Post 6 (Last Post): Experience in Online Classes

Post 6 (Last Post): Experience in Online Classes

The health emergency caused by Covid-19 forced a change in the way of teaching. Schools, kindergartens and universities have been forced to implement online courses without real preparation or adequate training. 

 

In ICEI this reality was not unfamiliar, and most of the branches of the first semester were not planned for an online semester.  In my case, I find myself almost finishing my degree, and this year I had specialization branches that required field work and attendance but had to be done in a deficient way.

 

It has been difficult to adapt to this new type of education, which forces you to sit in front of a screen all day.  Added to this are difficulties such as unstable platforms, poor internet and the previously mentioned, lack of training for online classes. 

 

Despite the consensus that it is necessary to make classes more flexible and shorter, teachers seem to think that besides the university, students have no more life. Academic overload has been an inevitable reality, making the life of those of us who study revolve around the university 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

 

Classes have become a big monologue that often has no answer. Most of the students have chosen to have the camera in black and the microphone muted.  Many times, this decision is explained by connection difficulties, lack of silence or lack of a proper place to be in class. However, on other occasions, this happens because the students become unmotivated and feel they are not learning anything in these monotonous expository classes, and end up being in the class but not paying attention to anything that is said. 

 

Teachers claim to feel anguish and frustration when they see that no one is participating in their classes, but as students, we also feel anguish and exhaustion from attending classes where we are not really acquiring essential knowledge for our future professional development. 

 

In ICEI the lack of knowledge and content is something that has been dragging on for years, but after these semesters of virtual education has become more acute. Both students of Film and Journalism have been hampered access to equipment for filming, editing, TV and radio studies, among other key instances for these careers. 

 

Taking into account that the first semester of 2021 will also be carried out remotely, it is necessary that students and professors make efforts to improve the quality of the education provided. 

 

On the one hand, as students we should commit ourselves to really participate in the classes and not leave the teacher looking at black squares and not giving any answers to the questions they ask. 

 

And on the other hand, teachers should be creative and begin to prioritize evaluations, as well as make working hours outside of class more flexible so as not to leave their students, who like them, have begun to suffer from anxiety and stress, lifeless.