COVID-19 has resulted in post-secondary institutions transitioning their classes online, which means students and instructors have had to find alternative ways to communicate with each other.
In mid-March 2020, all classes were switched to an online format due to COVID-19. This trend continued into the Fall 2020 semester and Winter 2021 term.
Adjusting to online learning has been challenging for some students, while for others it hasn’t been as difficult as they thought it would be.
Hannah Blackmer, a first-year student at Lethbridge College, says online learning has been an obstacle for her.
“I did not do well last semester. I think the reason why was because I wasn’t there. I wasn’t in the classroom. I wasn’t physically there to see people, because it’s all about peer relationships as well.”
Blackmer is a student who needs accommodations because of test anxiety, so having a good relationship with her instructors is important.
Chantal Fortier, a second-year nursing student, has found ways to make virtual learning work for her.
“This semester my roommate and I plugged in this huge screen TV and we watch lectures that way and that’s been helping us way more.”
Fortier had a hard time staying engaged during her classes at the end of the Winter 2020 semester because she felt exhausted from how intense her studies were.
Blackmer feels communicating with her instructors on Zoom is not very effective for several reasons. One reason is because a lot of her classmates have their cameras off, so people can’t see their faces.
“Also, I don’t think there’s many like teacher-student relationships happening because you don’t get to see them. You don’t get to see, ‘well OK, that kid looks confused, let me re-explain this in a different way,’ because that’s what I would do if I was a teacher.”
Another reason Blackmer finds communicating through Zoom ineffective is because some students don’t get the opportunity to ask the questions they have for their instructor.
“I wanted to talk to one of my teachers over Zoom. It was the end of the Zoom class and I wanted to talk to her and ask her a question about something, but she just ended the meeting right away,” said Blackmer.
She adds that some students got to ask their questions, but before she got the opportunity to ask hers, the instructor ended the meeting. Blackmer feels if she was in a classroom environment, something like this wouldn’t happen.
On the other hand, Fortier has found communication with her instructors has been better this year. She says her instructors reply to her emails very quickly and are always willing to help her.
“If you’re having some troubles, you email your instructor and they’re like ‘OK, let’s book a Zoom meeting for 1 p.m. and we can talk about it.’ They get back to you superfast and they want to help you and everything else too. Even in person, they do the same thing, but I just feel like zooming for meeting up with instructors is a more efficient and faster way for instructors to get back to students than meeting up in person.”
Another thing Fortier likes about communicating through Zoom is having a screen to protect her. It eases the potential embarrassment one may feel when asking a question.
Nichole Covey, an instructor at Lethbridge College, has found communicating with students via Zoom to be a challenge. A couple reasons why is because she can’t see some students faces and she can’t see non-verbal communication.
“So, one reason that I find it really difficult is, if some of my classes are larger, lots of my students don’t have their cameras on, so I don’t get to see their faces. In person, in class, I can watch and see if I have some students who have done it fast, but I can still see if there are some students flipping to try to find the answer. On Zoom, I can’t see that. So, I have a really hard time gauging, sort of, how much time certain students might need to be able to most effectively learn.”
To add more context, Covey has a law class that she teaches where students are using the Criminal Code to look things up. On Zoom, she can’t see which students have already found the answer and which ones are still searching for it.
To help build a relationship with her students, Covey stays in her Zoom meetings for an extra five to 10 minutes after they’ve ended and she reaches out to students via email based on their grades.
Blackmer believes sending emails back and forth, patience and having cameras on will help communication between instructors and students.
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