Online Learning Reflections
Introduction
It has been one year and three months since the start of the first national lockdown in the UK. During this long period, all students’ academic events have been moved online. How has the online study affected students and their study? Five of our Link to Leeds ambassadors, Youssef, Alejandra, Khánh, Sherry and Tracy, share their experience studying online in the past year in this blog.
Youssef, MEng Mechanical Engineering
Over the past 4 years, I had become accustomed to a “study cycle” consisting of a year of education (with a Christmas and an Easter break), followed by a long summer after exams (which I tried to always make the most out of - visit my blog on Job Hunting), followed by another academic year, just with different modules. Nevertheless, just when the pandemic hit, this cycle was somewhat interrupted, as starting classes online was a rather unusual shift in my yearly routine, and one I had mixed feelings about.
On the bright side, I was relieved to not have to wake up at 8:30 if I had a 9 am lecture anymore, as I could simply attend from the comfort of my bed by logging in at 8:59. The lectures were also recorded, which was a benefit that was available to us for most modules since before the pandemic through the university’s “lecture capture” system. This allowed us to watch any lectures we had (or hadn’t) attended in person, in case we wanted to go over any part of it in more detail.
On the not so bright side, the social aspect of my university experience was severely compromised at the start, though as the year progressed this began to change. To begin with, the usual “Fresher’s fair”, a week of fun activities and events, as well as an opportunity to get to know the different societies available at the student union, was cancelled. I also missed out on the ability to socialise with my classmates in between lectures, by going to the refectory for example, or even having a quick game of table football. Thankfully, (as you’ll see in my 1 second a day video below) I was still able to organise many fun activities with my flatmates, from movie nights to random haircut days to trying out new dishes! The student union also put lots of efforts into organising online socials and even opening up the union building right before the start of the second semester (with all the safety regulations in place). The university libraries shortly followed suit, which gave my friends and I the opportunity to study outside of our homes again!
All in all, while the year was not a “typical” academic year for me, it did come with its pros and cons, making it an unforgettable way of finishing off my degree!
Alejandra, MA International Communication
Coming to Leeds in the middle of a pandemic was a difficult decision to make. At that moment, the world was full of uncertainties, but like many other students who arrived during 2020, I decided to take a leap of faith because I was taught that you have to learn to overcome adversity and keep moving on. To this day, I couldn't be more grateful for making that decision, because the experience has exceeded my expectations.
One of the things that most pleasantly surprised me when I started the Master's degree was the good disposition of the professors and the university to solve all of our doubts throughout this process, which made me feel very supported. The experience of having virtual classes has been different, but no less enriching. As we are in a globalised world that is constantly changing, learning to communicate through digital tools is something that will serve me well in my professional career for years to come, and it is something I am grateful to have been able to learn and put into practice.
It has also been amazing to have been able to meet my classmates when the lockdown rules relaxed. After the first few months of debating in class or doing group work virtually, some even from their home countries, meeting them has been a very special experience to me. As a student of the MA in international communication, I hope to work in transnational institutions, and I understand that regardless of the distance, it is very important to learn how to build a network with the people we work with, so this experience has given me the opportunity to practice this. I have made lifelong friends, and gained amazing business experience, and I hope to be able to apply all that in the near future.
I could go into much more detail about what I loved about my experience in Leeds, from my flatmates, to the friends I have been able to meet, or the places I have been able to visit up to date, but overall I can conclude that this experience, although different, has been extremely enriching, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Khanh, MSc Sustainability and Consultancy
Hi everyone, my name is Khanh and I am currently doing MSc Sustainability and Consultancy. I started my master course in September last year, so at the moment, I am doing my final project as the dissertation and I will finish my master within 2-3 months (huhu, so sad). To be honest, I have to admit that I feel a little bit sad as my master is about to end as I love my course so much. I have always been grateful and happy with all the knowledge, opportunities I have gained during my master course. This year, all the teaching and learning is online. Online learning somehow gave me the opportunities to be flexible with arranging my timetable. I could save more time and manage my time more effectively and more importantly, I could review the lesson records whenever I wanted to. Moreover, throughout the 2 semesters, alongside my teachers and my classmates, we had been through some hard situations together, but in the end, we did have great and fulfilling semesters together. My teachers always tried their best to deliver good quality of teaching to us and encourage us to improve the self-learning process of master students.
In the beginning, I started this course with just little knowledge, understanding about sustainability consultancy. After 1-year of learning, I have gained a wide range of knowledge about how companies operate, how sustainability is viewed from corporate perspective, from academic perspective, how to apply the concept of sustainability in reality and last but not least, how a sustainability consultant works in real life.
Furthermore, one of my most favourite parts of my course is the final project that I am currently working on. In my programme, we refer to this one as “Consultancy Project” or “Final Project”. This project is a little bit different from the dissertation of other master programmes because students will have the opportunity to work with a company or a consultancy company or a third sector in a project relating to sustainability and environmental management in general. Through this project, we as students will experience the real work of a consultant, learn how to overcome challenges, deal with pressure, and more importantly how to build, manage and maintain relationships with the clients. Personally, I have earned the chance to work with a company called Sodexo in a project to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of some sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics items used in the catering service of the company. I have always been interested in exploring and understanding all the popular substitutes to single-use plastics items which are available on the markets by now, for that reason, this project is a perfect fit for me.
Sherry, BSc International Business
Hello guys, here is Sherry. I am studying BSc International Business. In October 2020, I flew to Leeds and started the first year of my undergraduate degree at the University of Leeds. After getting the university offer, I was extremely excited about starting my university life. Owing to the pandemic, the university announced that most face-to-face lectures would turn online, while keeping a few seminars on campus. Considering the huge time difference between the UK and China, finally, I decided to go back to Leeds and start my first-year university journey.
In the beginning, learning online was a challenge. As a non-native English speaker, I was afraid I would not be able to follow the speed of the online lecture. Especially during seminars, I was too timid to open the mike and camera to communicate with classmates and tutors. Most lectures were held on Blackboard Collaborate, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Fortunately, all of the lectures and seminars are recorded into the student portal - Minerva. Also, there were pre-recorded videos and presentation PowerPoint that can be downloaded for reading and study at any time. Moreover, the IT support were there to provide help with any problem that appears during online learning. After getting familiar with the software, I started to manage my time more precisely, for instance, spending more time preparing for seminars and becoming more confident to express my views during the class.
One thing that I appreciated when I came to Leeds were the university libraries. When it comes to the online services, we can access numerous online articles to complete assignments or do the essential and extra reading of each module. Furthermore, I also attend the Skills@library workshop programme which supports students in academic writing, critical thinking, group presentation and more. Once I book a place for the webinar, I receive an email including all the details. Besides, the recording of the lecture will be sent back to participants in a few days after the session. When it comes to the offline services, the university supplies four libraries. Each of them has a huge collection of books, great study space and easy-use facilities. Moreover, the sanitary support and crowd control is done well during the pandemic, which makes me enjoy the time in the library.
Hopefully, the situation will become better and we may have more opportunities back to campus for the second-year study. Looking forward to meeting my tutors and classmates.
Tracy, PhD Translation Studies
Hi everyone, I’m Tracy, a PhD student in the area of translation studies of the university. As a PhD student, I don’t have as many classes as the undergraduate or postgraduate students have because reading journal articles and books and writing the thesis is my main task; however, it doesn’t mean that my study hasn’t been influenced by the pandemic and the national lockdowns.
On one hand, since the start of the pandemic in the UK last year, all my university events and activities have been moved online, including my supervision meetings with my supervisors, academic lectures and talks, social events organised by the department, the school and the university. This has a negative influence on my study for the following reasons:
At first, since the university libraries were closed during the first lockdown, I was not able to get some resources (mainly books) that are needed for my research because their electronic editions were not available. To deal with this problem, I had to search for their electronic editions online and to buy the physical books online if they were available. By doing so, I managed to find most of the resources I needed for my research but there were several books and journal articles that I could not find anywhere during that time. Secondly, although I’m not a sociable person and I’m comfortable with studying at my accommodation, I do like to go out every day to have some fresh air and a change of the environment, such as having a cup of coffee by myself or with my friends in a café, studying in the university libraries occasionally, visiting shops and so on. However, during the national lockdowns, the university and most shops were closed and there were not many places that I could go to. Also, considering my poor health conditions, I stayed in my accommodation from day to night for most of last year. Therefore, the lack of social interaction with others and the feeling of being trapped in my accommodation made me become anxious, irritated and stressed out more easily, which greatly has impacted my learning efficiency. My supervisors, my colleagues, and the social events organised by the department, the school and the university helped me a lot at this point. However, since the situation had been under control in my home country and people had basically returned to their normal life there during that time, I came back to my home country after the second national lockdown in the UK and stayed there for several months during which my learning efficiency has increased. I came back to Leeds this month.
However, every coin has two sides. Studying online also has some benefits. For a PhD student, one of its important benefits is that I have been able to attend much more online talks and conferences since the start of the global pandemic, breaking through the limitations of time, location and travel expenses. For a PhD student, attending seminars, talks and conferences is also an important part of our study. Before the start of the global pandemic, I needed to go to the institution that organised the event in person to attend the event, so the distance, the time on the way to that place and the travel expenses would be considered before making the decision to go there. In other words, before the start of the global pandemic, although I was interested in some conferences, I chose to not attend them because of those objective factors. However, since almost all academic talks and conferences around the world have been moved online since the start of the global pandemic, I can easily and comfortably attend any talk or conference that I’m interested in at my accommodation, just with the help of a stable internet connection. I have at least attended more than 40 talks and conferences since the start of the global pandemic, and the things I have learnt from them and the ideas inspired by them are greatly helpful to my research. Of course, attending those online talks and conferences is still constrained by the time as well, since the schedule of the talks and conferences is set based on the local time of the different institutions. For example, when I was in my home country, I had to stay up late to attend talks and conferences because they are organised by the UK universities and other universities in Europe. When I was in the UK, sometimes I had to get up early in the morning to attend some talks and conferences organised by the universities and institutions in Asia. However, compared to the convenience of online talks and conferences, adjusting my body clock is not a big deal!
In conclusion, for me, studying online has its disadvantages as well as its own advantages. I do hope that the situation in the UK can be better and better so that I can return to my normal life. Of course, it will be better if the talks and conferences can be online as well! But if I can only choose one from the two, a normal life is definitely my answer.
Conclusion
To sum it up, this past year has presented us with challenges that we have faced with a mix of anxiety and excitement. Shifting to online learning has pushed our limits, but it has also taught us how to adapt in an ever changing world, equipping us with skills that will facilitate our transition to the working world. Despite the challenges faced, the University and Student Union have provided us with a solid support network and initiatives which have definitely made a difference in our ability to study and socialise throughout the year.
As a student, if you ever feel like you are struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out, whether that may be to your personal tutor, your professors, or your school. Be assured that they will be glad to provide support! Below are some useful webpages to visit for information, or you can always reach out to us, either via email or live chat at Link to Leeds.
To stay updated regarding any changes during these times at the University of Leeds Coronavirus website.
If you have any issues/concerns regarding online learning, you can find support here.
This is the link to contact your respective schools via email.
Find out what services the library is providing here and what services you can access on-campus here.