{"id":6091,"date":"2023-08-23T16:07:18","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T20:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/imprint\/?p=6091"},"modified":"2023-08-23T16:07:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T20:07:18","slug":"can-online-students-call-ucf-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/imprint\/can-online-students-call-ucf-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Online Students Call UCF Home?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ashley Garland<\/p>\n

I transferred to UCF as a fully remote student in fall of 2021. It was the first full semester post-COVID-19 lockdown, and most instructors had already made the switch back to face-to-face instruction. Having weighed the benefits of remote learning against the inconveniences of returning to in-person classes, and knowing UCF\u2019s online degree program is one of the <\/span>best in the country<\/span><\/a>, I embraced my life of digital learning. The flexibility was great\u2014just give me a laptop and, Wi-Fi permitting, the world is my lecture hall. I appreciated the lack of a commute but, as with anything else, there were downsides. One of the biggest, though I didn\u2019t realize it at the time, was how it limited my opportunities to build relationships with my peers and professors. <\/span><\/p>\n

Only about nine percent of UCF students are fully remote. Is it any surprise that it’s difficult for us to find each other?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With nearly seventy thousand enrolled students, UCF has one of the largest student populations of any university in the U.S. However, while around <\/span>eighty-seven percent<\/span><\/a> have taken at least one online course, only about nine percent<\/a><\/span> of UCF students are fully remote. Is it any surprise that it\u2019s difficult for us to find each other? It also shouldn\u2019t be surprising that community\u2014the one thing I have most missed in my experience at UCF\u2014improves student outcomes. When drop-out rates in online tracks can exceed those of traditional programs by as much as <\/span>twenty percent<\/span><\/a>, remote students should really seize every chance they get to improve their odds of success, no matter how challenging it may seem. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, course designers at UCF <\/span>are encouraged<\/span><\/a> to build their courses with student connection in mind, and things like class discussions, video lectures, and quick feedback from instructors all help us to feel more \u201cpresent\u201d in a remote learning environment. Even so, I\u2019ve taken courses that felt more like one-on-one tutoring than classes at a university. Those classes got the job done, of course, but I\u2019ve also experienced the opposite: courses where student connection and collaboration completely reshaped my perspective on the importance of community as a virtual student.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those courses was Client-Based Project Management, taught by Dr. Jane Vaughan. All I knew about it when I enrolled was that it would fulfill a requirement for my technical communications minor. Then I read the syllabus, and realized the course consisted almost entirely of group work with a real client. How was I supposed to work with a client? Or even find<\/span> one? Of what possible use could a group of undergrads be to an actual business? I was horribly intimidated. <\/span><\/p>\n

What I didn’t know yet was that, while these projects were a huge part of our final grades, the parameters for each \u201cdeliverable\u201d were between the students and their clients, aside from a minimum required scope that takes most of a semester to complete. This was because the final product wasn\u2019t the real focus of the course. The chapters of our small textbook, which we discussed in regular Zoom lectures with Dr. Vaughan, covered topics like handling conflict, distributing tasks equitably, and ensuring all group members were heard. Briefly, we were taught to form and maintain friendly, respectful, and effective working relationships. In a way, the project itself was almost a by-product. It was an entry in our portfolios if all went well, of course, but more importantly, at least to me, it was proof of our ability to work as a team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not alone in having had a few bad experiences with group projects. Luckily, if counterintuitively, the nature of the course took a lot of the pressure off. We were <\/span>supposed <\/span><\/i>to get along. We had to. We were stuck working with each other until finals on a complex project that we essentially had to teach each other to do. Dr. Vaughan gave us the tools to connect, then stepped back to supervise\u2014attentively, of course. And so we connected. As the term passed, through daily chatting, weekly video meetings, and lots of checking in with each other, we formed a solid, supportive group. I belonged in this group, and because my presence and participation mattered to more people than just myself, by the end of the semester, the course I\u2019d most dreaded at the beginning had turned out to be the most satisfying three credit hours I\u2019d earned since enrolling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most classes can\u2019t be structured this way, for obvious reasons; training for literary analysis or calculus or research is a different process than training to build a cohesive group. That doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t feel a sense of belonging in our classes, though\u2014even the remote ones, and even the ones that feel like private lessons. If you get a message at the start of term with a Discord or GroupMe link, click it. If nobody sends one out, don\u2019t be shy about doing it yourself! Check the <\/span>UCF Student Hub<\/span><\/a> on Discord and join a channel that interests you. Schedule <\/span>Zoom<\/span> meetings with classmates you trust and keep each other company while you study. When it comes to finding a \u201chome\u201d here, all UCF can really provide us students with are opportunities. It\u2019s up to us to take advantage of them or create our own\u2014on campus or online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ashley Garland I transferred to UCF as a fully remote student in fall of 2021. 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