Welcome to "Zoom University": Online Learning During a Global Pandemic at Duke University
by Ryan McMutry
Like most other students in the United States, Duke students have taken the majority of their classes online since March 2020, the start of the US COVID outbreak. In a pre-COVID era, Duke academic life was characterized by community and collaboration amongst students and faculty. The Duke Difference: The number of small seminars increases as you progress in your major, students are encouraged with a semester allowance to take their professors to lunch, and Perkins library is the hub for weekend study sessions. With new state and national restrictions, these collaborative spaces have been closed and this academic community has been pushed online. Duke has been different.
The previously collaborative nature of classes has been challenging to translate over zoom.
student experience
How have students adapted to this new academic terrain?
Students were asked the following questions:
What does a normal day look like for you? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to online classes? Has this semester taught you anything about your approach to academics? What would you tell an incoming freshman about navigating academics during a pandemic?
Student responses were analyzed and broken down into the following sections based on shared themes: Learning Format, Daily Routine, Learning in Digital Space, Learning on Your Own, and We’re All in This Together.
Summary
(00:24) Four students representing various majors, from each class year, weigh in on how the pandemic has shaped their academic life.
Ure is a first year student potentially majoring in Economics and Neuroscience.
Colton is a sophomore majoring in Asian and Middle Eastern studies and Cultural Anthropology.
Shami is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering with an I&E certificate.
Sam is a senior on a pre-med track majoring in Psychology.
(1:16-2:38) Although Duke classes have taken on three primary new formats – socially distant in person classes, zoom classes, and hybrid classes (which are a mix between zoom and socially distant in person) – the majority of students’ classes fall online.
“One of them is a hybrid class, but in reality it’s just been on zoom… our last week of class, we’re finally having our first in person class.”
(2:38-5:03) The rigor of classes persists despite their new online format. Student days are made of classwork, studying, and self care maintenance. The biggest difference between now and pre-COVID is that these activities occur in students’ living spaces or outside.
(5:03-7:18) Some students feel freedom with online learning because they can take their classes from anywhere (at home with family, outside, etc.). Others feel caged in their rooms – distracted, and unmotivated by the monotony of their surroundings. The social aspect of learning has been lost and some students lament not seeing friends in lecture halls, having small group discussions, or “running into a friend before class”.
“try to leave your room as much as possible… otherwise it can mess up your mental health”
“it’s so easy to procrastinate”
“it’s much harder to be engaged with the class”
(7:18-9:27) Students are given more control over their learning with a digital format (e.g. at any time they can rewatch lectures, pause them, speed them up). However, without the infrastructure of in person classes and the centrality of activities in their living space, many students are finding it difficult to structure their days and stay on task.
“I have to really structure my days… everything is so self paced.. you have to do it on your own because there’s no one there to help you along.”
(9:27-10:38) The 2020-2021 academic school year has by far been one of the most challenging for students and faculty…. but “we’re all this together”.
