Advice for College Students Receiving Online Teaching Because of COVID-19 Coronavirus

In an unprecedented response to the global pandemic, higher education is being forced to move to online modes of teaching.  If you are a student, your spring break probably is ending very differently than you expected.  Believe me, in twenty years of university teaching, I never could have imagined that we would find ourselves here.

This is going to be challenging for everyone.  We will all do our very best to manage the situation and while it isn't going to be easy, we will do everything that we can to act in the best interest of students everywhere.  You are going to be frustrated, but there are things that you can do to make this easier.  I have some ideas, and I hope that this is helpful to you.

BE PATIENT AND KIND

Things are not always going to work smoothly.  Your teachers are stressed out.  I am stressed out.  Don't trash us on social media.  We read your posts and it hurts our feelings.  We are trying, and we will try to be kind to you online as well.  If you have difficulty making technology work, ask for help.  If your professors are having difficulty making technology work, try to help them.  Most of all, don't be a jerk.  We need to be patient and kind to each other.  For all we know, the internet might buckle under the stress of all this increased demand.  We are in this together.

TEMPER YOUR EXPECTATIONS

A college education is not deliverable online.  If it was, universities would not exist.  You can't get something worth a degree from reading books, watching videos, or talking on the phone.  As an experienced teacher, I know that it is important for me to be in the room with you, and that I must be an expert in figuring out if you are "getting it," so that I can change teaching tactics quickly and in the moment.  Online teaching is going to suck, by comparison.  We have to do this for the safety of our society, but it won't be as good as in-person teaching/learning.  Our grading policies will be more flexible, so please try to be as flexible with your expectations.

BE ON A SCHEDULE AND HAVE CLEAR GOALS

You are about to have a lot of free time.  How you use that time is up to you.  It will be all too easy to spend too much time sleeping in, playing video games, procrastinating, and partying.  You will also be dealing with heightened anxiety and/or depression.  Make a schedule that takes into account all that you have to do.  If you can approximate your normal schedule, do it!  Goofing off will eventually make you feel worse.  Set out your goals for the rest of the semester and make a plan to meet them.  Study, practice, read, and do a little of everything that you normally do every day.  As always, a paper day planner is always a smart idea.  Your teachers cannot make you learn.  You are in charge of your learning, whether you are on campus or at home.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TIME

We always complain that we don't have enough time.  I wish that I had more time to read books.  I wish that I had more time to make art.  I wish that I had time to listen to more music.  I wish that I had time to meditate.  We have just been given that time!  Don't waste this opportunity to do the things that you have been avoiding.  There is a silver lining in this dark cloud, but only if we make it happen.

This doesn't have to be the worst semester ever.  You are in control of more than you might think.  We will get through this together!