The pandemic has caused a lot of chaos and uncertainty in our lives, but the University of Essex has applied various procedures to protect students, as well as keeping the teaching quality in a high standard. I am proud of my department for the smooth arrangements they put in place to buffer the negative shocks given by the pandemic.
The University moved all teaching and assessment activities online in mid-March. With it, some problems emerged during this process, but these were solved quickly.
Living in 8th Time Zone (east), I normally had an online lecture between 17:00 and 23:00, but given that I am a night cat, that lecture time was quite suitable for me. We used Zoom to join lectures, and all the lectures were recorded too which is very convenient. As a student whose first language is not English, by slowing down the speed of video and listening repeatedly, I built a very clear and solid understanding of knowledge. Originally, I relied on going in during office hours every week to learn the material which I wasn’t familiar with, but since the starting of online courses I found a more effective way to self-improve. Even though the university also provides ‘listen again’ in normal time, the ‘listen again’ does not include video of lectures.
I was very worried about the interaction between students and teachers during the online courses, but I then found the online teaching had not damaged this process. Firstly, we can use microphone to ask our questions, as using the text box to ask questions in lectures. The Q&A processes are as good as usual. Secondly, the Zoom learning provides an option to communicate with the teacher privately. It is marvellous for me, because I don’t need to worry about whether my questions are stupid or not, or whether my questions will disturb teaching process or not. The teacher can simply look at my private question and then answer. As a shy person, I prefer this way of asking questions instead of raising my hand in front of all classmates.
The homework and feedback have also not been disrupted by the pandemic. We are still using FASER system to upload assignment and essays and all materials are provided by the MOODLE system. The only problem may be that we can’t enjoy the zero-cost printing machine on campus, but in the grand scheme of things that is not a big deal.
Staff working at Essex are very helpful and warm, they supported me a lot during my university life. In the pandemic, we used email and Zoom to build connections and there are still lots of online service provided by Careerhub. I booked some appointments to improve my CV and Cover Letter after the final assessment.
Overall, even though the online learning may come with new difficulties and it may be a challenge to adjust, I still benefited a lot from this new way of teaching provided by Essex. I would always recommend studying at Essex, because Essex really cares about their students and the Economics department is one of the best. Professors from Essex literately changed my life and I really appreciate my alma mater.
