Future historians will likely look back with fascination at how most American institutions adapted to the needs of its citizens in the ways they socialized, worked, and pursued education in the years following the COVID-19 shutdown.
Owens Community College is no exception in stepping up to support students and employees who, for myriad reasons, did not immediately return to the classroom after the country opened back up.
Innovative technologies and cultural evolution simplified the day-to-day lives of those needing accommodation and brought equality and accessibility to those whom most didn’t even know were lacking. This article delves into what these accommodations are and how those in the Owens Community reacted to meet and benefit from these societal and technological changes.
Officially, March 11, 2020 was the day the World Health Organization officially confirmed an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease; what the world collectively would come to refer to as the COVID-19 pandemic. Having passed the five-year anniversary since this declaration, it is now easier to discern and predict patterns of success, and concern, in the ways institutions reacted and adapted after the shutdown ended.
Most of us have cognizance regarding what general life was like when COVID first became newsworthy; mask culture, social distancing, and panic buying at the grocery store. Beyond these shared experiences were the individual encounters of those who were still in school or were moved to work remotely and now were faced with the sudden expectation of continuing daily life through a computer.
College majors, career paths, and professional futures all were affected in one way or another by the pandemic, and some more than others were able to adapt to the changes by way of accommodation and life circumstances.
Students like Chelsea Eisenmann (Guadarrama), who graduated from Owens in 2019 with an A.A. in Music Education and Performance before pursuing another degree in 2020 for early and special education entirely online, reflects on how COVID influenced her professional endeavors:
“As someone who has done college completely online, I do think fully online is doable, but in person was a lot more personal. It was easier to have a conversation and learn as I went, rather than pages and pages of reading material as my lesson. It was also easier to get sidetracked when everything was online.”
This is not surprising, as the Gilfus Education Group has released reports providing evidence of such. “A separate study evaluating Blackboard as a platform for distance education delivery…found that the internet is often a new learning environment for those returning to university for graduate degrees. These non-traditional students are often older and less experienced with campus computational instruction tools than resident students and find working with the
online Blackboard Learning System difficult.”
Dr. Genesis Downey, Professor of English and director of Owens Community College Honors Program, also expresses her own preferences in the classroom, stating, “in my field, that close communication is crucial for student success. Some instructors thrive with teaching asynchronous courses. I am definitely not one of them! It’s so much better for me to gauge a student’s comprehension skills if I can see their faces!”
“It definitely came with some struggles,” confides Eisenmann, “I had to learn to adapt to the websites, online resources, even navigating group projects online was tough.”
In addition to the culture shock of e-learning, it’s expensive for institutions to adopt as well. Gilfus Education Group states, “according to Blackboard executives, costs for their network environment products, including Blackboard Learning System, may start low, but as subscribers integrate more functions into Blackboard, subscription licenses may be $200,000 to $ 400,000 a year.”
Thankfully, staff at Owens were able to circumvent some of the hefty price tag that accompanied pandemic-era system upgrades. According to Christopher Hendricks, the Director of OCC’s Disability Resource Center, “larger institutions such as UT and BG have a digitized program that is quite expensive; however, I was able to achieve the same results with some careful planning and utilizing the technology we have built into our website platform.”
Investing in e-learning and remote work has more than a financial cost, however. A study on videoconferencing posted on the National Institute of Health’s online library suggests “sleep is indirectly responsible for the effects of academic videoconferencing on both end-of-term GPA and mental distress, whereas sedentary behavior is directly associated with greater mental distress.”
Dr. Downey affirms noticing heavy dependency of technology by students can have a profound impact on their performance. “I am adamantly against AI in the composition classroom—particularly since my courses focus so heavily on critical thinking, reading, and writing. Students need to be able to think for themselves! It’s time consuming and sometimes painful and frustrating, but that is part of the human experience–growth requires a stressor. That is how you grow into a
thoughtful reader/writer. And AI takes that process of growth out of the equation.”
The study posted on the National Institute of Health website also points out “possible reasons that could explain these effects include increased isolation from peers, reduced social support and motivation to learn, and decreased access to mental health support services, and the effects seem greater in individuals who are already at risk due to socioeconomic disparities.”
Examples of these socioeconomic inequities are also noted in working adults by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Labor Review . “Workers with less education are concentrated in jobs in which working from home is generally not feasible. Black, Hispanic, male, unmarried, and part-time workers also are more likely to be in jobs in which teleworking is not feasible.”
Despite most knowing that providing and using technology or internet to learn and work is difficult-and expensive-has done little to deter institutions making these endeavors more accessible to more people.
Zoom, a well-known digital communications company, had posted on its blog that “remote work demands that businesses have the right tech to help teams work together, even when physically apart. Tools like video conferencing, team chat, and project management software have become essential for maintaining productivity and fostering a sense of team cohesion.”
Eisenmann voices the sentiment that over half of American workers can also relate, in that “in my job now, I do online lessons from Zoom, Skype, or even Google Meet.”
Hendricks also stated “[Owens was] able to adapt by digitizing the process and using Microsoft Teams to communicate on a daily basis as a team and with students as necessary.”
Per Dr. Downey as she reflects on how technology will be used during instruction. “I will continue to teach in a land-based format but everything else is online. I don’t use a textbook for most courses. They are all OER. Students do research via OhioLink, as well. No paper is generated in the course—it’s all digital. I do make feedback recordings on essays, as well. So, every student gets a video recording of my critiques instead of handwritten comments. I am respectfully opting out of
all AI discussions, though.”
Considering the alternative for those who truly need assistance, it’s no wonder institutions like Owens have supported investing in policies and technology which accommodate vulnerable populations.
Hendricks, regarding services provided by the Disability Resource Center, stated “nearly all students approved utilize a technology component from having tests read aloud by the computer using Edge or Microsoft Word, to speech to text software, to recording lectures and uploading it to their media in Blackboard to create transcriptions or copies of notes. We process nearly 800-900 students in the fall alone and up to 700-800 in the spring. I would say 95% include a form of
technology in their accommodations.”
Even if the reason for accommodation isn’t for medical or physical needs, surely the financial savings of not reporting to class or work is worthy of note. According to Eisenmann, “I’m not sure if fully online degrees are possible at Owens yet, but I think it’s a great option not only for busy students, but for students who can’t make the commute every day.”
The data supports this as in another entry on Zoom’s blog, it was noted, “as of 2022, remote employees spend half as much ($432 per month) on commutes and daily expenses as in-office employees ($863 per month), with factors like inflation and gas prices contributing to this difference.”
Charlotte Trueman of Computerworld reported in 2020 that “Tom Eagle, senior research director at Gartner, believes that the COVID-19 crisis will be a ‘catalyst for transformative work cultures and practices that will be significantly characterized by remote work.’”
Tom Eagle believed correctly. COVID was a tragic time for many, but it cannot be denied there is a lasting societal impact the world has collectively been made to address, one risk at a time. It is with great privilege that staff and students at Owens Community College can be allowed equitable access to learning and working for all, and with eagerness should we all look to the future for more innovations to come.