright. I don’t think it’s totally bummed anyone out, so far.”
Click said students and professors have had a lot of fun showing off their pets during Zoom classes.
“Pets have become such a big deal,” Click said. “Everyone is showing each other their pets. Like, if we see a professor’s dog in the background, even they will get in on it and show them to us. It’s so fun.”
Click said she encourages students to go out of their way to make social connections every day.
“It’s really easy to be isolated and get caught up in your own grind,” Click said. “It’s definitely a lot easier to fall into that now, rather than when you’re on campus and can run into lots of people. I would definitely try and do things, like set up a Zoom meeting with your friends just to hang out.”
Floreani said she encourages students to be patient with themselves and their professors.
“Even the professors who are used to teaching online are now doing it in a new way or under a new level of stress. Even the students who are used to online classes are going to find that things are different this time around,” Floreani said.
Floreani said the transition to online classes has made it apparent just how creative the OCU community is.
“Having to change the way you teach shakes you up out of your ruts and habits,” Floreani said. “It forces you to be really creative and find new ways to teach without making everything overly complicated. That’s been the case with myself and many others. This is a really creative campus with really creative people.”
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