By Nora-Kathleen Berryhill
Edgewood President Andrew Manion’s plan for the fall semester during the COVID-19 pandemic includes a “high-flex format” where students and faculty can choose between attending in-person, remotely, or both.
Steven Davis, a political science professor at Edgewood, said he appreciates the flexibility this plan allows. “For myself, I am glad to have this choice,” he said.
While he is waiting to see how social distancing will be implemented in classrooms, Davis said he is “strongly leaning towards in-person teaching.”
Even after the experiment in remote learning that was the spring semester, there is yet to be a consensus among educators about whether online classes can substitute for some of the hallmarks of a traditional class like in-person discussions, group work, labs, and practicals.
“I would guess that most of us who never taught online before now feel more comfortable doing it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is our preference or even equivalent to in-class experiences,” Davis said.
Certain classes are particularly difficult to adapt to an online environment, Davis said. His research methods class, for example, would be more of a challenge to convert to an online or hybrid format because it involves very hands-on activities and interactions.
For Stephanie Douglas, a business professor who taught online before the pandemic and will continue to do so this fall, online learning has become a passion. She said she looks for ways to heighten the online experience for her students by using online tools and taking student preferences into account.
“A lot of the feedback I receive from students is how they find the online courses more engaging,” Douglas said . “They connect greater with the faculty member and other students.”
She said responsiveness and varied styles of communication are essential to a successful online class. When online instructors commit to responding to student emails within a 24-hour window, she said, they build trust with their students.
Additionally, because online classes are somewhat unconventional, there is an opportunity for professors to think outside the box and implement new learning strategies.
“I really want to lessen the fear or negativity around online classes,” Douglas said. “When online or remote learning is done well, I think many students will find it as valuable as being on-campus and sometimes gain more online.”
Nursing professor Barbara Gallogly looks at the fall semester through a public health lens. Her ultimate goal in this moment is “to keep people safe physically, emotionally, and psychologically.”
The in-person or remote option allows individual students and faculty members to consider the level of risk they are comfortable with, which Gallogly said is vital because it protects the most vulnerable in the Edgewood community.
For those who do come to campus in the fall, she said she believes in the necessity of common sense precautions. “We do need to follow the CDC guidelines because we’ve seen things reopen and the number of cases spike.”
Gallogly said Edgewood will be issuing students and faculty face masks and face shields, and wearing masks and social distancing will make a difference in minimizing the spread of the virus.
The School of Nursing will be meeting to discuss to further discuss fall semester academic policies in early July. Specifics such as how on-campus professors will engage their online students and how social distancing will be enforced in classrooms are still being worked out.
Though faculty are approaching the fall semester in different ways, most understand the importance of contingency planning and see fall preparations as an ongoing process with no easy resolution.
Manion acknowledged that: “I recognize that we have a lot of work to do, and I know that this community is up to the challenge.”
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