This final part of the series on the disadvantages of online education will focus on students’ different personal lives. 

We’re Not All the Same 

UIC’s Office of Institutional Research has reported that 31,518 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students were enrolled in the Fall 2020 semester. 11,695 students reside within Chicago, but a significant amount come from out of state (2,329) and abroad (3,483). 19,036 students are under 23, while 4,660 are over 30. 28,050 students are full-time, while 5,468 are part-time. Amidst the cultural, racial/ethnic, and economic diversity that exists at UIC, it is important to consider the distinct living conditions and personal situations that every individual student faces. 

Consider Political Science major Naharay Lopez. When talking about her current homelife, she explained, “[I live] at home with my family. There’s 7 of us [and] I have to run a lot of errands for my family. Now that my siblings are in class I am now in charge of a lot more household duties and I do have to go get groceries and just run errands. I do work for my parents so sometimes I am in class while I’m working.” 

Working and running errands during class is only part of Lopez’s unique life at home. She admits that taking online courses can get pretty hectic because of her large family. 

“Me and my brother [have rooms] right next to each other,” she described, “so let’s say he’s on break and I’m in class. He’ll laugh because he’s watching YouTube and you can hear it through the walls. One other time I was in class and I guess he was on break already and he just screamed out ‘YOUR MOM’ and my mic was on.” 

Her professor asked, “Do you not have a private area to do your classes?” She responded, “In this house, this is as private as you get.” 

Compared to the traditional classroom, online education can be difficult for some students to manage because of their complicated home lives. This is especially true for students who come from lower-class neighborhoods (and therefore, smaller or more crowded homes); students with large, complex families or roommates; and students with obligations outside of school. 

With online education, it is strenuous to separate your personal life from your classes because you are at home. Because of the people that sidetrack you, the chores you have to take care of, and the living spaces that may not be suitable for studying, some students will have trouble simultaneously handling school with their home environment. Naharay Lopez recognizes this as she tries to put the extra attention to her online courses while also dealing with her family members and job. Because she is living with them in Chicago, she does not have the ability to “set them aside” as she performs labs in the kitchen or attends lectures while buying groceries.

PhD student and German 103 TA Phil Cabeen considers the resources he was lacking before UIC went remote. He states that working at the university makes a big difference in his work. He expressed that “Psychologically [it is] very different from working from home where you have the feeling that you should be able to pivot instantly from ‘in-class’ to ‘at-home.’” 

Dr. Dortch reinforces these claims in regards to the underserved student populations when saying that, “Psychologically, many students of color come from collectivist communities and therefore learn better when they are together… There may also be students for whom their university has become a safe haven. In that sense, having to return home–where a student may be experiencing domestic abuse or other forms of violence–can have both physical and psychological effects on that student’s psyche.” 

Students with disabilities and international students must also be accounted for. Inside Higher Ed reports that students with disabilities are struggling to attain equal access to online education. They need specific resources that accommodate their needs, such as screen readers, note-takers, teaching assistants, and teaching formats that include clear and accurate transcriptions made by a person. It appears that accessibility for students with disabilities has been “put on the backburner,” thereby making it harder for them to catch up on their work. 

International students, according to Bonfire’s Dayae Lee, struggle to manage their classes while also handling the exceptional distance from their schools. Their relationships with their professors and classmates are certainly strained, and they have to attend classes and complete assignments at unusual hours due to the different time zones. 

In spite of the different circumstances and conditions college students are experiencing during the pandemic, it is most frustrating for them to deal with professors and faculty who do not comprehend their personal situations. Lopez, when relating the story of a classmate from her Arabic class, said, “[My friend] has a pretty big family, and she’ll go to the library or she’ll go to the park because she says it’ll help her focus more. The professor told her, ‘If I see you in the library or in the park and not at your house, then I’m just going to say you weren’t in class.’”

Dealing with such a situation can be pretty ridiculous and no student should have to worry because of how and where they study. Marketing major Alex Stezowski has been going through an equally tiring semester because of his professor’s inability to communicate with students. He disclosed, “[For] calculus class, my teacher does not offer a textbook or any in-person class[. He] expects us to teach ourselves on the A.I software that I personally find frustrating.”  

The Final Verdict 

So what has the transition from the traditional classroom to online education done for college students during this wild and unprecedented past year? How have online classes affected the student population at UIC?

Since the beginning of 2020, some of the biggest concerns that have affected students and faculty alike are enrollment, financial aid, accessibility, readiness, and mental health. EducationData.org has discovered that 63% of college students who have switched to online learning feel that instruction is worse than in-person classes. Faculty members themselves worry about maintaining student engagement, training faculty less familiar with teaching online, ensuring student access, ensuring high academic standards, making technology more available, and demands for tuition reimbursement.  

Student drop-out rates have increased due to income changes and uncertainties because of the pandemic. Out of the 31,518 students that have managed to enroll at UIC in Fall 2020, some still express their doubts about continuing. Alex Stezowski admitted that he did consider dropping out of UIC because of how overwhelming the commitment to online education was. As a senior who previously attended community college, he was disappointed to move back with his parents after almost two semesters of staying in the dorms.  

“I find that my experience has not been as good… because I miss the [personal] connections you can form with your teachers and classmates,” he said. “I believe you can gain more connections and have greater accountability in a classroom.”

When it comes to online education, many students believe they are learning less because of how exhausting and draining it is. It is difficult for them to sit for hours at a desk watching videos, taking notes, and composing essays. That, in itself, is more distracting because students may feel more compelled to get things done rather than learning from their classes. 

Lopez voiced these effects when saying, “The problem with online classes during this pandemic is just that, from what I know and what other kids have told me, they’re already at this emotional depression area where it’s like, ‘I’m tired of being at home, I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to do anything’… I do feel like because everyone is at the state of ‘I don’t want to do anything’ or like, ‘I’m not in the mood for it,’ [we just think], ‘What’s the point of this class?’ I’m not there, I’m not doing what I have to. It’s just frustrating and at one point a lot of people are just like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’”