San Antonio, TX (NCC News)- At St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, classes begin on August 11. With COVID-19 cases climbing the university has allowed for students to opt-out of in person learning in favor of online. With this new option, many professors have to learn a new way to teach classes that would normally be a hands-on experience. Ana Bendaña is a communications professor at the university but also teaches photography. With this new way of learning in place for her photography class, she has to go by the honor system when it comes to assignments as well as making it an enjoyable environment for the students.
“I’m basically teaching them by proxy,” said Bendaña, “I’m going to have to trust them in doing the work, but I am also trying make it fun and engaging for them.”
Bendaña has already looked into many alternatives to teach students about photography, even if they do not have a camera at their disposal which includes a Canon website where they are able to learn how a camera operates and how to take the photo that you need and learn the terms of a camera. Bendaña is also changing how she is doing projects for the year, which includes the use of social media to show the world the work they are doing.
“I want them to see their work online,” she said, “I want them to reach an audience that they’re not going to be able to see.”
While Bendaña is going to be doing projects, she won’t be doing many of them and wants to focus more on practice sessions and pairing off students so that they can help each other with their work. As this is a new way of learning, she acknowledges that students have more to worry about than a photography class.
If you would like to know more about what the university is doing to ensure the safety and education of its students, St. Mary’s tweeted out a link to their plans for the fall 2020 semester.
