New ARC Students Voice Their Opinion on Online University Experience – The American River Current

Most first and second year students have yet to set foot on campus

For some American River College students, the last time they took an in-person class was during their senior year of high school. The CRA went online in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and students who registered after the transition had a fully online experience.

Fiona Cuny, a first year social science student, was unable to attend classes in person at the ARC.

“I was looking forward, in a college experience, to being able to have classmates to talk to and to be able to talk to teachers, but unfortunately e-learning couldn’t give me that,” Cuny said.

Carla Montaruli, an international student-athlete from Italy in her first year at ARC, has yet to attend classes in person.

“The last time I had an in-person class was during my last year of high school, specifically March 7, 2020,” Montaruli said in an email to Current.

Angela Booth, a sophomore psychology student at ARC, was able to take classes in person just before it all went online. She says she misses this experience.

“For me, being a hands-on learner, this has been of great benefit to me,” said Booth. “You could communicate with people in person, ask more questions, and it was a lot more interactive than it is online.”

New students encountered challenges with their online learning experience at ARC, such as difficulty communicating with classmates and teachers.

“During this time of change, many students have struggled to tackle the new platforms used to communicate with faculty and classmates and to participate in the classroom,” said Montaruli.

Booth says she’s been having trouble communicating with her teacher.

“Having to wait a few days for your teacher to answer you and then you have to go back and forth with emails, that extends everything,” Booth said.

Cuny says what she loves about online learning is the way the course videos meet accessibility guidelines.

“To be able to take a break, to be able to go back, to be able to review and be able to read it [the captions] has been really helpful to me, ”Cuny said.

Some students like to be able to work on lessons at their own pace.

“It makes it a lot easier to fit school into your schedule, because especially if you have an asynchronous class you just do your classes, homework or reading whenever you have time,” Booth said. .

With more in-person classes offered for the spring semester 2022, some students will have the opportunity to enter campus for the first time.

Cuny said she wanted to take in-person classes for the subjects she struggled with.

“It might be easier for me if I have classmates who I can coordinate with and get help with,” Cuny said.

Booth said she would also take classes in person if she had the chance.

“It often happens that students ask really good questions that you were wondering, or that maybe it is something you haven’t thought about,” Booth said. “Getting other perspectives is what makes the experience of being in person so useful. ”