“Based on what I was hearing from my students, their schedules changed significantly when the covid situation happened. I personally didn’t feel comfortable holding them to a class meeting that they had made an obligation to before covid. Maybe their parents lost a job, or maybe they had to work. So I recorded all of my lectures and printed transcripts so that they could see them and listen to them if they wanted to, on their own schedule. It’s called asynchronous online meeting, where the class doesn’t meet all at once. I tied in communications with students to be more of a calming presence. There are ways that you can frame information, even just sending weekly emails to check in with them. A lot of my students told me that they really appreciated that. A lot of them are at home with family, but others are alone and it’s nice to get an email, even if it’s a group email. The fact that there’s an option to talk to someone, I think, makes a big difference.”
~ Dr. Jen Breneiser, Assistant Professor of Psychology
