https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4 Made with a lightning strike of genius en-us 2020-11-12 00:28:08 UTC 2020-12-22 00:37:13 UTC hello@padlet.com wisema58 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/914671181 Ever since this pandemic started, I've worried about what the future may hold for many things but the main concern I had was school. Having said that I am almost done with my first semester of college and reflecting upon the recent months I realized like most people I was not prepared for this school year in the slightest. The main problem I experienced this year was the lack of experience in these newer technologies and software’s. My first couple weeks of college I was always trying to catch up on work, rush to complete assignments, and struggle to join virtual classes. I leaned that many kids are dealing with the same types of problems, especially issues with their WIFI. I also have many issues with my internet since three other members of my family are also on the WIFI almost the entire day just like me. I’m very glad that most of my instructors are willing to work through these difficult times with not only myself but their entire class since they know how much stress and anxiety can be caused from this. My question is, what else can colleges be doing to help limit stress among their students in these difficult times?
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-overcome-challenges-of-online-classes-due-to-coronavirus]]> 2020-11-12 00:28:49 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/914671181 cerbinec https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/914874203 Although this pandemic has crippled many aspects of my life, I don't feel as if it was as hindering for my academics as I would've initially thought. Sure I'm not able to go on campus and enjoy my first year of college surrounded by new friends in East Lansing. But, I'm not lagging behind in any of my classes, in fact I'm thriving in many of them. Instead of putting my life on pause, the pandemic just made me adapt to the changes. Now I don't really mind doing everything over my computer. I've still been able to make friends online and I'm still able to see my old high school friends which I didn't expect to to happen in college. As the semester begins to wind down, I'm actually quite happy with myself. I was able to maintain good grades in all of my classes. If anything, this pandemic has been beneficial for my academic career. By having all of my classes online, I'm able to learn better time management skills that I might not have learned if this year was normal. My question is, has anyone else been able to benefit from this chaos of this year?


]]> 2020-11-12 02:24:23 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/914874203 karapats https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/914916627 Throughout the pandemic there has been many challenges that have changed our lives in unimaginable ways. Last year as a senior in high school, I didn't have prom or a good way to say goodbye to my life long friends as we all went our separate ways. As for academics, the pandemic called for a drastic change in life as a student. I had never taken a single online class and going into my first year of college, all my classes were online. This was a huge struggle at first. In the beginning, I was having trouble staying organized, remembering due dates, navigating multiple websites, and not to mention all the WIFI cut outs. But, as time went on online classes have become the norm of my life. I am very accustomed to waking up, logging on to D2L and starting my academic day. Although online classes still come with their unique challenges such as network errors, it also has its benefits. I have been able to learn to time manage extremely well and there's no such thing as a sick day anymore since work is done at home. Virtual schooling has had it's ups and downs but it is the new norm and in my life and I quite enjoy it. The only major negative thing for me is not being able to socialize with my classmates or really getting to know my professors which is a very important thing to me. Overall, online schooling has been good for me. My question to you is, what is one way online school has been beneficial to you and one way it's bad for you and why?  
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-overcome-challenges-of-online-classes-due-to-coronavirus]]> 2020-11-12 02:49:44 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/914916627 murra335 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/917266167 During these crazy times, I have found to stay focused on what is more important. School, friends, and family are the only things that I am truly focused on right now. Having all of this time to focus on these important things has lead to success for me. For online school, I am able to sit at my desk and focus on my work, assignments, and exams. I've heard that many people have been struggling with online school, but I would argue that I am doing better than what I would be performing for in person classes. I do have to say that online school has been bad for me because of the lack of social life. That is something that has always been apart of college and it hurts my mental health knowing that I could be meeting all of these new people and making life lasting memories on campus. Although I lose this aspect of college, I am fully focused on academics which will definitely pay out in the long run. So my question is, what have you found most important since the start of the pandemic?
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-overcome-challenges-of-online-classes-due-to-coronavirus]]> 2020-11-12 16:39:02 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/917266167 eversem2 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/917467004 If you would have asked me nine months ago what my life would look like now, my answer would certainly be nothing like the truth. This has been such a surreal experience for everyone and the future still seems so uncertain, especially for college students. The transition from high school to college has always proven to be a challenge, but even more so this year. Personally, I have never had an online class until this year. One of the greatest difficulties for me has been transparency of professor expectations and assignments. It is so difficult to translate what is needed by a professor when you can't understand their ways of thinking or interpret what they mean over email and D2L. However, I do feel that I, as well as many other students in this situation, are learning to learn in this growingly apparent setting. Though it has been very unfortunate how this year has turned out, I believe that this will better prepare us young adults for the adult world in the sense of showing courage in times of adversity and a better knowledge in how to deal with disappointment. My question is, how do you think the pandemic has POSITIVELY affected young adults?
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-overcome-challenges-of-online-classes-due-to-coronavirus]]> 2020-11-12 17:16:37 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/917467004 eversem2 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/925109722 Ethan - I agree that the transition from entirely in-person classes in high school to all online in college has proven to be challenging. I also feel that we didn't really have a chance to say goodbye properly to those that we grew up with and the teachers that were so prominent in our lives for four years. I also had a very difficult time with time management and organization when we first started and I actually missed a few meetings due to a lack of communication between professors and students. However, I have definitely grown in those aspects and would say that online school has been beneficial for me in that I am able to complete all my assignments as I please before the due dates and have better organizational skills. It has especially been challenging for me in that transparency in requirements of professors is still not that great in this form.

Michael - I'm glad to hear that you are having a good time and classes are going very well for you. I agree with your statement about how you are doing a lot better than you initially thought you would in an online setting as it has been better than I had originally expected. However, I think that I personally would benefit more from in person instruction, as I am a very visual learner. It is no doubt difficult to learn visually behind a screen instead of in person. Despite this, I do think that I have benefited in some ways from this chaos. Because everything is online, I am able to finish all my homework (or most of it) before dinner and then have time to hang out with my friends at night. I have also learned much better time management and organizational skills because of the pandemic and confusion with online learning.

Jake - I totally understand the situation that you are in right now. The pandemic certainly provided so much extra stress and anxiety in what is already a stressful transition from high school to college. Though I now have a much better understanding of D2L now, I still struggle with other softwares not provided by Michigan State like Google Classroom as I have never used it before and the setup is completely different. It is reassuring to know that we are not the only ones struggling with online school, but it is still just so challenging, especially when it comes to getting help with an assignment you may not understand. Sharing the internet with many other people has also proven to be difficult as I have been kicked out of classes because of my connection. To answer your question, I would say that colleges should record all of their lectures and post them all to D2L for those that have trouble with internet and also providing more sources and TAs for every class.]]> 2020-11-15 20:40:59 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/925109722 spektor1 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/925417149 The online learning environment has been very hard for most students experiencing it. Like Alyssa Ashford, many people learning remotely from home, as well as people that have to work remotely from home, have many distractions around them on a day to day basis. Whether it is siblings, parents, pets, or neighbors and other background noise, it can be very hard to focus. One thing that Alyssa has done that is very smart is make a planner. Normally in school, you have a schedule you follow every week, go to class, eat around the same times, and have a pretty consistent sleep schedule. However, with most classes being asynchronous, meaning that you can work on your own time as long as you turn things in by the due dates, it can be very easy for kids in online school to be unmotivated and get off of schedule. Alyssa has made a schedule that will help her accomplish her goals and get the grades she wants, which is why I encourage anyone in online school to do the same thing. My question is, what kind of schedule or other things have you done to help you go through online school?]]> 2020-11-16 00:54:32 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/925417149 geogheg7 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/933702427 Doing school from home has been a real challenge for many students, as written in the article, including myself. I agree with what this article says about how it is hard to make your home a place for work when that's not how you usually see it. I have struggled with this throughout the semester so far, but I have also found ways to get through it and make it better. It has been hard for me recently to stay motivated and get my class work done, whereas at the beginning of the school year I was more excited and motivated. I work 5 days a week so I find very little free time to get everything done, but that has taught me time management. I have learned that I have to use any time I have to work on my school work, even on my 30 minute break I will do homework in my car. I think through all this I have learned good study habits because I have been forced to do my school work totally different than I am used to. What things have you done to manage your time for online school and to stay motivated?]]> 2020-11-17 19:51:46 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/933702427 owenssa5 https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/939299764 In the beginning of online school (college, not high school), I didn't think about it- I was just so excited to be in college, so I always had the energy to do my work. As time went by, obviously staying motivated became much harder with the rapidly increasing workload. To this day I still don't manage my time very well, nor do I have much motivation; my only motivation is my drive to move forward and closer to my career. The thought of being forever stagnant scares me enough to move me through time. As for time management: I have a reward and punishment system which I live by. Simply put, when I finish my work- I have free time and I'll maybe treat myself with a food item or buy something, if I don't finish my work then I face the antithesis. ]]> 2020-11-18 23:58:03 UTC https://padlet.com/wisema58/8f58nwcccny2avr4/wish/939299764