The value of the classroom

Andy Froilan sat in his classroom that had the homey feel of a kitchen, complete with a sink-full of dishes, a freshly-used skillet and a spring breeze through an open door.

The wall in front of him was adorned with vinyl records.

“If I wanted to take online classes and just go on Amazon and buy the text books, I could have done that,” he said. “There is something that has been kind of taken away I guess by the whole COVID thing.”

Froilan is a transfer student from Baltimore’s Maryland Institute College of Art. He said the change from a bustling campus life to home isolation has left him in a state of limbo.

Morehead State University followed the transition to online classes in March, along with the University of Kentucky, Murry State and others.

Like many other students in the state, Froilan converted his small apartment on the edge of town in to his new university, where three days a week he joins his First Year Seminar (FYS) class by logging onto WebEx.

WebEx is a program that allows professors to hold class via webcam.

Professor Aaron Hirsch said he thinks this new transition is different for every student.

“I had people who had attendance issues in my class who show up consistently online,” Hirsch said. “To me it’s like what you make of it.”

Hirsch said classes like FYS are not hard to switch over and accommodate students online, but he sees where other classes could have trouble.

One of the things Hirsch did to make it easier on students was amend his two sections of FYS. He did this so students could go to the one that best suited their schedule verses having to abide by their original class time.

“I have students who found jobs stocking shelves at super markets and things like that to create income,” he said. “It’s one thing if you did sign up for an online course; you kind of stuck yourself in there. No one signed up for this.”

Froilan is studying mathematics and said it is more difficult with online classes that don’t meet through live chat.

“I’m an undergrad,” he said. “I’m still kind of getting use to higher education and not having that really strong support from a group of teachers, of mentors, it hurts a little bit.”The one thing Froilan thinks about the most when he opens or closes his laptop is the lack of connection he has with his instructors.“Having face to face meetings is what I am really starting to miss and is what is becoming more and more valuable,” he said.The Trail Blazer is online at: http://www.thetrailblazeronline.net