On Monday, March 23, nearly 19,000 UNC Greensboro students made the transition to fully online learning.
There are now 570 online classes, taught by 385 faculty members.
During the first week of online instruction, there were more than 2,500 Zoom meetings – totaling nearly 17,000 hours – and more than 3 million page views on Canvas, the University’s learning management system.
But numbers don’t tell the full story.
It’s the perspectives of Spartans across campus that truly show how teaching and learning have been transformed.
Not everything has been perfect, and there are many challenges facing our campus. But the work that’s been done so far – particularly the work of faculty, who switched their courses from in-person to online in a matter of days – has been inspiring.
Below, faculty from across campus share about their first week of “going online.”
Eloise Hassell
Senior Lecturer
Department of Management
Bryan School of Business and Economics
“I am extremely grateful to our Bryan School Instructional Technology Consultants and to our UNCG Learning Technology Consultants! Their guidance, patience, positive attitude, and expertise have made the successful transition to online learning possible! It has been a joy and an honor to get to work with them – many, many thanks!”
Alejandro Hortal
Lecturer
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
College of Arts & Sciences
“Our global society has an online dimension. These times are testing how much teaching and learning can be done within that dimension. Like everyone else at UNCG, I have been working hard to ensure that the quality of teaching does not decrease. There are essential components of face-to-face instruction that I miss, like the immediate feedback from students when I lecture or the social contact with my colleagues. And there are components of online teaching that I enjoy, like the comfort of home.”
Ratchneewan Ross
Cone Health Distinguished Professor
School of Nursing
“The first week of my PhD qualitative research course went well through WebEx. My students were actively engaged in and seemed to enjoy the discussions. At the end, they told me that they learned a lot and really appreciated the synchronous class, via online learning. My students and I couldn’t have done it without the help and support from our IT staff at the School of Nursing. My special thanks go to David Kinsey who is always there for us, rain or shine!”
Ayesha Boyce
Assistant Professor
Department of Educational Research Methodology
School of Education
“So far the transition is going well. I had some issues with WebEx and now have completely transitioned to Zoom. I am cautiously optimistic. While virtual meetings are necessary during this time, my sense is that they in no way completely replace the experience of face-to-face interactions.”
Bill Johnson
Student Success Navigator and Instructor
School of Health and Human Sciences
“One of the things that’s been interesting about this process is how I had to change my mindset about delivering my online classes. This is one of those situations where we have to be REALLY flexible with how we deliver our courses. I’ve had students on six of seven optional Zoom calls, mostly to be reassured that they are on the right track. Actually, one student shared that she just wanted a different person to chat with other than her family and friends! This is a unique situation, but a great opportunity to challenge myself to create something special for my students.”
Ariel Pocock
Adjunct Professor
School of Music
College of Visual and Performing Arts
“Although it has been a frightening and challenging week for the entire world, I have been touched by the creativity, drive, and sense of community exhibited by my music students during this strange time. Teaching jazz online is not easy, but my students have handled the transition cheerfully and gracefully. I’m proud of them.”
Sherine Obare
Dean
Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
“Our faculty and students have had to develop creative ways to continue the research and education that typically occur in our laboratories using our state-of-the-art facilities. We have taken advantage of our skills in computational modeling and simulations to maintain our productivity, as well as online teaching. This hasn’t been trivial, especially given the short turnaround time. I continue to be extremely proud of the work that our faculty and students continue to do and the high quality of the delivery. Although our labs are closed, our research and education continue to thrive.”
Story by Alyssa Bedrosian, University Communications
