From online workshops to never-ending Zoom calls, the coronavirus pandemic has altered many of the ways we learn. When this hybrid learning experiment ends, however, there are some things we should think about keeping around.

The day of my midterm exam freshman year, I woke up with a nauseous feeling in my stomach that I chalked up to nerves — until those “nerves” sent me running to the bathroom, ungracefully puking in a stall. 

What could I do? Email my professor less than an hour before the exam to say I’ve suddenly become sick? I thought they’d think I was just nervous, or worse, hungover. So, without any other option, I trudged through the January snow to my exam and hoped I wouldn’t vomit halfway through the test. I also hoped, more importantly, that I wouldn’t make my other classmates sick.

Until COVID-19, this was just an unfortunate reality. But under SU’s hybrid learning model, students can attend classes virtually if they’re exhibiting symptoms of the virus. When the university first announced this model, I began to consider the possibilities it could have for students who need to take additional absences for illnesses, COVID-19 or otherwise. 

An important distinction to make when considering the potential for online coursework is the differences between classes created to be held online and those that adopted a hybrid or online format due to COVID-19. Online courses have existed well before the pandemic, and their course structure is often different from the ones most of us who have suddenly transitioned to online learning are taking. 

“This kind of emergency use of online and hybrid (learning) does not equal online learning,” said Caroline Haythornthwaite, a professor in the School of Information Studies. “There’s decades of work in creating the proper kind of environment, distribution of assignments that work across the week rather than just in the lecture hours.”

Introducing a more permanent way for students to attend class while in poor health or during emergencies without destroying their grade through absences may seem like a quick fix. Though SU could just keep the feature that allows students to attend online when they can’t person, the reality is more complex. 

Adopting this method would force professors to conduct in-person courses in a permanently hybrid model to account for students who may take the class remotely on any given day. But online courses are made for online learning and in-person models are meant to be taught in-person. Finding a medium between the two may do more harm than good to a course if not carefully implemented. 

But even if a more permanent integration of online and in-person is implemented poorly, there are still many positive possibilities. Students whose needs and interests are often underrepresented could greatly benefit from a combination of online and in-person learning. Students who are immunocompromised, who have mental health conditions or who have families and careers could benefit from the flexibility that hybrid learning provides.

A thoughtful consideration of which hybrid learning practices could be implemented long term would help these communities. The university can also improve the accessibility of non-class activities that occur on campus, such as student organizations and campus events.

“One of the things that I think has changed is perhaps the acceptance of the fact that online learning is as good as… face-to face,” said Haythornthwaite. “There’s been an acceptance that this is a possible way to do things.” 

There are many valuable lessons to learn from our experience during the pandemic that have the potential to permanently better the lives of others. 

Deciding which aspects of online learning we will keep and which ones cannot be successfully used is understandably difficult. However, the time spent making careful decisions about what is in the best interests of education rather than simply going back to normal instruction is more than worth it to help better the mental and physical health of students. 

Mallory Stokker is a senior magazine journalism major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at mstokker@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @malstokker.

Published on September 7, 2020 at 11:38 pm