What Are Classes Like for Pekingers When They Are Not On Campus?

Original PKU PekingUniversity 2021-03-03

At 4:00 a.m. in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Federico Verly was preparing for the first online lecture of Contemporary Chinese Public Policy as a teaching assistant for students of PKU Yenching Academy.

Due to the quick spread of the novel coronavirus in China, Federico has to work from home to make sure the course goes well for PKU students all over the world who took the course. To deal with the inconveniences caused by time differences, the teachers and staff at Peking University discussed several solutions with Federico and finally agreed to use recorded lectures, which are more flexible with regards to time management.

Federico Verly is quite pleased with the current arrangement, which helps him organize lessons according to his schedule with already prepared materials. What's more, other students who have trouble catching live videos can watch recordings whenever they like.

Meanwhile, Qin Shuhan, a first-year student from the province of Hubei, attended a course titled China's Economic Reform and Development from her home.

Living in the area most affected by the epidemic, Shuhan cannot return to campus as originally planned. But she can still take lessons online just as if she was here in Peking University.

The teaching assistant for this course, Wesley Harfield from New Zealand, has been actively assisting teachers with broadcasting and recording during this winter vacation. Since he had used the Canvas system before, Wesley was happy to share his experience with the other students taking this course. Moreover, to guarantee that everyone can get access to the teaching materials on time, Wesley Harfield tested the platforms for video and audio conferencing before class and contacted the students one by one in order to see if they were having any difficulties, thus ensuring class ran smoothly.

Other students chose to stay on campus instead of going home this winter.

For instance, after returning from his journey to Harbin, Dickson David Agbaji from Nigeria heard of a growing epidemic and decided to stay on campus. Now, Dickson is taking Retrospect and Prospect of International Development Cooperation in China and China and Global Development through various online platforms such as Blackboard, Canvas, and ClassIn. He loves these two online courses because their outlines deal directly with China's development aids and other projects in Africa. Dickson also keeps in contact with his teachers and regularly updates them on his health.

The first two weeks of the 2020 spring semester have already passed. The teachers, staff, and students of Peking University have now all gotten the chance to experience online lectures for themselves.

As we gradually get accustomed to this new form of teaching, our battle against the novel coronavirus is also going well thanks to efforts from around the world.

We believe that we will see each other soon in a campus overflowing with the beauty of springtime.