Online Learning — the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

Well, here I am. My first online semester is officially complete. Looking back, I have a lot of experiences to reflect on, some good, bad, and ugly. Whether you liked online learning or not, it is not going anywhere anytime soon. Even once the pandemic has come to an end, many things we used to do in person, will continue online.

The Good:

Online learning, while not my favorite, has its perks.

Recorded Lectures: I really love being able to listen to lectures more than once. This would have been really helpful for me in 1L, when I was trying to grapple with things like federalism in Constitutional Law and the depths of mens rea in Criminal Law.

Pets: I have a couple of pets and I loved being able to hang out with them all day. When I was frustrated or confused, I got to take a step back and decompress by taking a couple minutes with them.

Flexibility: This style of learning was so accommodating to life in general. If something came up and you could not attend a lecture, it was not stressful and you did not have to rely on the notes of your classmates. Additionally, if you were sick, it was okay! You could stay home and get better without having to worry about missing school — school was wherever you were. I could have watched lectures in bed with chicken noodle soup if I wanted to. Coming out of COVID, I think lectures should be live streamed and then posted online. Online learning has shown us that recording lectures is not technologically advanced. If you are paying tuition, the education should be accessible.

Less ‘Extra’ Costs: Learning from home eliminates the need to commute. It was nice to save money on gas, car maintenance, etc. I also saved money by not paying for parking, which is a substantial cost to most students. Grabbing lunch out was also less convenient, which means I was able to save quite a bit by not giving in to grabbing food on the go and just eating what I had at home.

Opportunity to Get Ahead: I found that most of my professors were more organized this semester than ever before. They posted recorded lectures before they were supposed to be watched. This allowed students to get ahead if they wanted.

The Bad:

Assignments: I found that many of my professors had the idea that assignments would help offset the stress of final exams; if, for example, 20% of our grade came from elsewhere. While these intentions were great, this is not the way it worked out. Personally, no matter how much my final exam is worth, I will study the same amount; an 80% final is no less stressful to me than a 100% final. I also did not get the impression that readings were reduced. So, what was normally enough readings to occupy a student all hours of the day, was just the start of daily school work. On top of readings, I had to work on assignments daily too. For me, the added assignments created more stress than normal during the semester and did not mitigate other stress during the exam period.

Questions: I found I was asking notably less questions. My professors made themselves available and did everything they could, all things considered. However, no email can replace impromptu questions during class or a quick visit by the office. My small questions went unanswered because I often found them not ‘worthy’ of a thoughtful response.

Distractions: Without being surrounded by my classmates and immersed in the subject, I often got distracted scrolling through Facebook while I was supposed to be directing my attention to my live lecture. It was super easy to zone out.

Cameras: Ahhh, the optional video function. Similar to most of my classmates, I kept my camera off when I could. I do not think this is a trend we, as students, should bring into 2021. I can’t imagine its very nice for the professors, as I actually had one tell us it looks like he was staring at a giant waffle. However, I think if we all had our cameras on, we would more actively participate and therefore have a better online learning experience.

The Ugly:

Recorded Lectures: Surprised to see this here? Well, for me, recorded lectures were not always a great thing. I became obsessive. With the option to pause and rewind lectures, I found myself, in essence, transcribing the entire recording. What was once a 1 hour lesson, was now a 2 hour lesson. The time it took me to get through lectures doubled.

Lack of Social Interactions: Gosh, I miss going to school! I miss chatting with my friends and seeing other faces every day. Mental health is something I think online learning heavily impacted. Sitting at home all day, not talking to anyone, is super lonely.

What Helped:

Taking Breaks: It is super important to take breaks from school during the day. By this, I do not mean take a break and go on Instagram on your phone. Take a break from your screen. Take your dog on a 10 minute walk, go get the mail, cook yourself a balanced meal, stretch — do something away from a screen. I am not productive if I work the whole day straight, so taking a few breaks during the day has really helped me.

Being Realistic: While there is great opportunity to get ahead in school, it was important for me to be realistic with myself. It was nice when I could get a bit ahead, but I had to remind myself not to be too hard on myself when I could not keep the momentum going.

Pretending to go to School: It was much easier for me to separate my home life from my school life if I walked out the door. While it may sound weird, I would often leave my house out the front door in the morning and then go in through the back. My mini commute helped me establish when I was ‘going to school’ versus when I was ‘home’.

As school is wrapping up, remind yourself of how far you have come. Online school is not for everyone. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we will be back in person someday.

Enjoy your winter break!