Though it’s torture to some, others find virtual learning a more than suitable alternative. Illustration by Darlene Maes for The Bulletin.
By Carlos Martinez and Cindy Canas, Staff Reporters
After a spring semester sliced in half, and this fall semester put on a mostly online track back in June, the only chance of having anything close to a normal college experience would have been spring, 2021. But that hope was dashed earlier this month when California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White announced virtual instruction would last until the end of the academic year.
There are all sorts of reasons, and all sorts of reactions to the announcement. But we decided to turn this pro/con to two members of the staff whose opinions focused on specific issues: unreliable Wi-Fi and computer access; and embracing the opportunities that this pandemic has created
Pros
By Cindy Canas
I understand how going virtual this entire academic year is making many students feel like they’re losing out on a genuine college education. And I agree that not having in-person classes, or a campus where we can study, interact with our classmates, and just hang out isn’t something any of us would have chosen.
But the reality is that the coronavirus doesn’t care about whether seniors will have a real commencement, spotty Wi-Fi or the uncomfortable background noise that seems to slice through every Zoom session because of that one student who forgot to mute their microphone.
It’s a fact that there is still a contagious, potentially lethal disease out there and we should all remember that any hardships we may be encountering with a virtual academic year is not worth the price of catching it, or spreading it even unwittingly to those who it could really harm.
And consider the positives.
The majority of CSUDH students commute to campus from home or work. While I’m sure there are those who only have to drive a few miles, or who need to be on campus to utilize resources like the library or the career center, to me commuting causes awful stress driving at least an hour and a half to work.
I work in retail almost 40 hours a week during the day and have to take most of my classes before 1:30 p.m. or after 5 p.m. on select days of the week. That means I always had to deal with traffic on the fairway and was constantly worried about being late and being docked attendance and participation points. Not only is that stress gone, but I’m saving loads of money on gas.
The extra time I now have by not commuting to school coincides with improvement in my time management skills. Before COVID-19, my time management skills were a mess, as I never could figure out a way to keep from missing deadlines or forgetting where I placed the project papers or the assignment sheet before rushing out the door to head to class.
But now that classes are outlined and everything is processed through Blackboard, deadlines, assignments and all class-related communication are automatically organized and easily accessible.
Between Blackboard and Google Drive helping me stay on top of things, I now have time to plan my studying and school work time more efficiently.
Being online constantly has also helped me realize all the resources that are available virtually.
The University Help Desk is readily available to answer and assist with any problems.
Yes, I do miss my fellow students and a virtual environment can never replace a physical one.
But we need to stop looking at virtual learning as an inferior replacement, or fall-back option to in-person classes. We need to embrace it as a new kind of learning that offers some pretty cool things.
For example, in traditional in-person classes, professors often assign each student a partner to work with outside of class time who then come to class ready to discuss a situation.
Many of my professors are doing the same through breakout rooms on Zoom, which I find makes interacting with classmates less awkward than it talking to them in class.
Another tool that I don’t think I would have been exposed to, or at least appreciated, if not for virtual learning is headspace,an app that helps relieve stress and anxiety through meditation.
COVID-19 has not gone away and isn’t going to disappear by the end of the year, which makes it more than reasonable for the CSU Chancellor to make the decision of extending online instruction through the end of the spring semester. Our health, and those we care about, is far more important than cramming into a classroom with minimal air circulation.
If you’re a new, or returning CSUDH student this semester, you can check out some of the online resources here.
Cons
By Carlos Martinez
When I first heard CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham’s decision to move all instruction online for the remainder of the 2020 spring semester, I was pretty stoked. I didn’t have to stress about hauling ass from school to work or vice versa, I could finally sleep for more than three hours a night and I could dedicate more time and effort on my assignments and projects.
Just two weeks into the virtual semester, I was parked in a desolate McDonald’s at 2 a.m. screaming at my frozen laptop, my outfit of bike shorts and ripped T-shirt strangely fitting the emotional rage bordering on mental breakdown going on in my head.
Why? I had just found out my internet access would be shut off for the rest if the semester and the internet access I had through my job was out of the question since I was furloughed.
I wouldn’t say things got any better,but i somehow endured the mental and physical drain from the anxiety attacks and the constant parking lot-hopping to Starbucks or anywhere else offering sweet, sweet Wi-Fi. I passed all my classes with the hope that this would be a one-time experience.
On Sept. 10, CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White announced all 23 California State University campuses will remain mostly virtual for the rest of the 2020-2021 academic year. This was due to a possible third wave of coronavirus.
The second I heard the announcement, I wanted to scream. I was a little bittersweet about fall 2020 going virtual and was hoping that it wasn’t going to be a mess like in spring, but honestly I don’t want to go through it again.
Online learning might be fine for some, but not to those of us who relied heavily on CSUDH’s resources in order to be academically successful. The pandemic has opened my eyes on how much we were taking physical classes for granted.
We can’t just go to campus and use the Wi-Fi in order to complete our assignments like last year. With places such as the Loker Student Union and the library closed, it’s discouraged for students to wander on campus to get their assignments done.
My kitchen table has become a cage match with my younger sister, a sophomore in high school, who is also learning online. The winner takes the table while the loser is stuck sprawled across the couch.
Sometimes, Zoom meetings are in the middle of dinner and I have to get creative on places to work in peace such as creating a makeshift workspace in the garage, patio and, in extreme cases, the bathtub.
There are many students at CSUDH who have siblings, roommates, or children who all have online class sessions in the same area at the same time. It’s hard to focus on your own classes when there are virtually four other ones going on in the same room as you.
There’s also the chance of internet outages and unreliable internet connection with the volume of students logging in at the same time.
This leads students to hunt down areas where the internet is available, sometimes leading students back to campus which defeats the purpose of virtual learning.
Computers, tablets and smartphones have proven to have issues at times as well. When these freeze during a class or a test, it becomes the issue of wasting our time trying to fix our devices; only to log back on and find out that class has ended.
Granted, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, and going back to how things were in fall 2019 is unrealistic. However, it still puts students who don’t have the resources at a disadvantage to learn and retain the material.
Although online learning will have to do, for now, there needs to be a better way to help students and to ensure their success at CSUDH.
