Progression of face-to-face classes: ​
And that’s the end of the halftime break
Natsuki Arita
Universities around Hong Kong are gradually beginning to open their doors to students to resume in-class learning. HKU announced on the 2nd of September that the university plans to transition to ‘normal levels of service’ starting September 7th.
Infection rates and new cases in Hong Kong have been on the decline since the beginning of September. According to an article published by South China Morning Post, it is unlikely that the HK government will be loosening their grip on virus restrictions in order to properly assess and accommodate for unknown sources of infection.
From September 22nd, all courses with ‘face-to-face’ or ‘mixed’ or ‘hybrid’ or ‘half and half’ (they can’t seem to settle on a name) delivery modes will be providing a face-to-face option. University facilities such as University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) will also be available starting at this date.
UMAG is now open for students and staff (with the exception of Mid-Autumn festival dates)
According to the University of Hong Kong’s official website, students and staff are required to wear masks at all times during lecture and tutorial sessions. Seating capacities during lectures are significantly reduced for social distancing. All classrooms for face-to-face learning are at least twice the projected class size.
When entering a classroom, students are required to undergo a quick temperature check. Hand sanitizer will also be provided to encourage hand hygiene. Drinking and eating during class is not allowed during class.
Seating capacities and classroom sizes have changed in order to accommodate social distancing.
Re-acclimating to F2F
As school is preparing to open its doors to students of all degrees, many students are still in widely unique circumstances due to their own situation with the COVID. Acclimating to the new circumstances at HKU is different for everyone, with some students feeling excited and anxious to get back into the classrooms and others appreciating the merits of online classes.
Journalism student Alyanna Payos, attributes the ‘zoom era’ (as she put it) as a long state of limbo. “As someone who thrives off of having structure, things to do and places to be, I can say it’s taken a bit of a toll on me.”
For this reason, she is grateful for the F2F classes in her schedule. “I feel like it’s genuinely something I need. Not just because the course itself is practical, but because it gives me somewhat of a routine.”
She admits that online classes have been quite forgiving in terms of her GPA, but the satisfaction is sometimes lost. “Getting better grades doesn’t feel rewarding when you’ve just sat in front of a laptop for 4 months” she says.
While the University has tried to re-introduce face-to-face teaching for most students, many are still missing out on being a part of a classroom environment.
Hannah Ridley, final year Economics major, explained that she only had one F2F option out of all of her courses this semester. “I thought it would be nice even if it was just one course,” she says, “but, because there was not enough interest, the course no longer provides it.”
As a final year student, Hannah values her university experience. To her, this means being in a classroom and interacting with friends. “I’m a bit disappointed, but considering the prevalence of coronavirus, I’m okay that it’s not happening.”
Students that are in Hannah’s position that do not have the option to attend class in person feel that there may be a learning barrier due to the lack of access to their professors. “I feel like it’s harder to engage with professors and ask them questions throughout the course,” says Hannah.
Other students are quite literally trapped outside of Hong Kong, with little to no plans to return even if their courses provide mixed-mode learning. Ananta Agarwal is a third year Journalism student who is currently attending all of her 9:00AMHKT classes at 7:00AMIST from her home in Kanpur, India.
“The two and a half hour time difference is way too early and I don’t feel completely active during those early morning classes” she says. “Sometimes it’s uncomfortable because class doesn’t feel completely integrated as some of us are online and some on zoom,” she adds, “you can’t hear what the in-class people are talking about sometimes and then you aren’t really a part of the discussion.This is particularly the case for my journalism classes because online attendees are the minority.”
Mixed mode classes do pose problems for students attending online as they are limited in real-time discussions and learning practical skills. Some undergraduate degrees require skills that are most effectively taught when in-person, which is unfortunate for students in Ananta’s position.
Cherry Wong is a Med student who is preparing to attend face-to-face classes starting on the 13th of October. Online classes have been quite useful to her learning and she is anxious for her upcoming tutorials. “I actually really like e-learning” she says, “it allows you to learn at your own pace and it cuts down on commuting time.”
Although she does admit that learning online has it’s limitations, such growing less attuned to the subject due to the lack of interaction and feeling isolated from her classmates.
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A permanent solution?
The current situation has forced educators and other entities both in Hong Kong and internationally to consider the implications of how they operate in light of the virus.
It is unclear if mixed mode teaching is a permanent solution to some issues that students are facing with learning as this is the first time the university has had to face a closure of such nature. There are also speculations of what might happen if infection rates spike and change the University’s operation. As always, alertness and adaptability to the virus is important for all staff and students, with updates coming regularly from mass emails, HKUPortal, and almost every other platform imaginable.