As Fresno City College instructors continue remote teaching during the fall 2020 semester, many are very pleased with how well their students are doing however some admit that it doesn’t beat in-person classes. 

For the most part, professors feel most students are performing the same as they would during in-person classes, however some are still struggling with turning in assignments. 

“Students have been turning in their assignments. I usually send out reminder emails to students who haven’t submitted assignments close to the due date and I think that helps them complete their work,” said Anthropology professor Kellen Prandini. 

In addition, attendance and participation in Zoom varies from class to class. In Cheryl Gardner’s Journalism 14 class, students are a lot more engaged and doing a lot of work together. 

However, for political science professor, Kau Vue, this is not the case. 

“Zoom sessions are not mandatory so attendance is minimal. When I set up sessions I have only one person show up consistently,” said Vue. “I do post my session online but the interaction online is not quite the same as it would be in-person.” 

Although students are doing well in their classes, some professors feel that remote teaching is just not the same as in-person teaching. 

“The interactive part of in-person classes is missing; students have less of a chance to learn from each other as they would in an in-person class. Students may be unable to attend office hours which I understand so time can be an issue,” said Vue.

In addition to not getting to know students or see their faces, tasks such as preparing lectures, setting up zoom meetings, learning how to make assignments accessible and responding to emails can be draining. 

According to Gardner, oftentimes students do not often look at all the information posted in Canvas. 

“The hard part is that students don’t do the reading that’s in the module,” said Gardner. “I take my in-person lectures and break them into modules, so if they are not taking the time to read and understand or ask questions during lab hours that’s how students will fall behind.”