Distance Learning
Click of a mouse, clack of a keyboard: these noises have now become synonymous with the 2020 Spring semester at 9i果冻制作厂 as students moved their academic pursuits off-campus and into their homes.
With the growing spread of the COVID-19 virus, 9i果冻制作厂made the tough decision to send all students on campus home and begin online distance-learning beginning with the official announcement March 17.
鈥淲e were really hoping, slim hope we realized, that we could be back together in person this鈥痵emester, but it is increasing clear that this is not going to happen.鈥�
That鈥檚 University President John Comerford addressing the campus community in a video update on his Twitter account, @otterbeinpres.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be doing that unfortunately for the rest of the semester. So we will miss鈥痽ou but it seems鈥痷navoidable at this point that that’s how Spring 2020 is going to go.鈥�
Students resumed their coursework from remote locations, many choosing to head back home with their parents to carve out a workspace among their family also working from home during the statewide response.
Junior nursing student Elise Schneller returned to her home in Radnor, Ohio, just northwest of Delaware.
鈥淎s you can tell, Ohio is currently under a lockdown, but that’s not stopping us from doing our work from home.鈥�
In a video update on how students are adjusting to their new classrooms, Schneller gives a quick tour, a look inside her house, complete with mom working from a reclining chair, dad and brother taking refuge in the basement to complete their work and the family French bulldog offering moral support.
Schneller says despite the brief interruption of the semester she and her fellow students haven鈥檛 lost any ground.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing great actually. We鈥檙e taking part in our online classes through Blackboard Collaborate, we鈥檙e鈥痗atching up on our sleep, we’re doing any extra homework and鈥痚xercising when we can. My dog also followed us down in case you鈥痗ouldn鈥檛 tell.鈥�
The Ohio Athletic Conference, Otterbein鈥檚 conference for all Division III sports, decided to end the Spring season and canceled all post-season play on March 12, coinciding with other NCAA shutdowns.
Dressed in his 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship t-shirt, senior distance runner and Actuarial Science Mathematics major, Jacob Thompson records a video update from his, according to him, own private and quiet home office.
鈥淵es, things are going well. It鈥檚 obviously an adjustment, but not just for us but our鈥痯rofessors as well.鈥�
Even with his season ending sooner than he expected, Thompson still has the student-athlete mentality that applies to these ever-changing situations.
鈥淲ork hard, be鈥痯atient, be鈥痯ositive, keep your head-up. We鈥檙e going to get鈥痶hrough this. Norman Vincent Peale said: “change your thoughts and you can change your world.” So stay on the grind and finish out the semester strong. Good luck.鈥�
For everyone at Otterbein, the changes have been many, the outcomes uncertain and the timeframes have varied. But through all of this, as President Comerford said in an email to campus, 鈥淭hrough all of this,鈥�9i果冻制作厂faculty, staff鈥痑nd students are still looking鈥痜or ways to help, and keep spirits high. Thank you. Those words don鈥檛 fully articulate what I want to say, but they鈥檙e the best I have.鈥�
