BY Kandee Soza
Staff Writer
Even though Zoom has become the new alternative for online learning, there are many factors that prove Zoom is unreliable and filled with technical issues.
East Los Angeles College transitioned online in late March and faculty made decisions as to what modifications would take place.
Many schools, including ELAC, transitioned into using a video and audio conferencing platform called Zoom.
In the beginning, many professors did not know how to run an online course and to students, including myself, it felt uneasy.
When the transition finally began, some classes became stressful because of the lack of communication among professors and students.
Some students felt as if their professors were either posting too much or too little information about their classes. I couldn’t agree more.
There have been numerous times that I have either felt overworked and/or confused because of the lack of explanation on online course work.
Nancy Lazalde, a student at ELAC said, “My professor went MIA and did not respond to our emails and she later apologized for not doing so because she said she was having a hard time adjusting to online learning/class work.”
When Zoom came into play, many students thought it would be a great alternative.
Everything is done online, lectures and coursework can be done in the comfort of your own home, no transportation expenses etc.
However, it turned out to be a lot more complicated than what was anticipated.
Not all students have access to sufficient resources to do their coursework online.
Obviously, without a computer or Wi-Fi at home, nothing can be done. Fortunately, there have been many different opportunities to get free computers and Wi-Fi.
About 10,700 students were reviewed and rewarded free Chromebooks during the past few weeks.
Thousands more are now on the way thanks to the efforts by the Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges and generous donors who have provided funding for the devices.
However, supplies can only last for so long.
There are still students that remain without a computer or do not have Wi-Fi.
It is a harsh reality for some and a very difficult obstacle to deal with in a time like this.
Because Zoom calls are live, there may be instances where internet connection and signal can be lost. Inevitably, this will cause students to miss important information.
This has happened to me numerous times and I hate it because there is nothing I can do about it.
There is always the old trick-a-roo of disconnecting and reconnecting the router to gain connection again, but that is pretty much it.
Home learning can be difficult for students due to their living situations.
A distracting environment due to loud noise can cause students to become stressed and frustrated because of the lack of focus.
It may be difficult for some students because not everyone has access to a quiet place in their home, where they can be at peace and do their class work accordingly.
In a time like this, there are many essential workers who are also college students.
For some of these students, they may be the only source of income for their household.
Sometimes school and work schedules may collide and in some instances, students cannot attend their Zoom lectures.
Because of this, they may lose a whole class worth of important information and deadlines.
Losing important information like so can be very harmful to a student’s academic performance.