Imagine this! Students everywhere are studying online. Teachers are teaching online. Some classes are in-person a little, some not at all. But wait, you don’t have to imagine it…it’s reality. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we learn for the past two years. My program at Centennial College’s Professional Writing - Communications, is fully online, with no foreseeable returns to in-person learning. I’m incredibly lucky to be studying something that does fairly well in an online environment.
The program mostly consists of reading and writing, and activities that don’t require a lab or studio. My program is asynchronous, meaning there are no mandatory classes each week, just optional office hours. Course materials are posted to eCentennial, and we are responsible for doing the modules, readings, and assignments. As you can imagine, and have possibly experienced yourself, not everyone thrives in an environment like this. There are a number of obstacles when it comes to online learning. I’m here to talk about my experiences with it and what I’ve learned so far.
Way back before I ever knew I’d be attending Centennial College, I was intentionally looking for professional writing programs that could guarantee they’d only be offered online. I’m from the Ottawa Valley, and the schools I was interested in were located in the Greater Toronto Area. The thought of having to move during a global pandemic to an expensive place wasn’t too enticing. I wanted something that I could do online from home. Centennial College ended up being the only school that could guarantee their program was going to remain online no matter how things changed in the winter term. Therefore, I knew I was going to be fully remote for the entirety of the program.
With that being said, there have been some challenges with online learning. I’d taken several online courses during my undergrad, so I had a general understanding of how the courses would work going into the program. eCentennial is also the same platform that my university used, so there was no learning curve for me there. Having every course with different instructors online has been a whole new ballgame. Each instructor has approached it differently; some want weekly discussion posts and others not, some open up all the material at once and others schedule it on a weekly basis, and some expect us to come to office hours. It’s been a challenge in self-organization and adaptability to manage all these different courses at once.
My planner has been a lifesaver in all of this! Scheduling specific classes to be completed on certain days of the week and keeping track of all my assignments and meetings has made tackling my program a lot easier. I won’t deny the fact that it can be difficult to self-organize and self-teach no matter who you are. Having those weekly in-person classes kept you accountable for getting your work done and reminded you what you had coming up. Online programs lack this, and you have to stay on top of things, or they’ll sneak up on you (as they have on me many times!). Attending office hours and connecting with the instructors each week helps with this, so if it makes sense for you, I highly recommend attending them.
I really do love the flexibility and freedom that online school has given me. I’m able to make appointments or go out for the day on days when I’d normally have in-person classes. Being in charge of when I do my work is positive in the sense that I can study during my most productive hours in the day. However, it’s a big responsibility to learn independently and takes plenty of self-motivation. Not having to commute to campus has also given me back so much time and productivity. I move from my bed to my desk and immediately start studying, which has worked well for me. I sometimes find myself missing a designated study space such as a library, where I often found myself most productive during my undergrad. With everything in lockdown, going elsewhere to study hasn’t been an option. Like everyone else, I’ve had to make do with what is available to me.
The thing I miss most about not being in-person, and I’m sure many others can agree, is the social aspect. It’s exceptionally hard to build connections through a screen. Especially when you’re only seeing your peers a couple of times a week for maybe an hour. I’d have loved to build deeper connections with not only my fellow students but also my instructors. You can engage during office hours and book individual meetings but it really isn’t the same. I’m fortunate enough to have made some meaningful connections during my program, but I’m sure I’d have made more if we were physically together in a room each week.
Overall, being online has been more of a positive experience than a negative one. It has allowed me to be in the program, which has been amazing so far! It’s allowed me self-confidence in my work and freedom in my learning. I will admit the Zoom fatigue is real, but taking screen breaks has helped immensely. While online is certainly not for everyone, I think viewing it as a new challenge is a great way to make the most of the situation. It has taught me new skills that I can take into the workplace and given me a sense of my future, with a lot of my field now working remotely. If you’re giving an online program a thought, I’d highly recommend looking into it and not simply discounting it because it’s online. You never know what may come of it!
Written by: Cassandra Mair