By Boston Wyatt
So, as a Law student not only did, I have to take my regular, classes, lectures and tutorials at home, I also had my postponed moderation exams! This blog will give you a little insight to what the university have done, how it all worked and how the future seems to be!
Firstly, regular lectures and tutorials have been almost exactly the same. Tutorials are now online, with video calling, and at times of the day which is suitable for international students to be involved too! It has been really great having a time of the week to learn as well as see course mates whom are scattered all over the world. Admittedly, interrupting each other commonly happens, you cannot tell as well when your tute partner will talk, but apart from that minor bump – it is greatly the same! Next, lectures … they’re so good! I must admit, Oxford has done really well in improving the recording quality of the lectures as well as making them easily accessible. I have really been enjoying the ability to pause, go back and repeat sections, unlike in the lecture theatres where you would potentially miss out on valuable moments and notes. Also… watching them on 2x speed but… I don’t advise that!
Secondly, classes and labs, as a Law student, I have none of these. Hearing from my peers about their live computing lessons and live teaching it appears to me the university has kept up its rigour and expectation on students while still adapting to make it accessible for all. Many online resources also, such as books and applications have been purchased by the university to allow access for all students – I personally have been enjoying the law trove subscription!
Third, the exams! Ahhhh! I was so nervous about exams. Especially after around 4 solid weeks of sleeping and being lazy when lockdown hit, I was apprehensive about sitting exams at home. They added an additional hour to all papers, this went for finalists too! They were open book, but… despite this… even with all your notes in front of you getting 100% is still impossible. I was thankful I was able to adjust the time I sat my exams to work around my home life – as were my international friends and others in similar situations. They went smoothly. The system and process were a little confusing however, all was well and it was nice to be able to sit with snacks of your choice while working your way through an exam – it certainly reduced the pressure. And although I missed wearing my sub fusc, many of my course mates and I got dressed up and organised a home ‘trashing’ exam celebration to make sure we were not missing out!
Lastly, how have the university adapted? Well, my tutors have been wonderful, they have extended our term to ensure we could manage at home life with university work and dedicate adequate time to our essays – I have heard of other colleges doing this too. In addition, the support and welfare has been the same as always which is really reassuring in these unprecedented times!
I must say the fortune of attending Oxford, the ability to talk to your tutors at any time and for learning to be personalised to you is something in which has made studying in Lockdown so so so much easier! The personal touch Oxford has upon teaching its students has thankfully not been lost!