I'll be honest, I didn't have the best start with online learning. but I've had months to mentally prepare and the semester is quickly starting and getting into motion. While I've grown comfortable with the idea of it (maybe the fact that all of my classes are writing based helps a little) I still commonly hear, mainly among my friends, a "F*ck this" sentiment.
Over the past week, I've heard my friends and roommates complain about a lack of organization-- professors not having zoom links sent out beforehand, new canvas sites set up, or just having not heard anything. I get it, it's frustrating. We've spent the past few months with anxiety over what this semester will be like and how it would work, and now we're here, and everything isn't quite together. We still don't fully get how to ensure we don't miss anything important for our classes. But it's important for us to remember something; this is new for our professors as well.
These are people who have decided to dedicate themselves to teaching and passing knowledge down, most likely people that look forward to meeting their students and interacting with them --- now they have to do all of this through a screen, while learning new systems they have never used before. They're going through the same thing as us.
The best thing any of us, teacher or student, can do is to be understanding and be proactive. Confused about something? Take 5 minutes to email your professor and ask! Same goes on the other side, professors need to be committed to and willing to helping us through any technology issues that may come up-- and I'm sure they will be.
Another sentiment I've encountered is "F*ck this, I'm not going to learn anything," which actually stops one from learning. By saying "fuck this I'm not gonna learn" you're taking on a victim mindset. You're accepting defeat before even giving your professor a chance to make their class "gettable" through the creative means they've been working on.
Does it suck to have your "hectic day of school" take place through different zoom links? Absolutely. But throwing in the towel and resigning to going to the motions before you've even gotten a chance to try and learn closes you off to the possibilities at stake. Online learning has some pros; like there are way less interruptions. I don't have to worry about when to stop working so have time to get to class, I don't have to figure out when I can meet with my professor and when we'll be in the same place at the same time, and I don't have to spend time getting from class to the library to start working on my work.
Of course this leads to the biggest obstacle in online learning; living, working, and relaxing in the same place is hard. You get sick of your room, you feel stuck, you get mad. It happens. It's also an opportunity for us to persevere and answer the question of "Who would I have to become in order to not only do my work, but learn during this crazy semester?" Maybe it involves blocking distracting sites, maybe it involves developing new routines like going for runs to get out of your house, maybe it involves setting aside time everyday to do necessary readings and ask questions.
I don't know, it's going to be different for all of us. It will be hard, but we at least need to try. Otherwise we risk robbing ourselves of what could be the most unique and transformative learning experience of our lives.
If we can do this, we can do anything.
