P.E.I. university students begin online learning at home

Across P.E.I., university students are settling into online learning in their kitchens, dining rooms or bedrooms as the fall semester gets underway.

Some are attending UPEI classes virtually, while others are taking classes at universities thousands of kilometres away. 

Both experiences have their challenges. 

Madeline Shaw is just starting a master's degree in English at Carleton University in Ottawa.

"Everyone's in the same boat, the professors are doing something completely new to them and the students, this is all very new," Shaw said.

"No one really knows what the semester or how the course load will look like, we're all kind of playing everything by ear."

Shaw has had a few orientation sessions and her first couple of lectures this week.

"For myself, I know it's going to take a lot of self-discipline and organization just to stay on top of everything." 

Abrupt end last March

Shaw's final year as an undergrad at Memorial University in St. John's came to a sudden end because of the pandemic. 

"A lot of my friends and I were very excited for graduation and just even the last few weeks of classes, to everything winding down," Shaw said.

"Then the pandemic happened in March and everything wrapped up very, very abruptly."

Shaw has been to Carleton once, as a Grade 12 student five years ago, so she'll be getting to know the university and her professors and fellow students remotely.

She said there are some things she will miss about not being in Ottawa. 

"One thing that I was very looking forward to was the social aspect of being a grad student and going to the grad pub and getting to know everyone within, not even just the English department, but in other grad programs as well," Shaw said.

"That's just not going to happen for the fall anyway and who knows what 2021 will look like, but that was a disappointment for sure."

In-person support

Shaw said, as a grad student, she is fortunate that she doesn't need the tutoring or extracurricular support that some other students will be missing.

"Thankfully, I've already had five years of university to help build those skills but those entering university definitely are on their own," Shaw said.

"I think that would be incredibly difficult and I can sympathize with what they would be going through. I think that would be really, really hard."

Shaw is also going to be working remotely as a teaching assistant, mainly marking papers and creating a weekly newsletter along with her professor.

Her program is 12 months, covering three semesters, and she's still holding out hope that she will get a chance to study in person at Carleton.

All but one class pre-recorded

Noah Brehaut is in his first year of accounting at UPEI and all of his classes for the fall semester are online. 

"So far it's been pretty good, I like that you can kind of shape your day and not have a certain time that you have to do your work," Brehaut said.

"You can sort of stay disciplined and keep on top of it. It makes your life a bit easier."

Only Brehaut's English class is a live lecture — all the rest are pre-recorded.

He's taking advantage of the flexible schedule to get in lots of golf, which he could never do during high school.

Brehaut said he does miss having other students to talk to. 

"It makes it a little tougher. It's always good to have other people that you can bounce questions off and work together with," Brehaut said. 

"But our teachers have been really good with being available for questions and support."

Brehaut said there are also things he's going to miss out on, not being on campus.

"There's a lot of new people to meet that I won't be able to see and just being able to walk around campus and have that sort of new feeling," Brehaut said.

"We're missing out on that but we'll get there eventually, I guess."

Brehaut is also hoping to be on campus for the winter semester at UPEI.

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