As Goshen College prepares to transition to online classes on Monday March 23, workshops will be available on Thursday March 19 and Friday March 20, to train faculty and students in preparation for the change.
Ann Vendrely, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, is currently working alongside Erin Milanese, head of learning technologies, to plan for the faculty workshops.
“Moodle will be the primary learning platform for online courses,” Vendrely said. “We will also provide training on Zoom for use in some courses and for advising. Some faculty are already using Google Hangouts and FaceTime, so that will continue.”
Verdrely explained that some faculty are preparing to make the transition to online classes on Monday March 16, a week before the rest of campus are set to follow suit.
“Students should prepare to manage their time carefully and with self-discipline,” Vendrely said. “You should expect to have some courses that meet asynchronously on Moodle and others that have designated discussion times for synchronous learning.”
Gilberto Perez, dean of students, is currently in the process of planning workshops for students and is yet to comment on what to expect from those workshops.
Taliah Borom, a senior Spanish major, spoke about how she felt with the decision to move to classes online.
“I’m glad GC is taking preventative measures with online classes,” she said. “Hopefully this will help maintain some level of normalcy and we can finish the school year as scheduled with things being back to normal in the near future.”
Vendrely acknowledged that the change will be challenging for some faculty and staff, and asked for all to extend grace during the change.
