Massey Goes Virtual – Good or Bad?
A common feeling among students at the moment is that Covid-19 has ruined everything. O-Week was tarnished with restrictions, Victoria University Law students have been forced off their campus by protestors, and going to town on a Saturday night just isn’t the circus show it used to be. However, what is sparking the most uproar among students is the continuation of online learning.
Many students see online learning as a ‘get out of jail free card’. You don’t have to socialise. You don’t have to commute. You don’t even have to put on pants. What’s not to love, right?
“I don’t mind online learning at all. If anything, it suits me better as it gives me the option to work when I feel like I will absorb the most information. It also makes my daily schedule easier to alter to suit other things that need to be done,” says student Emily Collins.
“To be honest, having all my lectures online is the only thing that has kept me in university. If it wasn’t for the fact that I can go back and re-listen to all my class recordings, and slow down the speed of the lecturer so I can take proper notes, I definitely would have failed,” says Melissa Bailey, another Massey student.
“This is the twenty-first century. Online classes were bound to be integrated into society at some point, [Covid-19] or not. I think it’s a great advancement for education systems, and that better technology will be produced because of it,” says first-year Max Flaxmere.
“Zoom classes give me way less anxiety than in-person classes. I feel more confident speaking out and interacting with others when I’m not confronted with them face-to-face,” says post-grad Lucca Mae Lee.
On the other side of the coin is an army of students arguing against the implementation of online classes.
“My boomer professors literally can’t use Stream. It feels like such a joke that I’m paying all this money and expected to learn when half the class is spent trying to find the unmute button, or share a screen. It’s ridiculous,” says student Holly Stanley.
“I can’t stand online learning and if it’s going to carry on being the case then surely our fees should be altered. I know they have to follow guidelines to keep everyone safe, but let’s be real here… everyone is going to be exposed to [Covid-19] at some stage. Isn’t that why the University mandated vaccines?” asks an anonymous Massey student.
“If you’re studying sciences (like me), or anything that features practical experience such as lab work, field experience, animal handling etc, then online learning doesn’t really cut it. Employers will ask you if you have practical experience in your field, even when you’re an undergrad. If I hadn’t had some lab work in my first and second year (before Massey basically decided to drop practicals), I would have very little to offer an employer. This is not bashing on [Covid-19] restrictions because they are definitely there for a reason. However, I think some of Massey’s decisions have not been made with the good of their students in mind, but rather the good of their bank accounts,” says Charlie Charleston, a graduate student.
“I’m not paying $7,000 a year to do an online course. There are countless better options for me if that is the case. I feel like an important part of studying at CoCA Massey is learning the in-person skills required to be a professional in the design field. You just don’t learn that over Zoom,” says Jack Warren, Massey photography student.
So, whether you’re on the defence or opposition, it doesn’t really matter because it seems that many countries across the globe are sticking with the gig for the time being. Perhaps one day the majority of classrooms and offices will be virtual, or maybe it will be faded out and the world will resume as normal. Either way, one thing’s for sure: Zoom classes are like marmite, you either love it or you hate it ;)