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A story about lack of social interaction with peers and poor communication from professors during remote learning.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"00beeec0-067c-49fc-bbea-316cd8e5d185"},"title":"Prof Pursuit by India Boudreau"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

I wasn\u2019t worried about going into a rather impromptu online learning experience in September of last year. I was returning to school after an early career change and was happy at the promise of saving some gas money, knowing that I wouldn\u2019t have to commute an hour each way to campus for classes. I\u2019m a great independent worker and didn\u2019t think about any of the negative aspects associated with online learning. I was all business \u2013 ready to get into online classes and get out with the courses needed for my teaching degree. Something I wasn\u2019t ready for; however, was the limitations that an online setting puts on the natural development of vital post secondary relationships.
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\nGoing into the school year in September, I knew exactly two people. After a year online, I can\u2019t say that I\u2019ve added many additional people to that list. It\u2019s not exactly easy to form relationships with your classmates and professors in an online setting. Group projects were challenging, to say the least, and while some professors were great at engaging their students and making themselves accessible for questions and help, some were\u2026not.<\/p>\n\n

One professor in particular felt as though they were more difficult to get in touch with than someone like the Premier. You might see them each day at press conferences and the like, but they rarely get around to answering your questions. Instead, they leave you with the promise of following up or circling back at a later time, of course.
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\nWhen I say that I reached out to ask this specific professor for answers, I\u2019m talking about due dates and marks. I wasn\u2019t asking for clarification on expectations or help understanding concepts discussed in class, which would have also been completely and totally valid questions. I just wanted the bare minimum. There was often confusion about when things were due because multiple dates would be posted for the same assignment. Not to mention that we rarely received marks back in a timely fashion. In fact, I\u2019m still waiting on marks back for an assignment due in March. At this point, it\u2019s more than safe to say that I won\u2019t be getting a reply or those marks back.
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\nI can\u2019t help but think about how this situation might be different if we were in a bricks and mortar setting. There would have been more of an opportunity to form relationships with classmates and professors, aiding in more accountability in answering your student\u2019s questions. I likely wouldn\u2019t have had to wait for an email that would never come. Instead, I could have asked for clarification in class, and I likely would have gotten it. It\u2019s much easier to overlook or ignore an email in comparison to a smiling and eager-to-learn face. <\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"2ba8485e-aea8-4f3a-80af-60ba900c49b1"},"title":"The Wicked Problem"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

While there is no true resolve to this specific problem, I did find ways to maintain my sanity. The first being that I needed to acknowledge what was out of my control. We cannot control the actions of other people \u2013 plain and simple. I tried my best not to worry about what I could not control, even though I gave in to frustration many times. Secondly, I decided to reach out for support. This support came from other students in the class. They knew exactly how I was feeling and in a strange way, we bonded over lack of clarification, communication, and replies. While we didn\u2019t always get the answers that we needed, we gained comfort in knowing that we weren\u2019t alone in our struggles. When we could, we offered the little information we had to the group so that we could work together through assignments. It was like our prof was a massive puzzle and we each had only a few pieces, but we put those pieces together and tried our best.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"c3c8bb4d-b5ed-4e2d-9ea5-59be0d0613da"},"title":"Finding a Solution"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

This isn't the first time I've been ghosted, and it probably won't be the last...though it is a bit strange to be ghosted by a prof(?). Anyways...if you find yourself in this situation, try to keep your cool, find a few classmates to consult with, and get shit done to the best of your ability.<\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"},"subContentId":"942f18a4-ae89-47c8-a149-21b8d83b07d9"},"title":"Final Thoughts"},{"content":{"params":{"text":"

Boudreau, I. (2021, September 29). Prof Pursuit<\/em>. Liberated Learners. https:\/\/wicked.liberatedlearner.ca\/collaborator\/prof-pursuit\/<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n"},"library":"H5P.AdvancedText 1.1","subContentId":"6014c873-bcac-4c15-8b4d-b50b84104065","metadata":{"contentType":"Text","license":"U","title":"Untitled Text"}},"title":"APA Reference"}],"hTag":"h2"}

Liberated Learner Wicked Problems- Prof Pursuit

Liam Peart