Question

SO...I have recently gotten a message saying a hybrid class I have (starting this month) is now 100% online...the rest of my classes are in-person, and I am a full time student. I'm confused because I'm not sure if there's anywhere I'll be able to sit for the class on campus, obviously because it is an online class. But since I am on campus all day, 5 days a week, I'm not sure where to go to take the class? I have a laptop, so internet accessibility is not the issue, I just don't know where to take the class..if that makes sense? I'm a returning student, and the last time I went to college was 6 years ago. I don't know if this is just a question I should ask my advisor, and if so, how do I ask it without sounding silly?

The email I received (using blanks for super specific info):

I am reaching out to let you know about a change to your ______ class meeting schedule. Originally, the class was a hybrid course, which meant that you had both online and in-person class components, including a once a week in-person class meeting. Your instructor has had a schedule change. They are not available for the in-person meeting, so we are shifting the class instruction fully online for the fall semester. You will still have in-person field placement requirements and proctored assignments, but you will not have an in person class meeting. You will see this change reflected on your class schedule in SIS.

Chris · Accepted Answer

Hi @RachelLight,

This is going to be tough for members of the Instructure Community to answer with any certainty.  "Online" instruction can have various meanings for different institutions (and sometimes even multiple meanings at the same institution).

For my institution, just saying "Online" with no other details or terminology would imply an asynchronous course (content would be delivered via Canvas in the form of videos, files, pages, links to other websites, etc, but there would be no set "meetings" where you had to be online...  You'd just watch videos, read material, etc when you're able from anywhere with an internet connection.  Even though there isn't a meeting schedule, there are usually some sort of loose schedule for when you should do things, maybe weekly for example, so you couldn't just do the entire course in the first week or do nothing at all for a month.

Your specific message does mention field placement, which would likely be in person, and proctored assignments (which could be in-person or online proctoring).

I'd recommend reaching out to your advisor to see if they have any more info they can provide.  They may need to get in touch with your instructor for more specific info, but that shouldn't be too big of a hassle for them.

I hope this info helps a bit, even though it's not an exact answer.  It's about the best guess I can give you.

-Chris