Who are our students: Pandemic Edition

The sudden move to remote and online instruction for Spring and Summer 2020 highlighted a little known fact: Many of our students were already "online" students in some ways. Many face-to-face classes at Lane required students to access resources or assignments on Moodle even before this was necessary for safety.

However, just as there's a pretty big difference between accessing a Moodle reading here or there and taking an entire class on Moodle, so, too, is there an enormous difference between making use of a few Moodle features to support an in-person course and teaching online.

Before Spring 2020, the students who took online courses had one big difference from those who have enrolled during the pandemic: They did so intentionally. Students who signed up for online in Fall 2019 or Winter 2020 knew they'd be receiving all course information and interaction through their computer, and they were able to plan for this.

COVID-19 continues to affect our communities and our work, and the situation is now flexible. As a result, students want more choices in how they'll take their classes. What hasn't changed is our commitment to helping them learn in the best way possible -- whatever technical means are required.