COVID-19’s spread caused nearly every college, university and school district nationwide to switch to online instruction back in March. Since then, Zoom has become the primary way for instructors and students to meet digitally. 

While online Zoom instruction may work for some, many find it difficult or even outright impossible.

“Some classes you just have to be there in person to learn,” senior James Sandlin said.

Sandlin is not the only student to feel this way. One week after the fall semester had begun, President Gayle Hutchinson announced that all classes, even the few still being held in person, would transition to online. Most of these in-person classes had been labs or art classes, where students required certain facilities to learn.

Now, students and teachers alike are scrambling to figure out what to do. According to art student Eli Grusin, all of his classes online consist of work periods, times where the students are essentially, rarely required to meet and do most of their learning on their own.

Some students have even opted to take a semester or two off, as online classes simply do not work for them. Many require a hands-on approach in order to learn, something which online courses struggle to offer.

Personally, I think that Zoom classes are extremely difficult to pay attention to, as it is simply too easy to turn your camera and mic off and zone out. Classes that normally would be easy for me are suddenly much harder, with my focus frequently drifting away from the computer screen to other distractions. On top of this, the student interaction in many of my classes are slim to nonexistent, with students staying silent when questions are asked.

On the plus side, Zoom does have its benefits. While this reporter struggled to find anyone who enjoyed the program, some features allow for teaching methods which normally would not occur in a standard classroom. One such feature is the chat function, which allows teachers and students to share links and other content with each other in real time and the ability to directly communicate with one another.

Regardless if you are a student who Zoom works for or not, most can agree it is a less than ideal way to learn. Yet with it appearing as though classes will be online again this upcoming spring semester, it is something we will all have to bear with and persevere through.
Jack Lewis can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JackAttack722