The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/online-classes/)
The answer is simple: virtual and asynchronous classes are no match for in-person lectures. Just because we can be online does not mean we should. Sure, online lectures may be more convenient, and can be a helpful resource when reviewing for an exam. However, they should be seen as supplemental content, not replacements for traditional lectures.
With most classes still online, many students’ devices are struggling to keep up.
Instead of walking to classes and seeing friends around Cornell’s campus, students are finishing the remainder of the fall semester at home through a screen, after break –– a challenge for most students.
Professors are getting ready to shift their classes online for the second time this year. This time, however, they are more prepared.
With over two-thirds of classes online, teaching assistants have faced major adjustments.
“I miss seeing people face-to-face and actually having that interaction. I feel like it’s pretty hard to have that engaging discussion if you’ve never seen the professor or all the people before.”
President Pollack affirmed Cornell’s adherence with New York State policy, informing students that 100 COVID-19 cases on Cornell’s campus would cause a shutdown of in-person courses, among other changes, for two weeks.
I want to shed some light on fall semester plans from a student’s perspective. As an incoming senior, this is my very last year and marks the culmination of my college experience. So, before we consider the possibility of making fall online, I would like to express some of my concerns. Firstly, having online classes will not be helpful to anyone. The actual quality of what we are learning has decreased significantly.
As the fall semester’s mode of instruction remains uncertain, professors begin to prepare for another semester of virtual instruction.
Cornell only has one option for the fall 2020 semester: to cancel it and replace it with a summer term in 2021. In-person instruction, even if we somehow manage to sit six feet apart from one another in lecture, would undo the positive, decisive action that the University took this semester to ensure our community’s safety. It is impossible, given what we know about this virus, to guarantee the safety of our community in the fall. Even the most optimistic of our public health experts predict that this virus will return after its initial curve “flattens.” This is already happening in China and Singapore, amongst others, both of which enforced much stricter lockdowns than the United States. Our Ithaca community is simply too remote and its health care system too tenuous for us to take this risk.