The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led almost all colleges and universities to switch to strictly online learning. Luckily for us (I say as sarcastically as possible), we have the tool of all tools to facilitate in this Internet schooling extravaganza: Zoom.
Whether you're one or two weeks into your time at Zoom University, it's clear there are already some classtime cliches that differ from those of a traditional university and can only result from a massive group video chat.
1. The professor gets confused about the tech.
2. The TA knows exactly how to work the tech, but the professor doesn't know how to follow their guidance.
3. Someone uses a digital background that makes little to no sense.
4. Someone is disruptive in the chat.
5. The mute button leads to lots of awkward silence when the instructor asks a question.
6. Someone is eating...
7. ... and everyone has coffee.
8. Someone's dog interrupts the lecture.
9. A family member crosses in the background of someone's screen.
10. Someone's room is so dark or so bright you can't even see them on your screen.
11. BREAKOUT ROOMS!
12. The instructor pops in to said breakout room WITHOUT WARNING.
13. Someone gets called from another part of their house.
14. Someone gets up and leaves their computer.
15. Someone's internet shuts off in the middle of the class.
16. Someone shuts off their video after class has already started because they're just not having it today.
17. Someone joins the call with video, notices, and shuts off their video hoping no one noticed (we all noticed).
18. Someone is blatantly on their phone or in another window on their laptop.
19. Everyone pays more attention to each other than the actual class.
20. The instructor expects the class to run just like it did in person (shoutout to those who actually get that this is impossible!).
21. There's a race to hang up at the end because no one wants to be the last one on the call.
And from there, it's until we meet again, my friends... or rather, until we meet again strange classmates I've seen a new side of here at Zoom U.
