STAYING CONNECTED AND SUCCEEDING IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

THE SPRING 2020 SEMESTER was not like any before, with students and staff alike going from operating on the Lake Land College campus to operating in a virtual environment within a span of less than two weeks. However, even amid a great deal of unprecedented change, students and staff alike came together to make the most of the situation.

Student Trustee and Phi Theta Kappa President Lucas Duduit, Pana, was one such student. While Duduit did miss being on campus, he said the transition for him went well thanks to the effort and resources made available by his instructors.

“There is a plethora of online resources available,” Duduit said. “The Lake Land instructors took advantage of those and presented them to us, and that’s what made my classes so easy to transition to an online format.”

Along with his classwork, Duduit said he was thrilled to see how well the Lake Land College Student Life clubs fared in the transition to a virtual environment.

“We held an election through PTK and Student Government entirely in a virtual environment,” Duduit said. “That is a silver lining. That shows how strong the students are in terms of wanting to make the best of their Laker experience.”

Playing a large role in maintaining that communication, PTK Secretary Kyra Jackson, Findlay, had learned about new forms of communication within Canvas, the online platform where students complete coursework, at a conference “Everyone has been in December. very optimistic,” Unbeknownst Clark said. “It has to her, that made a challenging knowledge would situation much more be extremely addressable. Every beneficial when the teacher had his or her college shifted to a own unique ways of virtual environment addressing this, but all in March. of them had to face “It helped a lot never faced before. with the club It really speaks to the itself,” Jackson creativity, effort and said. “We perseverance of a lot of organized a faculty the instructors that they appreciation project that way, and it was really were able to see us through.” easy to organize completely online through canvas.” Two more Lake Land College students, Jackson said she not only managed to continue to learn and communicate with her "I COULD TELL THE INSTRUCTORS GENUINELY CARED Michael Mriscin and Chandler Smith, found a way to stay connected and help out their peers. Mriscin and Smith took on the task of reaching out to students instructors and peers in the ABOUT THEIR to help with the registration process and virtual environment, but also STUDENTS. THEY other areas as needed. found some positive aspects WERE COMPLETELY of completing her college READY TO HELP US "I'm going to do the best I can to help work virtually. WITH WHATEVER WE students through this and share whatever NEEDED." I need to offer,” Mriscin said. “I love Lake “To be honest, I got to sleep Land. It’s amazing how much it’s helped in,” Jackson said.“That was a big positive. Also, I got to -JACKSON me change and grow. Lake Land is to me what Hogwarts is to Harry Potter." work at my own pace, and I could tell the instructors genuinely cared about According to a May 2020 survey, several more their students. They did not question the amount students found the transition easier than of effort they would have to put in, and they expected, or managed to overcome obstacles were completely ready to help us with whatever presented by the virtual environment. we needed.” Like Jackson, former PTK President Tanner Clark, patience, hard work, and helpful instructors I Strasburg, found a benefit in determining the was able to get back onto the right track,” one pace of his coursework. survery respondent said.

“After about the first week, I got a grasp of how to manage my time,” Clark said. “After that, it really did become something of an advantage to have that freedom.”

Clark also praised the Lake Land College faculty and staff’s attitudes and care amid the obstacles presented by the circumstances. something they had “At first it was very hard…but with a little bit of To view Phi Theta Kappa’s faculty appreciation video, visit www.youtu.be/yr4rI4Sdc4k.

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