Days of Online Lessons in the UK (Study Abroad)
Yue Yuwei
After the Easter holiday in 2020, Sun Ge's study abroad life pressed the "cycle button", and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom where she studied switched to online teaching, and the daily days became simple and repetitive - turning on the computer to take online classes.
Another thing that is repeated every day is to focus on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UK and in their own region.
Fight sluggishness and loneliness
On the days of online classes, the classroom becomes a small apartment room, and the teacher becomes a cold computer. In the online class study for more than 4 months, because there is no requirement to go out to class on time, Sun Ge's work and rest time is completely chaotic, and how to adjust the work and rest time is a headache for her.
With less academic pressure to face with teachers, Sun Ge's class has seen an increase in absenteeism, sometimes with only a few classmates in class. "Slack is inevitable, after all, the teacher is not in front of you." In the process of online classes, Sun Ge has been fighting against slackness, "In the process of online classes, there are often internal struggles, to fight against the sense of laziness generated by no one supervising." ”
For Sun Ge, the anxiety caused by long periods of solitude is a challenge compared to the sense of slackness. For more than 4 months, in addition to the necessary procurement of daily necessities, Sun Ge has not been out. Most of the day, I am alone, and it is inevitable to think wildly.
Sun Ge told this writer that most of the communication between people is in the common kitchen of the apartment. Luckily, the apartment she rented had public space, which partly dispelled loneliness. A classmate from a language class was very worried because he rented an apartment alone, and often sent WeChat to inquire about his living situation.
Face-to-face communication is lacking
The online courses that Sun Ge attends are basically recorded classes by teachers, so there is very little communication with teachers. Unlike classroom teaching, questions that you do not understand can be asked directly to the teacher, and the teacher will also make timely answers. "In addition, due to the limitations of online teaching methods, the questions to be asked will be displayed on the public screen, and everyone will see that the person asking the question may be embarrassed to ask questions due to timidity." Sun Ge said.
The more immediate impact of online classes is the loss of language learning environments. If the classroom is teaching, there will be communication between students from various countries, even if it is just a simple inquiry, it is still in English. In the online class, the most exchanged objects are Chinese students. "I feel that spoken English has not gone any further, and I have lost the opportunity to communicate with students from different backgrounds to cross-cultural exchanges and feel the local customs and customs, so I have not made more friends from different countries."
In Sun Ge's view, online classes also have advantages. "As an international student from a non-English-speaking country, in classroom teaching, it is inevitable that there will be sentences that cannot be understood because the teacher speaks too quickly. Online classes can be repeatedly watched, which is still beneficial to learning. ”
Sun Ge took care of online classes while writing her graduation thesis, which made her physically and mentally exhausted, and one of the biggest challenges came from insufficient communication with teachers. "Under normal circumstances, you can agree with the teacher for face-to-face communication, but in the isolated state, you can only communicate through email, WeChat, etc., which will inevitably express unclear expression, which is not good for thesis writing." Sun Ge said.
Leave a little regret
Looking back at this year's study abroad life, half a year of offline classes, half a year of online classes, Sun Ge feels that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Although in terms of learning efficiency, sense of atmosphere, sense of communication, etc., online classes are not as good as offline classes, but online classes can be repeatedly consolidated, and save the time spent on the road in and out of class. "As a last resort, online classes are a great way to keep learning going. For me, online classes ensured that I would graduate on time. Sun Ge said.
Until the graduation thesis was submitted and the graduate school life was over, Sun Ge could not return to the offline classroom, and even the graduation ceremony was held online. In her previous study abroad program, she had arranged a schedule to invite her parents to attend the graduation ceremony and see where she lived and studied. "Because of the epidemic, I failed to achieve my previous plan. I regret even more that due to the time conflict, I was not able to catch up with the live broadcast of the online graduation ceremony. Sun Ge said.
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition