FJCU English majors and faculties offer personal accounts of the different reflections on distance learning during a global pandemic.
Students’ Life Under Distance Learning It is interesting how opinions vary between students and even between professors and teachers. While the popular belief is that students must’ve preferred distance learning over traditional learning, some would say otherwise. “I stood in the empty dorm alone for the rest of the semester,” said Quentin Liao, a senior of the English Department. “It was not fun.” He is one of many students that finds distance learning repulsive and prefers traditional lectures.
“I think that distance learning allows us to be more focused. On the one hand, you are relaxed alone in your familiar space. On the other hand, you are free from the interference of other students,” explains Esther Wang, another senior. “Watching play-back videos of lectures pre-recorded by the professor allows me to adjust speed and to repeat or skip parts of the lectures for as many times as I want. I don’t have to worry about missing anything because every lesson is recorded.”
Students using Microsoft Teams to conduct online meeting. Photo by Alvin Lin.
Education vs. Distance Learning As the traditional ways of face-to-face education became impossible during the pandemic, educators turn to the ever-so-growing community and technology to conduct distance learning. However, people doubt the possibility that it will ever replace the traditional ways. Especially the amount of tuition that students paid to the university made many students feel that it doesn’t add up. “I feel like being forced to conduct distance learning is not worth the same amount of tuition as going to a physical class, I feel scammed!” said Ann Lai, a senior student.
Although administrations and faculties supply classes with equipment, resources, funds, lectures, and lessons on the matter, students and teachers felt lost and often clueless when facing this abrupt change. Some professors who are not familiar with technology often had to spend around 10 minutes just to start a class. Lecturers, teachers, and professors often find distance learning to be double the pressure and double the work. Many of them find learning such technology to be troublesome and often spend too much time just to start a class. Thankfully, ever since the outbreak, the university has constantly been keeping the faculties informed about tactics for distance teaching and we are able to access some resources via Tronclass (e.g., 防疫4.0─數位教學肯定行). And the College of Foreign Languages and Literatures (CFL) actually has been constantly offering assistance to teachers around the time that courses had to be conducted online.
Students’ performances vary greatly due to the limitations that their different types of equipment cause. To most students, it’s often more difficult to hear the professors. With the presence of internet connection issues, questions asked by either the professors or students often need to be repeated and the responses are often misheard or misunderstood.
Despite many complaints, distance learning still has its advantages. “I had to wake up at 6 just to make it to my 9 am class because I had to commute. Distance learning allows me to wake up one hour before our class and still have sufficient time to prepare for class,” said Jasmine Hsu from the seniors. The feeling of having much more time at hand is a common recognition that many students share as soon as distance learning became mandatory. However, here comes the real question: will this more convenient way of learning ever replace the traditional way of teaching and learning?
In the Future What if there will be another wave of pandemics? What if everyone is forced to face another period of distance learning? Opinions and points of view differ from one another. According to our new English Department Chair Doris Shih, with her research background in “Curriculum and Instruction” and “Educational Technology,” she is confident and ready to face another period of distance learning. She is also confident that instructors and students in our department are ready to move to online instruction as well. Chair Shih said, “some of our teachers have also been teaching totally online for the Advanced and Intermediate Distance-Learning (AIEDL) program. Therefore, many are experienced in teaching via the online mode.” Chair Shih added, “I think since our faculty members and students have experienced online learning since Mid-May to the end of June of 2021 (the semester of 2021 Spring), and the first two weeks of the 2021 Fall semester, we are somewhat experienced with it.” However, some may not hold such a positive point of view.
“Not every course is compatible and convertible to distance learning,” said Julie Lee, the English department secretary, “Last year’s Annual Play performance was an example. Acting can not be done online with the actors separated. As a result, professors and teachers spend more effort on converting and rearranging lecture contents. There are also problems with the hardware. Not every lecturer and student has the suitable equipment for a proper online class. The university can provide the hardware for lecturers, but students are not able to use these types of equipment. I am afraid that this contributes to students’ poor learning performance. At the same time, the administrative staffs also need to solve problems for both the professors and students. Therefore, we are still busy even though they are not on campus. Not to mention there are only two secretaries, it is very difficult to work solely online. There are many works that require coordination with other offices. Thus, I prefer to come and work on campus.”
Other than worrying about the use of tools or online programs, student and professors’ main concerns will be related to learner motivation, health issues (eye exhaustion with the computers), and the fact that face-to-face contacts are necessary between instructors and students especially for language learning. Not to mention courses related to drama (Senior Play or Annual Play), computer-aided courses, or large-group classes (70-80 students). They should not be conducted online entirely.