The Realities of Online Learning during a Pandemic
The Realities of Online Learning during a Pandemic As a Second Year Undergraduate, I have had an interesting university experience so far. I missed half of the first semester due to surgery and then my first year was cut short in the beginning of March due to the first lockdown in the United Kingdom, so off I went home to complete the rest of my lectures that had been pre-recorded for the semester. After Easter, exam season was supposed to be in full swing but exam dates were pushed back three times due to sorting out how they were going to work and what software we were going to use. In the end, the exams were on our VLE (virtual learning environment) platform and were made open book due to Lecturers saying "We cannot monitor you, so to be safe, exams are now open book." Completing my exams at my kitchen table, drinking coffee / eating breakfast and wrapped in a blanket was a surreal experience and in comparison to my Sixth-Form and Secondary School exams that were stress-