Digital Technologies and My College Experience

I have seen so much change at North Central College over the past year. With Zoom and Blackboard Collaborate classes becoming popular, as well as social distancing measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, everyone has had to adjust their routines and ways of life to stay safe and healthy. Many of my peers that I have spoken to have indicated frustration with taking classes either online or in socially distant in-person classes. However, for me, classes being partially or fully online as well as flexibility with respect to attendance has relieved much of my anxiety that is related to attending classes and college life in general. Since the pandemic began, my grades and attendance have improved more than I expected, and I have felt more comfortable and relaxed at school than I did prior to the pandemic.

Up until this academic year, I struggled with attendance, and I was notorious for skipping class so often. I would skip classes regularly because my anxiety would make it difficult to get myself ready to leave the house. Then, the anxiety of missing class would make me feel so bad that I would end up staying at home and regretting it. When I would come back to class two days later, I would then need to ask my classmates for notes. I dreaded doing this, and it would add onto the immense anxiety I was already feeling. This anxiety was especially compounded with classes that had a strict attendance policy; I would feel pressured to come into class, which would worsen my anxiety even more. I would end up feeling terrible regardless of the choice I made; if I had forced myself to go to class on a bad mental health day, I would often struggle to pay attention and regret making myself go.

In the past, the lack of support offered for students who missed class ultimately led me to do worse in my classes, especially in the classes required for my major. If I had missed just one day of one of my chemistry classes, I would struggle to understand the material I missed if I only relied on a classmate’s notes alone. For classes that were more difficult for me, such as physics or calculus, this would have a snowball effect. My lack of understanding of the material would be evident when it came time to apply that material to a new situation. I took Calculus III in the fall of 2020 and would often watch lectures from home rather than going into class. Because I was attending every single class period, I was able to understand the material better. I did not struggle when it came to applying the material or building on it to explain a more difficult concept. I understood it better than I would’ve if I had taken the class earlier on. This is due to the fact that I did not feel pressured and nervous when I had to go in for this class.

The flexibility with attendance has improved my anxiety greatly, along with a change in medication and healthy coping habits. Now that I do not feel pressured to be at school every day, I can stay home if I feel unwell for any reason, and I know that my professors can record the class for me. If my anxiety is particularly bad to the point where I feel like I cannot leave the house, I can still interact with the class in a meaningful way. In fact, since North Central College went back to in-person learning, my attendance is the best it has ever been. Last semester, I missed about three days, and seven weeks into this semester, I have missed just one full day of class. Another important benefit of classes being recorded is that if there is a concept I missed or did not understand, I can re-watch the lecture to gain a better understanding. I have benefitted quite a lot from the adjustment professors have made to make their classes more acceptable to remote students or students in quarantine.

Another benefit of the flexibility online classes has provided me with is that it’s easier to meet up with professors for extra help or office hours. Before the pandemic, I would need to be on campus to talk to a professor in their office. With online office hours, I can make appointments to chat over Zoom or Blackboard Collaborate, which I have found very convenient. I have found online office hours to be more useful than simply sending an email to the professor I need to talk with. For me, it provides the experience of being able to talk to a professor in their office while still being in the comfort of my home; it is also convenient considering my schedule as a commuter student can get hectic.

I think that I would have benefitted from the current attendance policies and class recordings in place currently at North Central College if it had been more accessible earlier. For example, I had gotten very sick after I attended a conference in the spring of 2019. This required me to stay home for more than a month because I was too sick to attend in person; even when I forced myself to come back to school, I struggled to keep up with the material. As a result, my grades went down, and I had to take an incomplete in my organic chemistry class. If class recordings were more accessible back in 2019, I probably would have been able to complete organic chemistry on time and not have to have taken an incomplete.

In my personal experience, my stress related to college has lessened over the past year. Practices such as recording class lectures and flexibility in attendance policies benefit all students, not just students who are out due to being sick. Although it has come with some adjustment, I feel that I have finally begun to thrive at North Central College. I sincerely hope that the policies and practices in place currently will continue to be in place long after the pandemic is over, so that students like myself can continue to thrive in their academic environment.