Headline: COVID is Ruining the Learning Process

Author: Courtney Balcombe, News Editor

I am not one to usually complain about how my classes are taught, but with the COVID pandemic, it’s understandable why some classes are taught the way they are.

Yet, it also feels like more of a hassle even though we pick and choose our classes which sets up our schedule. As a commuter, my fall semester had hybrid classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I had 15 minutes to get from one class on campus to the other class online.

At first, it wasn’t an issue because I would take my online class in the Beacon office, however, as the semester moved on, if I had a test for one class it would be online while my other class would meet in person.

This semester I have long breaks between my classes, which is nice, but once we return to campus, I have one class that will meet in person one day a week.

While I’d like classes to return to normal, even while wearing face masks, the hybrid classes are something that makes the learning process a struggle. Sometimes the students online are too quiet to hear across the room in a classroom and vice versa for those online to hear students in the classroom.

Due to the pandemic, it feels as though it’s easier to get distracted while attending classes from home. At my house, I have pets and roommates who disrupt me and my space during some classes.

Online classes make it harder to socialize with your classmates before class or even after class because everyone talking at once tones out someone else who might be talking at the same time.

Currently, many students and professors have had problems with their internet. Almost every day I get kicked out of my class because my WiFi shut off and it takes a few minutes to fix itself. Many of my professors have been understanding and are willing to make efforts to help students get the notes they missed while waiting for their internet to fix itself.

I understand some students and professors need to be online due to medical conditions that make them high risk for COVID. I’m not saying we make those students be the only ones online, I’d be okay taking an online class because the professor or a student cannot be on campus.

However, if that were not the case for other classes, it would be nice to have that class meet in person. It might be different for classes that can’t fit into a classroom at their class time due to the number of students and social distancing.

The pandemic isn’t something we shouldn’t still be concerned with, but students of any age might do better in school with the help of classmates in person.