You might be feeling anxious about applying to university with the pandemic (still) looming over our heads, but the reality is that the majority of students have simply made it work for them, despite it being an unusual year. Ginny’s blog entry discusses her experience of university with online learning, the existing university support, university societies and some of the unexpected benefits of online learning, being a first-year Liberal Arts student at King’s herself.
The online experience
My university experience of teaching so far has been almost entirely online, so I have learnt a lot about online learning! I met most of my peers and professors online, which was bizarre at first but now I know most of my seminar groups and tutors pretty well!
I’ve found that everyone I did meet in my first semester I got much closer with more quickly than I feel I would have in normal times, as everyone is going through the same thing and learning together. Your relationships become much tighter through the process.
Support
Everyone is there to support each other as we’re all learning how is best to do things so you can easily find help for tech problems or studying matters.
I’ve been able to meet with my personal tutor and module tutors online for 1-2-1 meetings over the course of the term for any queries that I had. Just as when starting University without a global pandemic, there is a lot to take in, especially with the increased independence from online learning! The support from tutors has been wonderful, with sessions dedicated to submitting assignments online, to finding and using online resources, and check ins on how we’re finding each class. All tutors have been very receptive to any feedback that we’ve had on how the classes are going with online teaching.
Societies
In my first semester, most societies kept us involved and engaged through online socials and meets which I really enjoyed. It gives you the opportunity to meet people outside of your course or accommodation who have similar interests to you, and it was a fun way to relax and do something different from studying! Of course you have to make more of an effort to get involved than if events were in person, but it’s definitely been worth it.
Unexpected benefits
Starting university with online learning ended up being beneficial for me in many ways. It allowed me to get comfortable with university style teaching and learning in my own time and at my own pace, rather than rushing in and out of lecture halls with hundreds of other people around me. I saved money and time not having to travel to campus for classes, and it was really useful to be able to manage my time in a slightly more flexible way. Lectures are uploaded to KEATS (the University’s learning platform) for you to watch before your seminars, and there’s the added benefit of being able to change the speed of the video, as well as pause to take notes or find a definition for a term that you don’t quite understand. The lectures stay on KEATS for the whole time that you’re enrolled on the course, so they are always there to refer back to at any point, something which we’ve found particularly useful for revision and essay writing!
Online learning teaches you many valuable skills like self-motivation and time management, and allows you to develop your technological abilities and communication skills through online platforms. All of these skills are becoming increasingly valuable as increasingly more workplaces move online, some outright saying that they will never go back to working full-time in their offices after noting some of the benefits of flexible working.
Read More:
If you liked this blog post, check out Sia’s blog post on day-to-day online learning by clicking here
To browse Undergraduate degrees on the KCL website, click here
If you’re interested in studying Modern Languages at King’s, read Alexander’s blog post by clicking here
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