Online learning has changed my life for the better. Let’s hope it’s here to stay

A picture should not paint A thousand words

Photo: Extea.ie

Andrew Florio

Anger and frustration dominated my emotions after a night of drinking at the Spanish Arch. It wasn’t directed towards the students however (after all I was one of them), but rather to the media storm and reactions that followed.

As a student of journalism I am constantly reminded by my lecturers to be aware of the dangers that come with news shared via social media. Single screenshots of videos can, for example, take certain situations out of context and not tell the full story as it happened. In my view that’s precisely the mistake that was made.

In this case the pictures taken showed large crowds spilling out of the Spanish Arch and then making their way up Shop Street, with some stopping for a quick singalong with a busker. The outrage that followed was focused on the fact that no student was shown to be social distancing or wearing a mask. This is where the frustration and anger starts to build inside me. My memory of Spanish Arch was very different.

I remember groups of friends, some probably already housemates, sitting around in circles and for the most part sitting two metres away from the other pods. That wasn’t shown in the pictures. I remember two Gardaí herding students together and breaking up those groups. That wasn’t shown in the pictures. I remember forming one big crowd as a result of the actions taken by the Gardaí. That was in the pictures.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the morning to find out I had been part of an event that had been described as “deplorable” by the same university that encouraged those very students to make sure we had accommodation secured by the 28th of September. Calls for the army were sounded to patrol the streets of Galway by Senator Ollie Crowe, as if an act of war was committed by the youth of the city overnight.

By Niamh McGrath

Attending a mundane,9am Lecture on a Monday Morning in the Ryan Institute. Easy, right? For those who suffer with various disabilities it’s not so easy. I suffer from FND,(Functional Neurological Disorder), a chronic condition that has taken over my entire life by storm ,for the past 8 years. It is a condition that has various components; chronic pain, abnormal movements such as tremors, immobility which requires use of wheelchair, the list could go on and on. Due to the chronic elements of FND, I missed most of my secondary school years and the first two years of university all the while living in Goldcrest Village, not even 15 minute walk away from the other side of campus. Lying in my room, staring at the ceiling, on the bed unable to move, knowing my lecture is starting. Unfortunately, I am not alone in my position. There are other students across the campus who can’t attend their lectures due to their difficulties.

Cue Covid-19. The virus that changed everything for every single person in the country, in the world! Everything for university reverted to online learning. I started my course in September, classes and tutorials, with no bother at all, all from my kitchen table alongside my PA. I was ecstatic. I was finally able to put everything into my lectures without my body holding me back. For the first time ever, I felt excited to return to education again, and not worry about what symptom would stop me today or if I ended up in hospital again, I would just miss more.

The newspapers were quick to run stories as you would expect. ‘Insane’ gathering of hundreds of students in Galway condemned”; read the headline of The Irish Times. Similar sentiments were printed on most of the country’s major newspapers. The Gardaí were interviewed as was Mayor Mike Cubbard and locals. Personally, what I find to be deplorable is the fact that not one single student was asked about the night in question. No article featured an interview from one of the very people it was accusing of dismantling all progress made in the first seven months of lockdown.

The very last line of the Irish Independent article contained a quote from Sergeant Michael Walsh, Galway City’s Crime Prevention Officer. He responded to ideas that closing off-licences would slow down the drinking that was seen. His answer was; “There is a real risk the use of drugs will ramp up if they can’t get their hands on alcohol”. What a way to talk about people. Not only are we pandemic enablers, but the next mob that Galway City will be witnessing will now be a horde of drugged up zombies wandering the streets leaking Covid to everyone we pass. The anger that I felt reading those words was immense, as if I’d been cheated out of a fair trial by the entire country.

Yes, I’ll admit it mightn’t have been the best idea to gather like that in hindsight. But does that mean going to the pub is a better option? From people I’ve spoken to, a popular bar was pretty much running business like pre-Covid times. With people pushing past each other, no one-way systems on stairs and a fragile two metre gap between tables. I didn’t hear any cries of outrage.

Also, what did the universities expect by asking their students to return. How could they not realise there was going to be some degree of socialising on fresher’s week? And then when the inevitable happens, the students are the ones who bear the brunt of

Online learning has changed my life for the better. Let’s hope it’s here to stay

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the blame. Misrepresented but still convicted as guilty.

So It got me thinking, so much so that I sent an email to our student’s union pleading that online, blended learning could stay for those reasons. As I thought more about this, I began to think outside of just people with disabilities and difficulties. I thought of all the students who missed a short amount of time due to a bereavement, or students who had a sudden change in their circumstances, or students who simply couldn’t afford accommodation. This way of learning suits a lot more people than we realise.

So many more students going from 2nd level would apply to university simply due to being able to do it from home, the cost would decrease dramatically. People who have had a change in their circumstance or missed short periods of time wouldn’t be backed into taking a leave of absence but could catch up right from Blackboard. Lecturers wouldn’t be hounded with thousands of emails from students with sick certs or “I wasn’t there today, what did I miss?” or ”I need an extension because I missed a lot of time”. It would reduce the emails massively.

I know this style of learning could benefit so many students in NUIG, it would benefit the university, as more people would apply, and it saves money for the university too.

Now that we have the hang of the online learning and being honest it is going to be here to stay for a while, why not keep it? Why not utilise the resources we’ve now become familiar with as our new normal? Why not make education inclusive for all people affected by various circumstances? We’ve done it now, let’s keep it going.