LO Librarian Suggests Somewhere between “Virtual” and “On-Campus”

(For your enjoyment, please imagine me telling this story in a Grandpa Simpson voice.)

I obtained my master’s degree in 2006 as part of a distance program. 2006 is a step up from antiquity in the world of communications: We “met” for group projects using conference calls on a landline. Smartphones were so close, yet so far away (the iPhone debuted in 2007). Dated technology notwithstanding, however, I believe that the spirit behind my story is still relevant and may help us meet somewhere between a fully on-campus college experience and a fully virtual college experience.

From 2004-2006, I lived and worked in Salt Lake City, Utah while attending The University of Washington Information School (or iSchool). UW’s distance format at the time was somewhat of a hybrid, in that there was a required “residency” at the beginning of every quarter for a few days. Students in the distance cohort would travel to Seattle, and then we would stay on campus during the first week of the quarter, attending lectures and small group discussions for each of our registered courses, returning to our far-flung homes at the end of the week to complete the quarter online.

These in-person meetings did not replace the daily interactions we might have had in a traditional program, but they filled a basic need for a connection with the people in our classes and groups, which made it much easier to work online with our fellow students and interact online with the professors during the rest of the quarter.

Although today there is still one mandatory in-person, on-campus orientation at the beginning of the iSchool distance learning program (except during pandemics–the orientation is canceled for fall 2020), the University of Washington Information School no longer requires the quarterly “residency” component in their distance learning program. This is a streamlining move that is certainly less expensive and more convenient for everyone, and I probably would have appreciated a fully virtual option when I was a grad student on a tight budget working a full-time job, but the personal connection with my fellow students, my teachers and the campus itself was a vital and unique part of my distance learning experience.

As a NOVA staff member and a parent of school-age children, I certainly believe and am invested in the data that indicates we can reduce disease transmission by staying home. However, I can also understand the preference that college students have for an in-person experience. If we weren’t in a pandemic, I would certainly rather be working on campus than working at home. Since we are in a pandemic, though, and we still do not know whether we will be on campus for the fall, here is one idea to find some sort of middle ground at NOVA:

What if there was an optional, social-distancing approved, on-campus orientation meeting for each class at the beginning of the semester? Professors could decide how to run these. Students could meet as pre-formed small groups (if group work will be part of the curriculum), or one-on-one with the teacher. They could gather outside in a parking lot or grassy area of campus, or smaller classes could meet indoors. Masks and 6-foot distances may be part of this equation. Teachers and students could meet in this way, make introductions and get a general feel for what the class will be like, and perhaps increase their comfort level with participating online during the rest of the semester. There could also be a similar mid-term and/or end-of-term optional meeting, if desired.

And if students don’t show up for these meetings? Well, that answers that. If they do: they’ve officially met their teacher. They’ve met their classmates. They can connect the person in their group project with a flesh-and-blood being that they have seen in person.

While we wait for further information, for further direction, for further availability of testing, and really just for time to pass, perhaps it’s worth exploring a middle ground: providing “safer at home” virtual learning, but also providing opportunities for students to meet their classmates and teachers in person, mitigating the risk of disease transmission and also mitigating the risk of discouraged anonymous students dropping through the virtual cracks.

Eliza Selander is a part-time reference librarian at Loudoun (LO), who has worked both remotely and on-campus since 2006 (directly after graduating from the iSchool at UW). She has four school-age children and spends most of her time seeking “the middle ground” wherever she is.