Youngstown State University students have mixed reactions to new methods of course delivery for the semester. Everyone has a preference between the five modalities — traditional, agile-hybrid, virtual classroom, online-live and web-based. Some students struggle to focus on online classes when it’s easy to cook dinner or play a video game instead of listening to the lecture. It feels less like learning and more like regurgitating assignments. The ability to look up answers to online quizzes is much easier than studying the night before an in-person one.
Professors are occasionally inconsistent with their scheduling for agile-hybrid classes, promising students there will be in-person class then canceling at the last minute to hold class online. Inconsistency makes learning more difficult than it already is during the pandemic. Some students are asking the administration to make an all-or-nothing decision, to move completely online instead of half-and-half.
Despite these struggles, it’s a learning process. The administration as well as the faculty have been working since this pandemic began to ensure we’d have a plan for classes, and they delivered. Sure, there may be some kinks in the system to work out and some clarifications to be made, but overall, the fact we’re still able to continue our education is remarkable. Hopefully, there will be no need for the five modalities next academic year, but for the time being, they’re here to stay. We know the students will continue to adjust and excel, even under difficult circumstances.