Online Learning in the Time of Covid

My work is all about adapting to changing technology, to see trends coming and to creatively communicate those trends using whatever technology is required.

I have taught technology to communications students, worked as a video journalist, managed a local creative department for a national broadcaster and created thousands of communications materials on countless platforms for hundreds of companies.

As a fan of continuous learning, I decided to go back to university. I think of it as a gap year for a working professional.

I enrolled in Project Management with the Professional, Applied and Continuing Education (PACE) at The University of Winnipeg and expected an intense school year.

Then COVID-19 hit, and I discovered along with everyone else what it means to adapt to change at lightning speed. In-person classes stopped on Friday, March 13, 2020, and online tools were in place three days later (hats off to the university staff for their quick turn-around).

With our most intense semesters still in front of us we needed to set up our homes, our selves, and our families for lockdown and online learning.

Last night after three grueling months I wondered whether I had made the right decision to go back to university.

Had my timing been unlucky?

Then I recognized that the opportunity to engage in learning during the pandemic may be the best educational experience I could have hoped for.

Necessity is the mother of invention but needing to prepare a ninety-page group assignment on Procurement and Contract Law in three-weeks via Zoom and MS Teams has been the mother of communication and adaptability.

For those who may be thinking, “Three whole weeks to do ninety-pages, what luck,” you need to know that in the same three-week window we each also produced the following:

• A twenty-five-page Communications Plan
• An ethics paper
• Two PowerPoint presentations
• One fifteen-page Cost Analysis assignment

We created all of these assignments while also participating in thirty-two hours of online class instruction each week and while learning new technology almost every step of the way (thumbs up if you now agree that it might have been a little intense. My classmates and I will appreciate your emotional support and validation).

I signed up for an in-person class. Neither the students nor the program was set up for online education. However, as a former instructor and people manager I can see the skills being developed from having to adapt. These skills include listening, time management, attention to detail, and accountability. Plus, we are learning a healthy dose of roll-with-it.

Empathy, compassion, and teamwork are also being enhanced. We have built supportive virtual environments for our classmates and our instructors. Some students are entirely without family locally. Other students are parents who are doing course work while caring for children. And a few students are sharing Wi-Fi in crowded rentals with other students.

Some mornings we delight at being greeted by a five-year old singing us into class. At other times we patiently pause our discussion for a mid-afternoon toddler meltdown. If we notice a classmate is absent, we check-in to make sure all is well. If an instructor is struggling with the technology, we Google tech support ideas. If a student cannot attend a project discussion until their kids are in bed, we book a 9:30 p.m. Zoom meeting and make the best of it.

I know that many are wondering if the educational experience will be adversely affected by the new normal. However, I am interested to see what history reveals about the students who were in school during the pandemic.

I encourage employers to watch the graduates of 2020 (and beyond). I believe what you may witness is an incredible skill shift in the students who have had the luck of attending a daily masterclass in resilience, empathy, collaboration, and communication.

Deb Krywenko is a Project Management student, communications professional, and mindfulness practitioner who is somehow managing to maintain her compassion and her GPA during COVID-19.

Note from the author: Out of respect and out of recognition for the hardships so many have faced at this time, from loss of job to loss of life, I want to acknowledge that this story is only one small story of challenge during the pandemic.