Amongst a pandemic flipping our lives upside down, school has continued, and students are adjusting to the new normal. Online education has presented many challenges with staying focused and managing new due dates. I find it necessary to keep a daily planner in order to organize upcoming assignments, exams, work schedules and to-do lists. New class schedules coming out considering the extended break and changes to curriculum has been hectic to reorganize, but as I am reviewing the assignments and weekly content for this course, I found it ironic that this week’s content was about usability testing and experimenting with technological learning.
We are doing none other than testing the effectiveness online modulated learning ironically enough. Students and professors are quickly learning what works and does not work through practical experience on a weekly basis. The correlation between our recipe project and what is currently happening in all of our lives is profound. We are moving into usability testing of our recipes requiring two people to use our set of instructions to make three dishes. Novice or expert in the kitchen, the people must take what is given and complete the task without outside help. Upon the semester moving online, students were given new syllabi, schedules and modules in order to complete the semester. Most students are proficient with technology but going online and losing face to face interaction is challenging for some students. In a way, we are testing online learning as much as we are testing the effectiveness of our writing skills. Does one side have a little more riding on it? Obviously yes. The university has provided students with a pass-fail option as a buffer to the anticipated impact on grades. The pass-fail opportunity is only an available option to courses without a policy requiring a “C” or higher, so for all nursing classes (my major)- I must learn quick how to maintain my grades and adjust my learning to better suite online education.
The main issue for me with online learning is the seemingly never-ending distractions at home. I find myself on my phone, talking to my family, exercising or watching television in place of sitting down and studying. I end up procrastinating assignments, studying less and therefore compromising my learning. I think an effective way to manage this issue is to start to schedule out a few hours of the day solely dedicated to schoolwork in increments with breaks. Adding in scheduled breaks will hopefully encourage me to work diligently during workhours because I know I will have a break soon.
In the one study posted by Dr. Martin, the confidence levels of students during an online learning semester were reported to increase (Calloway-Graham, Sorenson, Roark & Lucero). I cannot imagine this being true for myself at time soon. Since going online, I feel lost in the material being presented to me because of complications with delivery, not being able to ask questions during exams and having difficulty focusing during voiceover presentations. While confidence in online learning may take time and seem difficult in this moment, I know it is possible for me and that I just need to adjust. The entire process for many students moving back home and losing their social life due to social distancing practices has not been mentally easy then new learning modules placed on top of it can be challenging for anyone. At the end of the day, the semester will be completed, and I can only do what is in my power. Much like the usability testing and project in general, through trial and error we will create something of this. Whether it be a lesson or two about your preference of learning style or how to make a new recipe – we take what we are given and make the best of it. I hope all students are settling into the new reality. All said and done, we only have three more weeks of classes then finals week!
Erica Wolfgang's Blog 
Erica,
I appreciate your honest reflection about what has happened in the semester and how it has affected you. This is an important thing for us all to see, to read, to understand. Within a couple of weeks, it was easy for me to see how might manage this move to completely remote classes and who might not. Certainly for this class, the biggest issue was logistical. Things that would have been much easier as a group project suddenly became more complicated.
The most difficult thing in terms of adjustment affects two particular kinds of students. There are students who come to class everyday. They seldom miss and they might show up for group work, but they are not actively engaged. They are simply there. If you are always in class and always in meetings, but do not really engage, it is generally easy to slide by. The move to remote learning ironically brings them into the open. That is frightening because there is no where to hide. The second group of students are incredibly engaged students, but who are those who spend time in office hours, are ahead of the game, generally, and are the sort of overachiever. They have figured out a system that works, and this has turned their system on its head. They need to revise their thinking and recalibrate how they are going to manage their educational process. Remote learning requires much more discipline for everyone.
I appreciate all you have written here and your thoughts.
Dr. Martin
LikeLike