To Limit Disease Transmission, Offer a HyFlex Option
I can no longer remember how we dealt with common illnesses before online education.
But without a HyFlex option, or a hybrid model that offers a choice between synchronous and asynchronous learning, sick students are no longer incentivized to stay home when sick.
A few weeks into the academic year, the “West Campus Flu” snaked its way inside every classroom. Although much less severe than COVID-19, the flu spread rapidly. Even with an indoor mask mandate, it felt like there was nowhere to run from students coughing in the shower or sneezing across the lunch table.
Ultimately, the transition from attending classes in my childhood bedroom to living three hundred miles from everything familiar has been jarring, to say the least.
READ MORE: A student offers tips on how to support online learners with ADHD.
Making new friends, declaring a degree and navigating an entirely new physical environment, after the academic stresses of last semester, has everyone in a tailspin.
Just as it took students a full year to master the art of online learning, I fear it may take just as long for us to revert back to (almost) normal life on campus.
But change is not inherently a bad thing. Throughout the pandemic, academia proved that it would not be limited by an international plague, restructuring itself and acquiring new tools to allow students to continue learning.
New technologies have extended our reach as the world becomes accustomed to working and studying online. Experts, research and internship opportunities are infinitely more accessible now. Only a spotty internet connection stands in the way of what we set our minds to. If we can survive the pandemic, I am confident we will manage to survive after it too.
Explore our Remote Learning Diaries series to see what college students have to say about their virtual classroom experiences.