From Classroom to Virtual: How It Was Done
The university has rallied together to shift classroom learning to virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early March when James Frazee (鈥�97, 鈥�04) was tasked with leading 麻豆传媒映画's shift from classroom learning to virtual instruction in response to COVID-19, he knew what needed to be done. 麻豆传媒映画鈥檚 Chief Academic Technology Officer and Associate Vice President of Instructional Technology Services drew upon his first-responder training as a former professional lifeguard and dove straight into the challenge.
鈥淚t was just full battle stations,鈥� said Frazee, who is also associate vice president of Instructional Technology Services (ITS). 鈥淚 was in back-to-back Zoom meetings with President de la Torre, Provost Ochoa, the deans and my ITS colleagues.鈥�
The university has a lot of moving parts, he said, and everybody was pulling their weight, communicating with the University Senate and colleagues in the Imperial Valley and tracking developments鈥攑retty much nonstop.
Building the plane while flying it
ITS consists of 22 staff members and three administrators. The team was given a mission to enable thousands of faculty members鈥攖he majority of whom had no previous online teaching experience鈥攖o deliver virtual instruction to students as quickly as possible to complete the semester.
The first thing they did was launch a virtual instruction website for faculty complete with a 鈥淰irtual Instruction Primer鈥� (VIP) video and a VIP workshops page. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all brand new,鈥� Frazee said. 鈥淲e created it from scratch and it is all constantly evolving.鈥�
ITS hours were extended and faculty from each college who are online instruction veterans were enlisted to assist any colleagues who were learning. Graduate assistants were recruited and individual college virtual support teams collaborated with ITS to help smooth the transition.
鈥淗onestly, I鈥檓 building the plane while I鈥檓 flying it,鈥� Frazee said. 鈥淭he current situation is unlike anything we have ever dealt with in our lifetime, so we are all working hard to adapt to serve the educational needs of our faculty and students.鈥�
Pulling together and doing their best
麻豆传媒映画 Anthropology Department Chair Elisa Sobo wasn鈥檛 scheduled to teach during the spring semester, but with study abroad students returning home, she was asked to put together an eight-week online course that would help them satisfy a variety of obligations.
鈥淚 said of course because I鈥檝e done it before and it needed to be done,鈥� Sobo said.
鈥淎s chair what I鈥檓 more concerned about is all of the instructors who have never taught online before and just are scrambling,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut they are such troupers. Everybody is pulling together and doing their best.鈥�
Sobo said she is inspired both by colleagues going to great lengths to support one another and by the resolve of her students, who are overcoming adversity to complete their coursework.
鈥淧eople are just getting it done and making it work,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he leadership at the university is working around the clock and the IT people and the support they are giving is amazing鈥攖hey are the unsung heroes.鈥�
Student response
For students, the transition to virtual learning is also requiring some adjustment.
Bryson Gomez is a fourth-year biology major who hopes to attend medical school after he graduates in May. He remained in San Diego to complete an internship at a local hospital.
Gomez understands the need for virtual learning during a pandemic, but he prefers the more traditional setting of classroom instruction.
鈥淚鈥檓 in upper-level biology classes that aren鈥檛 easy so I鈥檓 a little scared to see how this will go,鈥� he said. 鈥淗opefully, I can do my best to absorb this information on my own.鈥�
Like Gomez, Parnaz Boroon is a fourth-year biology major who plans to graduate in May with a goal of earning a graduate degree and becoming a child life specialist for a children鈥檚 hospital. She is wrapping up her studies online at her parents鈥� home in the Los Angeles area.
While Boroon previously relied on attending classes to provide daily structure in her life, she has quickly adjusted to studying online at her own pace. 鈥淢y schedule is up to me now, which is kind of hard and not hard at the same time because now I really have to keep myself accountable,鈥� she said.
Boroon said she enjoys watching lectures online.
鈥淚n the past, even when I had gone in person to a lecture I would watch it again online when it was posted,鈥� Boroon said. 鈥淚t would refresh my memory.鈥�
Boroon said she understands the difficulty of the situation.
She said, 鈥淭he campus is working very hard to make the transition smooth and I think it鈥檚 working very well.鈥�
