I have just taught three polytechnic classes for 13 weeks. The first seven weeks we had it online. The last 6 weeks we had it in campus.

At the end of the 13 weeks, I asked them: if you can change three things in the past 13 weeks, what would them be?

Their answers are overwhelmingly like these:

1. Have more lessons in campus. Lessons in campus are more fun, more interesting and I get to know my peers better.
2. Start opening up earlier. Many confess that they found it hard to interact with classmates in online mode. Some of them wanted to reach out but was afraid of appearing awkward. Some of them didn’t know what to do in the breakout groups until I came to engage the group. When they came back to campus, many found it hard to get warmed up to one another. My guess is perhaps because they didn’t go through orientation activities. They missed the opportunities to form closer bonds.
3. Have better sleep habits. Many commented that they started sleeping later and waking up late during home based learning. When they came back to campus for lessons, many couldn’t get used to the early hours. They felt sleepy in class in the morning. Their learning suffered.
4. Do more workout while they were learning from home.

The best response came from a young lady. She simple wrote: I wish Covid-19 did not happen 🙂