WFH Series: MiM student Katherine Lundevall's learnings during circuit breaker

Many students have been missing the spontaneous day-to-day interactions with their classmates and teachers as they try to adjust to remote learning, but that’s not to say that spontaneity is absent when their interactions take place on online platforms. Just ask Katherine Lundevall, a Norwegian who is currently part of the Master of Science in Management (MiM) programme at Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business (SMU LKCSB).

A graduate of UWC South East Asia and the London School of Economics (where she studied environment and economic development), Katherine has been taking her MiM classes online due to COVID-19, and “the most memorable moment of online learning so far was probably during our end-of-semester final presentations”, she says. “Our professor selected my group to present first and turned on all our microphones with no warning. One of my group members realised and in the shock of the moment, had a somewhat colourful outburst that made our final class pretty memorable.”

Such moments of levity aside, Katherine still favours in-person interactions and experiences. “At the start of the year, I spent a lot of time on campus, so the reduced number of face-to-face events is pretty jarring. Societies and going to the gym are also things I miss.” Her regular gym routine, and the daily schedule of traveling to the SMU campus for classes helped with adding a structure to her days and made her more productive. Access to the university library’s printing services and textbooks would have also helped with studying for exams.

These factors, along with at-home interruptions such as “when my block’s fire alarm went off for an hour during one of my online lectures” has Katherine looking forward to the end of the circuit breaker period, and being back on campus once again

That said, she does appreciate some aspects of remote learning. “The reduced number of events and lack of a commute to campus has freed up a lot of time,” she acknowledges. With that increased flexibility in her schedule, Katherine has been structuring her days with language learning, Bloomberg courses and class preparations in the mornings, attending online lectures at midday, then getting in some exercise and group project work afterwards.

“We also have a lot of group projects in the course, so staying connected through online meetings has been important,” she says. “Moving exam study sessions from the library to Zoom and staying connected with classmates before my exams has helped with some of the challenges the circuit breaker posed.”

Another of her observations: “It’s been interesting to see different people contributing online vs the in-person classes.” This speaks to a possible phenomenon that others have noticed during this worldwide shift to online interactions — such formats, which come with features like “electronic hand-raising”, which can be more conducive to eliciting increased participation from introverts. The jury’s still out on that (other reports find that online meetings mirror and amplify the inequities of in-person meetings), but where differences in participation do occur, this online phase can be a starting point for corporate leaders and professors to think about enhancing meetings and classes in ways that encourage more inclusivity.

In the meantime, for students like Katherine who thrive on more social routines and in-person exchanges, the resumption of campus life is eagerly anticipated. “I think being physically present is more conducive to spontaneous interactions and debate,” she says. “I’ll be happy when events start back up on campus. I’m used to working on projects online, but there’s really no replacement for meeting new people in person.”