Q: Is your son’s college going to continue to close its campus when the new semester starts?
A: My son’s university has been online only since some time in April, so he has already been taking virtual classes for months (summer term just ended last week). His school is planning to start a hybrid model in September for classes that need hands-on labs, like sciences, but most classes will remain online for now.
Most of the problems he has had were caused by the quick transition from in-person to virtual classes. For example, some teachers did not remember to add all the assignments and quizzes to the online class panel, and then they were angry when the students didn’t complete them. Oops! There have also been some issues with file types not being compatible with various teachers’ home software.
The biggest problem was in the beginning of the switch over – many people started to work from home very suddenly, so all computer peripherals, like webcams, speakers, etc, were sold out EVERYWHERE. It was impossible for students to get them, but my son’s teachers insisted each student join their Zoom or Slack classes with a camera, to show they were actually present at the class. In the end, we had to borrow a very old camera from a friend. It’s still hard to find one even now, and the prices have gone up a lot!
My son does not mind online classes, as he doesn’t like to get up early, and he has quite a long bus commute to school. Without having to get on the bus early in the morning, he has more time to do his homework and work on his summer internship assignments.
As far as social life, he did not have many classes with his friends to begin with (some are attending school out of state), so they were already utilizing Zoom for get togethers. They typically have lunch together twice a week over Zoom, and they have night time parties once or twice a month. He also plays video games on the Switch or on Steam with several of his friends, and they can chat while doing that as well. I think that incoming Freshmen might be really sad to miss out on a regular college experience, but we have already had problems with this.
Some Freshmen moved into their housing at the beginning of the month and began having parties, so now the university district has suffered a huge spike in cases. I think it would be safest if all students were sent home for the year. Unfortunately, many of them have signed leases for rental apartments or houses, and they cannot get out of the leases.
(和訳)
Q: 大学では新学期もオンライン授業が継続されるの？
A: 私の息子の大学は4月からずっとオンラインで、何ヶ月もバーチャル授業を受けているわ（夏学期がちょうど先週終わったところよ。）彼の学校は9月からは、理科のように実験室での実習が必要な授業もあるから、混合型を始める予定だけど、今のところほとんどの授業がオンラインのままね。
ほとんどの問題は、授業の対面からバーチャルへの移行が急だったことによるわ。例えば、全ての課題と小テストをオンライン授業パネルに入れたことを忘れている先生もいて、生徒たちがそれを終わらせていないと怒ったりね。先生の家のソフトと互換性がないファイルの種類の問題もあるわ。
一番大きな問題は、移行の初期にあったわ。たくさんの人が急に在宅勤務を始めて、ウェブカム、スピーカーなどの全てのコンピューター付属品が、どこもかしこも売り切れだったの。学生たちがそれらを手に入れることは不可能だったんだけど、息子の先生は、学生は実際に出席していることを示すために、全員カメラ付きでZoomやSlackに入ることを要求したの。結局、友達からとても古いカメラを借りざるをえなかったわ。今でも見つけるのは難しいし、価格がすごく上がってしまったわ。
息子は早起きするのがすきじゃないし、学校に行くのに長い時間バスにならないといけないからオンライン授業を嫌がっていないわ。彼は、朝早くバスに乗る代わりに、宿題をやったり、夏のインターンシップの課題に取り組む時間が増えたわね。
交遊については、そもそも彼は友達と一緒の授業が多くなかった（州外の学校に行っている友人もいる）から、集まるのにZoomを使っているの。彼らは週に２回Zoomでランチを一緒に食べたり、月に１、２回、夜にパーティーをしているわ。あと、何人かの友達と一緒にSwitchやSteamでゲームもしてるわね。やりながら話すこともできるしね。
新しく入ってきた1年生は、通常の大学の経験ができないのはかわいそうかなと思うけど、もう問題は起きているの。8月のはじめに入居している1年生もいて、パーティーをやり始めたのね、それで今、大学の地域は（新型コロナウイルスの）件数の急増に苦慮している。私は、今年は全学生を家に戻したら一番安全だと思うわ。ただ残念ながら、学生の多くは賃貸アパートや住居を契約してしまっていて、解約できないのよね。
