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Colleges Nationwide Are Shifting to Online Learning College Students and Professors Nationwide Are Going Online

By Michael Hegarty

Michael Hegarty:This home in Princeton, New Jersey is now functioning like a University. Bedrooms and offices are now classrooms and conference rooms.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced Universities across the country to transition to online learning, making students and professors adapt to a completely different daily life.

For Syracuse University freshman Jack Hegarty, his first year on campus was cut short and he now has to re-adjust all over again.

Jack Hegarty: “It was a shock that for the rest of the semester that they were going to be online. And it’s definitely not what I expected from the second semester of my freshman year. And I was a little sad because I was finally starting to adjust.”

Michael Hegarty: Learning statistics and coding from bed isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially for a first-year college student, but students aren’t the only ones being forced to make adjustments. Faculty members, like Princeton University Professor Anna Shields know that moving to online learning is hard, but Shields believes it was the right call.

Anna Shields: “So, I was relieved to hear that Princeton made the decision, and I was frankly proud that Princeton was one of the first schools to make what was an extremely difficult call.”

Michael Hegarty: Since people have been advised not to go out in public, Shields has found new ways to stay active and get off the computer.

Anna Shields: “I have been gardening which is also great because it gets me outside and gets me exercise. I’ve been exercising, we have a basement gym and we have beautiful paths nearby.”

Michael Hegarty: Both Princeton and Syracuse University will hold online instruction for the remainder of the semester. So, students and faculty will need to get used to cuddling with their pets, logging on to their computers, and living life online.

Reporting from Princeton, New Jersey, Michael Hegarty, N-C-C News.

By Michael Hegarty PRINCETON, N.J. (NCC News)- Homes across the United States are becoming classrooms for countless students and teachers. That is no different for the Shields/Hegarty family.

Tucked right up the stairs, Princeton University Professor Anna Shields works every day in her office, making video calls with students and colleagues.

In the next room over, her son Jack Hegarty plugs away at coding and statistics classes, continuing his workload from his freshman year at Syracuse University.

The coronavirus pandemic forced both schools to transition all learning online for the remainder of the 2020 Spring semester.

For Hegarty, it was a sudden change in his newly formed routine at college.

“It was a shock that for the rest of the semester that they were going to be online,” Hegarty said. “And it’s definitely not what I expected from the second semester of my freshman year. And I was a little sad because I was finally starting to adjust.”

Shields, who has been a Professor for over 20 years, said that while it is an adjustment, the transition hasn’t been as difficult as she thought it would be. And she’s finding ways to keep her sanity while being locked up at home.

“I have been gardening which is also great because it gets me outside and gets me exercise,” Shields said. “I’ve been exercising, we have a basement gym and we have beautiful paths nearby.”

Both of the universities have committed to online learning for the rest of the semester, so the two will have plenty of time to adjust to their new daily routines.

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