The transition to online learning has been proven difficult for many students at the College of New Caledonia.
That’s according to Sheldon Clare who teaches History and Technical Writing at CNC, he says many problems stem from one issue in particular.
“The biggest challenge in my experience with online teaching is trying to foster student engagement, CNC is doing everything it can to make the college experience positive, however online learning is not for all students and it’s not for all classes,” he explained.
Meeting new people and building networks is an important part of the college experience, and according to Clare, that aspect is being lost in some classes.
“That connection is sometimes lost in an online environment for some classes, you aren’t building those relationships and making those friends,” he explained, “this cannot help but limit those networks when students enter the workforce.”
While plagiarism has always been an issue in classes, Clare says it’s become increasingly popular since transitioning to online learning.
He says sometimes there are temptations for plagiarism that come up in an online environment, and he’s had to take specific steps to limit cheating opportunities.
“I think some of the opportunities to place common and traditional checks on plagiarism are lost in some online learning situations,” Clare explained.
Since switching to online learning, the lack of engagement has already caused a number of his students to drop classes.
Clare added he and his colleagues are doing their best in connecting with students, but not being able to meet with students in person is proving to be difficult in building instructor-student relationships.
“You just miss a lot of that personal interaction and I think students rely on that as well and I think they find that difficult, but we’re all doing the best we can in these turbulent times,” he noted.