Hello everyone! Here we are at the start of another term in my PhD saga.
I spent time re-reading my posts from my spring class. These were completed at the start of the pandemic. In Maryland, we had just gone under a stay at home order but being an essential worker, I had to keep going to work at my office. People still needed their products and my company supplies the necessary chemicals needed to make those products. For me, my world continued but at a slightly a slower pace. I believe it is safe to say things have changed.
Since then, my state has reopened… somewhat. Students are still going to have to learn virtually for the first semester. I have friends who teach, and they are worried that their students are not going to be able to complete their work properly. They are worried about their students falling behind. It is a legitimate fear.
Thankfully, my classes are held online so I am used to it. This can be both a blessing and a curse. You must be unbelievably disciplined to complete classes virtually. This means that after a full day at work sending chemicals like caustic soda, sulfuric acid, or bentolite to their respective locations, I come home knowing that after I make supper and clean up, there is still more work to be done. Sometimes, that work can be hours long. I know I’ve been up too late when the night train comes by and he toots the horn when he sees my office light on. That is around 1am.
I understand how children today feel when they are told that they will be working virtually. They will not be with their classmates but see them on a screen. They can talk to their teachers but not be near them. They complete assignments but now email or upload them instead of turning them in by hand. It is difficult to do. Harder to concentrate. Harder to understand. Harder all the way around especially if you now have the added distraction of home – tv, refrigerator full of snacks, comfy pjs and slippers. Not an easy task at all.
I have yet to meet a classmate in person. It was the same for my master’s. I have spoken with professors via email, Zoom, and telephone, but never face to face. I understand the disconnection you have when you can see but never be with someone else. Working on a project with classmates via Zoom or Webex adds another level of complexity beyond the requirements of the assignment. With this class, there is a new wrinkle. I get to interview an entrepreneur of my choice to create a video recording of the interview. How do you interview when you cannot meet with them? How can you create a connection when you cannot even shake their hand?
Along with the interview complete with a transcript, there are also video blogs, written blogs, and the prerequisite research paper. All to be done in the next eight weeks. Add to that the required readings, research, annotated bibliography, and responses. It is a lot, but I wouldn’t expect less from a PhD level course. Doesn’t mean that I’m not tired just thinking about it!
Maybe that is how our students feel about virtual learning. For them, it is a lot without many initial benefits. They don’t get to see their friends in between classes. They don’t get to spend time doing fun things together. The distance between has grown as wide as the Pacific even in a little state like Maryland. I wonder how they will adapt. Will they thrive or falter? Those, like me, who constantly chase that “A” grade will find ways to adapt and move forward. It is the ones who struggle or who need the hands on that will find things more difficult. The audio and visual learners should be ok but the kinesthetic may not be as lucky.
Hopefully, things will improve. The virus will end, and things will return to some sense of normal. Well… as normal as things can be. Fingers crossed for the new term for all who are in school – virtual or live and local.
Stay safe. Take care. Be kind.
K~
Seeking History 