As Spring Hill College students begin their transition from campus life to online learning, they face many changes in their daily lives that result in mixed emotions.
Spring Hill College began online courses at the end of March to cover the remainder of the 2020 Spring semester. This change has made an impact on the curriculum for many students, whether they are preparing to be teachers who can no longer go to classrooms or nursing majors who spent much of their time working in hospitals. Class structures like these are difficult to transition to an online setting, making teachers and students adapt to this education overhaul. The day to day life of a college student is vastly different whether they are taking their classes online or at a brick and mortar establishment. That is why it is important to ask how students are feeling about online instruction.
The feelings about online instruction are different from student to student but many still hold the same complaints and praise about the shift to an online day. David Toups, a senior biochemistry major, told me about his experience with his online courses so far saying, “The best part is that I can set my own schedule so I can work when I want. The worst part about it though is that my schedule mainly consists of sitting and listening to recorded lectures now. The biggest change for me though was that one of my labs just ended where we were.” The swap of meeting with teachers and classmates to only hearing a recorded voice isn’t just impacting Toups. Robby Letson, a senior psychology major, said, “My classes haven’t changed much in terms of workload. But psychology classes are very conversation oriented, making the lack of conversation now just… weird.” The last student to share their online experience is Theron Hewlett, a junior history major, who elaborated on the changes they faced saying, “I loved the structure of my day to day classes and though it’s kind of nice to be able to set my own schedule and work at my own pace. It is nice to have most homework due at midnight now!”
As many students around the world get settled into their new way of learning, Spring Hill College students are too. Whether it is learning to motivate oneself to listen to prerecorded lectures or to learn without discussing your thoughts with classmates, students are facing mixed emotions about the situation.