Student Voices: The value of interaction & connection

These stories are part of a series of informal interviews (conversations and/or survey responses) with online students in various stages of their academic journey.

Clarence Leiner

Question: Are you currently an online student?
Answer: Former both fully in-person and fully online student.

Q: What are the biggest challenges that you have faced (or are facing) as an online student?
A: Biggest challenge to online learning for me was the omission of shared experience. In classroom environments, we were offered the opportunity to hear and contribute to peers’ questions, lessons-learned, obstacles, and breakthroughs. Online learning was almost exclusively independent.

Q: What strategies do you use to address these challenges? What has worked for you?
A: I attempted to engage on group projects in face-to-face meetings. Online forums help a little, but they were not fully effective.

Q: Were you an online student prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020)?
A: Yes, I took classes entirely online prior to the pandemic.

Amanda Pannell

Question: Are you currently an online student?
Answer: Yes, all of my classes are fully online (no in-person work).

Q: What are the biggest challenges that you have faced (or are facing) as an online student?
A: It can be difficult because of the disconnect with professors and other students. The lack of camaraderie that you’d have with fellow students in person isn’t there.

Q: What strategies do you use to address these challenges? What has worked for you?
A: I hop onto the Sun Devil Connect group often, but otherwise, I have just gotten used to being alone in my journey.

Q: Were you an online student prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020)?
A: Yes, I took classes entirely online prior to the pandemic.

A student who wished to remain anonymous shared:

Question: Are you currently an online student?
Answer: Yes, at least one of my classes is fully online (no in-person work).

Q: What are the biggest challenges that you have faced (or are facing) as an online student?
A: Making a connection with peers and professors.

Q: Were you an online student prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020)?
A: Yes, I took classes entirely online prior to the pandemic.

Another student shared these experiences:

Question: Are you currently an online student?
Answer: Yes, all of my classes are fully online (no in-person work).

Q: What are the biggest challenges that you have faced (or are facing) as an online student?
A: Missing in-person interaction during foreign language classes. And also missing the chance to ask questions immediately during lectures.

Q: What strategies do you use to address these challenges? What has worked for you?
A: I email my professors and also do study groups. But I wish there were a forum for online classes where you can post a question or video explaining the issue you have and then a professor or TA would video reply back.

Q: Were you an online student prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020)?
A: No, I wasn't a student prior to the pandemic.

Thank you, all, for sharing your experiences and strategies!