Tips for coping with uni online

[IndigoApple]

DD is in 3rd year of a 4 year science degree. In a flat with nice flatmates, has a part time job, and not had to self isolate or anything, but she is really struggling with uni being online.

She should be spending a lot of time in labs this year but will only have 2 lab sessions between now and Christmas. The rest is online - either watching someone doing something on video or doing some sort of web-based simulation from what I can gather. Lectures all online and she doesn't seem to have tutorials or 1:1s or anything. DD is an extrovert and loves being around people and enjoys lab work best.

I have tried to come up with a few suggestions e.g. setting up regular Zoom/Facetime catch ups with people on her course, making more use of the class group chat, trying to book slots in the library (she says it's really difficult) and trying to set a routine even just stuff like getting a Starbucks on a Monday morning or a M&S sandwich on a Friday etc.

Anyone got any suggestions? She sounded so defeated when we spoke yesterday.

I feel really sad for the current cohort of uni students. The system just isn't giving them what they paid for.
With the best will in the world all universities are trying to put their courses on line, with differing levels of success.
The Open University has been doing this for ?? 50 years and is successful. Their courses are So well written / So achievable. And at less that the exorbitant £9000 of 'terrestrial' unis.
The only reason to go away to uni is to have the three years away from home.
But common sense asks it it really worth the huge costs; luxury accommodation at £10000 pa plus tuition cost plus maintenance.

I feel for your DD. My son started his first year (on campus) 3 weeks ago. Their flat was put into lockdown within 5 days when an idiotic flat mate who'd been out partying caught Covid. He's had no face to face teaching at all (there was none planned even if he hadn't been locked down), and the only thing on his timetable is a 45 minute session with a PHD student every 2 weeks. They were promised some regular face to face teaching by the Uni in Summer which is why he decided to go to campus rather than stay at home. The Unis have really let down their students. He says the campus is basically deserted - no clubs/sports, etc either - when he goes out for a walk, there's literally no one around as they're all in their flats doing online work. DS is really demoralised and struggling. I think it's time the Unis accepted the situation and offered accom refunds for those wanting to return home to study.

Thanks for the replies. I have to say I'm really surprised the uni hasn't set up small group tutorials where students can interract with each other with a lecturer or even as above a PhD student, surely this wouldn't be hard to organise?

DD says the quality of lectures is good but you can't interact.

when he goes out for a walk, there's literally no one around as they're all in their flats doing online work

This is so sad

Same here, no advice but I feel your pain !
Dd 3rd year of science subject, everything on line. Very disappointed as was looking forward to lab based final year project but everything is computer based now. She desperately wanted some lab experience as that is her career choice, but hard to make that choice without stepping foot in one !
She is living in college but her friends are very worried about covid and won’t even eat in hall or go for coffee.
She literally has no human interaction at all and has started looked forward to prerecorded lectures as “ it feels like someone is talking to me “
Very sad situation for them .

Uni lecturer here, with a slightly different perspective that may or may not be helpful. We are DESPERATE to be face to face with our students and desperately trying to do a good job with the virtual platforms (and not that it should concern your kids, but most of us are working 12 hour + days to turn out good resources...being on campus is so much easier!). Logistically, being on campus is virtually impossible. With a group of say 30 students, the regs mean we need a room that previously would have held 100. There are finite number of those on campus with every course at the uni fighting for those. A session we could have taught to 100 students in 2 hours previously will take us 8 hours to roll out x4 to accommodate the same number of students under the covid regs. Even if we had the space to do that, there are five of us in my academic team with teaching and other obligations to hundreds of students....we simply do not have the man power to facilitate it.

I feel so sad for our current students. It's so shit but there is no guarantee we will ever go back to how it was before. We are all trying to learn new ways of doing things and making the best of it, it is literally all we can do. I know this explanation doesn't help your kids but hopefully it might explain a little bit and reassure you that us academics hate it and would give anything to be back to doing it the old way!

That is so sad nearlyold. Does you DD have any friends outside college she can meet for coffee even if they just go for a walk? I'm trying to get DD to reach out to people on her course but she says it's difficult as she's not seen them since March.

I work in the student engagement side of HE. Get her involved with the SU or any other events going on. We are doing very small group events in person and a lot more online. We give time for the participants to talk to each other and get to know each other. Also clubs and societies are still active and doing in person and virtual meet ups and socials. If they are in halls do they have a resident assistant role? We have RAs who are putting on loads of events in the halls they look after.

The problem we have is students are not engaging with us. We can put on hundreds of events but if the students don't reach out and join in, they will get lonely and not meet anyone new.

We have am allotment that we can have 6 students up at a time. No one is bothered about coming. It gets them out in the fresh air and also meeting other students. We have put on a few outside events, and we are getting very low numbers (we are not capped at 6 due to it falling under education purposes, social distancing is adhered to though at 2m).

I wish more students would join in, as they would actually get a great deal out of it.

@Restlessinthenorth completely appreciate how much work you guys have put in, and it’s no ones fault.
I just think that under the circumstances the unis should be allowing students to work from home if they prefer.
Apart from the lack of lab stuff, dd finds the on line lectures fine from an academic point of view. What’s lacking is the walking to lectures with friends, eating lunch using labs etc. It’s purely the lack of human interaction of any kind that’s really getting her down.

Thank you Restlessinthenorth your insight is really helpful and as someone who is also now working 100% remotely and trying to manage a team I can relate. It makes me sad to think I might not work in a busy office again!

Is there any reason why the uni can't support small group sessions on Zoom etc? Is it because all the staff as so busy trying to adapt to teaching the basic lectures etc (which is understandable)?

@IndigoApple no, unfortunately her friends are all college based, apart from one from school but she has just started practical med school and is really busy.
The college have not held a single in person social event, even outside, despite saying that they would and to take warm clothes etc.
I do worry about first years, really don’t think dd would have coped at all and can see many having real issues.

@nearlyoldenough I agree with everything you are saying. Where possible, students should have been allowed to stay at home (though I have to say, all mine are saying they wouldn't have chosen that, even if it was on offer!). I guess it depends which uni you are at. Campus was busy with students having lunch together when I was there in the week, and I know the societies are still doing things, though not sure what engagement is like. I do feel incredibly worried for some of ours and we are going above and beyond but I miss being able to read faces and pick up on people who are having a tough time. I really hope things improve for all our young people too, this just isn't how uni life should be

rambling that must be very frustrating that you're not having higher numbers of students engaging with the activities you provide.

DD's situation is slightly different as she is in 3rd year and her first year and 2/3 of her second year gave her the normal student experience. She is lucky to have lots of friends in her uni city and also interracts with people in her part time job. So my concerns (and hers) are more to do with her engagement on her course. It feels like she might easily forget it is her reason for being there, specially as she is getting lots of extra hours in her job due to other staff self isolating etc. I worry she will lose interest completely in her course if this continues.

Tell her to invite a friend for an online coffee, you block the time, get a coffee in your own houses and talk as if you were out yes this is exactly the sort of thing I'm trying to encourage! I feel that she needs to be more proactive and make this work rather than sitting back and waiting.

@IndigoApple I hear you; I am not designed for working alone and I feel like I'm going out of my mind teaching to my laptop. We've tried small groups, but again it's the man power to run numerous sessions where we might have only needed to do one on campus. We are also being told from the powers that be that we shouldn't expect all students to be available like we would have for on campus teaching, and that we have to be extremely flexible to accommodate personal circumstances, and so attendance is variable. We've had small groups of 6 scheduled then only 3 turn up and the students struggle to engage because it's too small and it feels strange, and then we have to find a way to make up for the students who couldnt attend. All of a sudden what would have been an hour in person is taking over 6 hours to facilitate. Five of us teach over 8 different programmes/year groups and at this rate it could take a year to get through a semester of work. (I have over 40 personal students I've been meeting with individually, plus more administrative duties than you would ever believe to be possible). My workload has tripled over covid, as has that of my colleagues. It feel devastating to us. I miss our students, I miss lively engagement and fantastic conversations and the privilege that it is to be part of their journey.

@Restlessinthenorth thanks for explaining. That makes it clearer and I can see why it's not as simple as just set up small groups and that's it sorted. I don't think I had appreciated how difficult it is for uni staff. You have my respect and sympathy. It's hard for all of us.

@IndigoApple Is your dd a member of any subject related or special interests societies? I know societies seem not be popular with many students but I think they are doing a great job at reaching out and connecting: scavenger hunts in a flat, additional special interest lectures, debates and even just having a cup of tea, piece of cake and a chat together discussing bake-off once a week has been a life line for my dc)

I think the key is to embrace on line socialising and not be afraid to turn the camera ON, which I know can be daunting.

Lots of students join different societies every year at uni so don’t be afraid if they are not freshers either.

What have they got to lose? Sure, it could be crap but what if it fantastic! When this is all over, because eventually, this too will pass, she may have networked amazingly and made some brilliant new friends and perhaps even some skills (knitting anyone?).

Could your dd arrange an informal study group and get together to discuss work/lectures over zoom or socially distanced meet/walk outside, obviously only if Covid guidelines allow; wrap up warm bring a flask of hot chocolate?
Ask class reps, subject societies or the university body how to do this or they may already be running these ( it’s easy not to know about stuff going on).

Is you dd sporty? Outdoor team sports have just resumed at my dc university (my non sporty dc2 loved their first session this morning!). Give things a proper good go too; first session might be awful but the rest increasingly better.

This is a crap situation for all, especially the reduction in labs for practical, science based subjects, but everyone is in the same boat.

This is your daughter’s chance to prove to future employers that during this awful pandemic she was adaptive, flexible, willing to try new methods of working and able to embrace change. She can do this!

@Jodri no she isn't a member of any societies and probably thinks they're not for her but subject related societies are a really good idea. She's not sporty although goes to the gym and does work outs at home.

This is your daughter’s chance to prove to future employers that during this awful pandemic she was adaptive, flexible, willing to try new methods of working and able to embrace change. She can do this! yes this exactly!

@ramblingsonthego I completely agree with your post.

I wish more students would realise the superb opportunities there are on offer here. It’s never too late, even in final year.

@IndigoApple wishing your dd and all the rest of the students the very best in this challenging time.

Their flat was put into lockdown within 5 days when an idiotic flat mate who'd been out partying caught Covid

and

The Unis have really let down their students

are contradictory. Do your DC really think they are immune from the restrictions we're all living with? And do they think that their right to party trumps the safety of (often older & with underlying conditions) university staff and vulnerable students?

Online teaching can be engaging: your DC should prepare thoroughly, and take every opportunity to participate in live online teaching: seminars, small group discussions, tutorials and discussion groups. My students are taking the initiative to meet in small study groups (with proper social distancing) to discuss research projects, for example.

University tutors will have office hours - probably online, but these are still live & face to face - your DC can tae up the offer to discuss work with tutors in a more informal way in tutors' office hours, for example.

your DC should prepare thoroughly, and take every opportunity to participate in live online teaching: seminars, small group discussions, tutorials and discussion groups DD has not been offered this. From what I can gather everyone is muted during lectures and you can interract but by typing a message.

My students are taking the initiative to meet in small study groups (with proper social distancing) to discuss research projects, for example Yes, this is what I'm suggesting she does.

I hope that works for her!

I'm teaching online (we are prioritising other kinds of teaching in-person in my department) and my largeish seminar group is divided into 5 groups of 6 - it's trebled my hours & I'm exhausted but the students are getting a good face to face experience, even if we're not all in the same room. And they are meeting outside these times to discuss & prepare work.

One other thing to remember is that universities have not been given any extra financial support to deal with the Covid situation.

Virtually any Covid measures, from putting up more teaching spaces to training staff in online teaching cost money. Pretty well the only way universities can save money is by sacking staff. I had my contract slashed in half by the pandemic. Bad news for my family, but also of course bad news as far as my teaching was concerned. Yet my students need more support from me than ever before. And I do so feel for them- of course they need support!

At my uni we are running a mixture of f2f and online, with online seminars of 15-16. I am trying to get my students to engage with each other outside of this by setting up discussion boards, but uptake seems very limited so far.

Hope your dd is able to do something like this, OP. It is easy to lose heart, but do encourage her to persevere. Excellent suggestions made above about joining societies etc. Must be so hard for her at the moment.

Miss Marple and Cory, thank you. It's interesting to see it from the other side. Sounds like you are both very committed, your unis and students are lucky to have you.