Zoom class on a MacBook. Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
Virtual classes, also known by social media as ‘Zoom University’, is a platform many college students have had to adjust to, and Macy Tomasso is one of those students. Tomasso is currently a sophomore in the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University of Chicago studying International Business and Economics.
Her experiences from when Loyola first announced an online education in last March to today have gone through many changes.
Person working on homework. Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
“When we first went online, it would kind of be they send us our tasks or post it on Sakai,” Tomasso stated. “We do it, we turn it in, but I guess they found that there’s a lot of cheating going on, because there weren’t really a lot of measures in place to prevent you from just like googling answers or just using your notes. So, they’ve definitely changed a lot regarding that coming into this year.”
Tomasso mentions that Loyola has adopted cheating preventions like LockDown browser, Connect, and something as simple as having your Zoom camera on during class.
Person on 2 separate computers. Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
According to Tomasso, her current classes feel more organized than last year since everyone has become used to learning their education through a computer screen.
“This semester, everything was a lot more prepared like we all knew what we were going into,” Tomasso said. “I mean honestly, the work is actually very similar, but when it comes to exams and tests and quizzes and things, they are all doing them a lot differently now than they did when we first went online.”
Although it seems that students are comfortable with an online platform, Tomasso does not agree with this setting.
“I personally just don’t like being online,” Tomasso stated. “Going into like when they first announced that we were going to be online, I was like fine with it because I thought you know it’ll probably be easier or I can just do more work on my own time from the comfort of my room… but that just … I mean I don’t know for me personally I’m a lot less motivated.”
Being in a physical classroom setting or seeing other students on campus is a comforting environment both socially and academically.
However, when you mimic those settings onto a virtual platform, your college experience only has a strong academic comfort and less of a social comfort. When one these traits starts to fade, it affects the other trait and creates laziness or feeling unmotivated as Tomasso mentioned.
“I feel that people in general are a lot more down, so a lot less motivated to do things,” Tomasso stated. “A lot less excited about things. And there’s definitely a decrease in academic opportunities.”
Not being able to physically meet your professors, classmates, or even potential employers at job fairs affects your future. The barriers that an online platform create are annoying. ‘Zoom University’ does have its positives, but students like Macy Tomasso would say otherwise.
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