Online classes

If focusing on a class while being in person was a challenge, now, with online classes, it is a true dare. There are many aspects of face-to-face classes that help you focus on class and almost none of them can be achieved through this new way of teaching. A downside I would highlight as the main struggle is participation. When being in class, you are surrounded by a studying atmosphere that encourages you to participate and, as a consequence, follow better the lessons you are being taught. Nevertheless, if you are at home, you feel cozy and as if there was no need to participate as there are other fifty students online that could do it, and, in class, about twenty peers that have that inspiring environment. The possibility of participating in class, unless you open the microphone as soon as the professor has said the question, is really slim.

A solution to the problem of participating is to do more face-to-face classes. This resolution might lead to questions, such as: how are we going to organize classes with coronavirus? One answer would be to use bigger classes. By occupying more spacious rooms more people could fit. Consequently, two shifts could be united and people would only have to stay at home one week. That way, not only students would be able to participate more easily, but also they would get to know more people, increasing the social skills they may have lost during the lockdown. A second answer would be to hire more professors. If there are more professors hired, the unemployment rate would decrease and students could go to classes more often; however, this solution might create organizational problems in both, the departments and schedules. Nonetheless, it is worth considering all the options available to find the most suitable option. Therefore, on-line classes could be better if people could participate more. Either by using bigger classes where more students could go or by hiring more professors.