The challenges of studying online
- John Mugumya
- Feb 27, 2021
- 4 min read
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com
When this pandemic is finally over one thing that will have become an indelible part of education is studying online.
I know many are clamouring for a quick return to the ‘good old days’ of face-to-face lectures but I think that after this crisis is over, the brand value of online study will have risen to a level that it will no longer be the less glamorous of the two options.
But that will come after the pioneers of this emergency induced study regime have told their stories.
This below is a little bit of what I have learned about returning to school after a school break of almost two decades, studying online and in a new country.
I applied for this MA in September 2019 before the first case of coronavirus was reported anywhere in the world and got my acceptance in February 2020 when the pandemic was raging in China and only starting out in Europe.
I had no idea I would be writing this blog in late February of 2021, a couple of months away from completing this program without ever stepping in a lecture theatre.
I had read about the University of Limerick and seen pictures of the beautiful campus, read blog posts of students and former students about the idyllic life in Limerick and that was partly the reason I wanted to come here. That’s a story for another blog.
Let me say, studying online, like many things in life, has both the good and the bad aspects.
This week I will write about the unique challenges.
The technology
The first challenge that I faced was getting to grips with the technology. When I did my bachelor’s 21 years ago, I didn’t know how to use a computer. It was not a requirement. We wrote by hand all our coursework and assignments. Looking back, it must have been quite a task for the lecturers assessing all those papers. Luckily, I worked in an industry that used computers a lot and I taught myself everything I know except how to code.
But like any new student returning to new school, I have had to get to grips with Sulis the online platform that has become our virtual classroom.
QUICK NOTE: One of the assignments I am working on is developing a web resource and at every stage I remember what I felt when accessing lecture materials for the very first time. I want my experience to help me make the resource better because I know somewhere in the world, there will be a student who will be starting out with online school, for the very first time.
As for Sulis, somehow you get used to using it without necessarily mastering it.
Feeling isolated
One thing that computers cannot do is recreate the feeling of community. Social media has already shown us that you can have a million online friends but still feel lonely.
These learning platforms are like smaller versions of social media boards. You know there are classmates, and an instructor but you never get to meet and know them. This year is unique because you cannot even meet your instructor at the office.
One thing I miss is the ability to make classmates my friends. This happens naturally with face-to-face lectures and proximity and shared tasks, but this time, every classmate feels like a Facebook friend, close, yet far away.
Losing motivation
With university education, there is no one who is going to push you to review your lecture notes and do the assignments. That has not changed. With face-to-face lectures, you get to make friends and depending on their character, they either make you a better student or they derail and make you a failure.
With online study, you are your own motivation and after several week working on tasks alone, the monotony can wear off the novelty making it very easy to lose your mojo. I have read news articles that last year, in a pandemic, university enrolments went up 13% in Sweden and 3.5% in the UK but it will be interesting to see the numbers of those students who actually stay motivated long enough to complete the programs.
Pressure cooker
The biggest challenge with online study is finding the study-life balance. With not so much going on in life because of lockdowns and working from home and school closures, it is very easy to over study. With face-to-face lectures, it is easy to switch off and recharge. With online study, the lecture materials are on your laptop, and you receive notifications on your phone. It is very easy to permanently be switched on with no time to decompress. And yet, for the good of your brain and mind, it is very important to be able to switch on and switch off. But it is not so simple when you are studying online, from home, in a lockdown, in a foreign country.
Next week, I will look on the sunny side of studying online.
Regards
John
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