Reflecting on the Past and Looking Towards the Future

×

Sean Tvelia shows a giant millipede to some little hikers at North Lake, NY

Provenance: Sean Tvelia
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

by Sean Tvelia, Suffolk County Community College, NY

Here at Suffolk County Community College we have reached the halfway mark of our spring semester. In most semesters, this serves as a time of reflection. As midterms are returned, students contemplate the changes they need to make to be successful in courses and we faculty contemplate what we need to do to help students be more successful while also determining how we are going to fit in the remaining topics. In that sense I think this semester isn't much different than most. Well, if only that were the case.

Thankfully, the planning occurring this March looks very different than the planning that took place last year. As the pandemic shows signs of waning and more people are being vaccinated, we are trying to imagine what a return to traditional courses might look like. More and more we are also realizing that it may not look all that traditional—and this may not be a bad thing.

Talking with colleagues across the nation, it seems we are making similar plans that include some mix of face-to-face and asynchronous/synchronous courses. Many of us are realizing that that normalcy we are looking forward to will not look that normal.  The pivot to remote learning last March was quite possibly the greatest and fastest change ever experienced in any educational system. The speed at which both faculty and students adapted was stunning but nonetheless placed serious strain on all levels of our educational system, our colleagues, and most importantly our students.

2YCs, by far, have borne the brunt of that strain as we enroll student populations that were disproportionately impacted by both the health and financial ramifications of the pandemic, not to mention the threats to the 2YC funding structures which were also adversely impacted by shortfalls in state and local government budgets.

Although many of the issues faced by our students are not new — 2YCs across the country have been working to address issues of food insecurity, accessibility, success, and inclusion for years — the pandemic spotlighted how disparities in access, transportation, home life, and inclusion impacts all of our success. Transitioning back to more traditional classes will surely alleviate some strain in the educational system, but it will not address the social inequities that unfortunately persist.

Over the last year, the transition to remote learning evolved for all. For the first time, all educators gained experience teaching online/remotely. Over the course of a year we experienced multiple modalities, gravitated to those we were most comfortable with and, most importantly, perfected them to the best of our ability. It has been difficult, frustrating, and at times flat-out exhausting. The experience has even led some to leave education altogether.

Substitute the words "student" and learning for the words "educators" and "teaching" in the statement above to see that the student experience was no different.

Yet we as a community of educators made great strides addressing some of the social disparities that exist within our system. Consider internet connectivity: at the onset of the pandemic, the biggest hurdle our institutions faced was providing internet access to students at home so that they could participate in remote courses, something many of us just take for granted when we ask students to complete the online homework or read the online article in our traditional class. It took a pandemic for us to ensure that all students had the same level of access to the resources we require. We know this situation will persist, and our students will still need that same access to be just as successful as their peers. As much as we like to think we provide the same service in the form of on campus computer labs and libraries, the reality is that doesn't necessarily meet the needs of those students who also work multiple or full-time jobs or have other family obligations.

This is just one example. We also ensured that all digital resources were ADA accessible, that remote students had access to tutoring services, that those in rural and far-flung communities could finally attend synchronous classes or programs where they can speak to and work with their professors and peers. The switch to remote learning also showed us that we can invite diverse speakers to our classes and provide opportunities for students to work with and speak to their peers at other institutions.

And just as we adapted our teaching, students adapted their learning. Although the first semester of remote learning was, well, let's just say interesting, this spring educators across the country have been commenting on the increased participation, conversation, writing, and office hour visits amongst students. Students have also participated in online research internships and independent academic projects and have had the opportunity to present at and attend regional and national conferences.

The pandemic revolutionized how we do education by creating access; we cannot let the return to normal diminish that. As I look to the fall, I know it will be different. Education has been forever changed by this experience not only in terms of how we approach our classes but also in terms of what students expect in a course. In the coming months, many institutions will be returning to the "new" normal, and many of us will be utilizing the lessons we learned from our remote experiences and from our online colleagues to supplement and enhance traditional classes. Although exactly what college will look like in the fall is unknowable right now, one thing I do know is that members of this division will continue our conversations, share our expertise, and help one another navigate that new normal.