The future of online instruction post-pandemic

Faculty and staff reflect on online and in-person instruction in light of the March 29 return to campus, both of which required Chapman professors to teach in classrooms. Photo illustration by CLARRISSE GUEVARRA, Staff Photographer

With students and faculty returning to campus March 29 for in-person learning at limited capacity, the university began its gradual transition away from online-only instruction. However, Jana Remy, Chapman’s director of Educational Technology Services, anticipated that some elements of remote learning could remain in place post-pandemic. 

“There have been some online-only classes for many years at Chapman,” Remy said. “The fact that we will have some online-only classes after the pandemic makes sense because we have a history of having a handful of those, (though) not a lot.”

The potential of offering students these select few online-only courses demonstrates Chapman’s ability to adapt university protocol in the case of other unpredictable events or natural disasters in the future, Remy said. That was echoed by Andrea Weber, the assistant dean for advising and student life within the School of Communication.

“I’m excited to be able to take some of these tools to enhance our teaching and enhance learning for our students,” Weber said. “With this, we can give our students more choices and allow for an even more personalized education moving forward."

Gordon Babst, associate professor in the political science department, pointed to a separate reason to maintain elements of online learning during the pandemic: vulnerable family members. Whether an elder or a youth, Babst said faculty members fear the need to teach from campus but also take care of their at-risk loved ones.

“Now we know there is a way to provide high quality instruction. It seems to me fair and humane to provide limited accommodations to these highly specific kinds of circumstances,” Babst said. “From another perspective, do you want faculty to take leaves because they have to take care of someone at home? Then they are completely removed.” 

The necessity of learning and incorporating new technology into online-only courses was difficult for some professors, but inspired faculty to problem-solve in order to best emulate an in-person experience. Remy noted examples of faculty creativity, such as using drone photography to allow for socially distanced dance performances or filming chemical lab experiments for students to rewatch and study. 

“I know faculty have created great instructional videos that they’ll continue to use with students to help augment the classroom,” Remy said. “It’s a benefit to students to be able to watch and rewatch some of that content … Having that investment in learning is going to pay off in the long run for our students.”

Another newfound advantage that arose from online-only instruction was the ability for professors to perform tasks such as advising, office hours and supplemental course instruction from the convenience of their homes.  

There remains a possibility for experimentation with more select online-only courses during future interterm and summer sessions, Provost Glenn Pfeiffer said. However, not all students and faculty prefer online instruction. Some are experiencing Zoom fatigue or difficulties learning technology they’re not familiar with. Pfeiffer told The Panther that in upcoming semesters, there may be a need to address gaps in students’ education due to the difficulty some students may have in adjusting to and excelling in online learning.

“It’s not a negative thing, it’s just saying, ‘Look, Zoom is not the same as in person,’” Pfeiffer said. “Most faculty have worked very hard to try to make their classes effective and as high-quality as possible under very difficult circumstances.”

He emphasized Chapman faculty will still be required to teach classes from campus moving forward, given that each classroom provides proper resources for online lectures, and noted Chapman will not be tailoring its education to the online format. 

“We’re going to have in-person instruction with small classes and that’s the way we are,” Pfeiffer said. “You pay a lot of tuition to come here. If you could take a class online, why wouldn’t you take it from anywhere else? If we start trying to do that, it’s very hard to justify what we’re doing as a university.”