The recent announcement that Adelaide University will cease traditional lectures for students got me thinking about my, and now my kids’, experiences in education and at university.
What is it that makes university a dynamic experience? Anyone who has ever attended a lecture at university, TAFE, or in the workplace can tell you that they can, at times, be sleep-inducing (depending on who is giving them!) But what makes these in-person (even if napping) experiences important?
Other elements
I’ve attended a variety of university, TAFE and workplace education and training experiences over the years. While the ‘learning’ I was there to absorb was important, the other elements of the experience were equally important.
It was the being in a space with other people, it was the social interactions, it was the random opportunities and people who I met that were crucial. Many of these random interactions, from the stranger I sat next to who has been a friend for life, to the fool and their opinions I couldn’t stand, to the curious, fleeting conversation with a random stranger that I’ve never seen again have created opinions, connections, stimulated ideas and shaped my life.
Today the challenges that we are looking to overcome include isolation, loneliness, and lack of connectivity. The impact of these on physical and mental health can be significant and ‘loneliness has been linked to premature death, poor physical and mental health (Holt-Lunstad et al. 2015), greater psychological distress (Manera et al. 2022) and general dissatisfaction with life (Schumaker et al. 1993).
Loneliness
Loneliness among Australians was already a concerning issue before the COVID-19 pandemic, to the extent that in 2022 it has been described as one of the most pressing public health priorities in Australia (Ending Loneliness Together 2022 – www.aihw.gov.au)’.
Listening to my eldest talk about their experience of university I am so glad they are in student accommodation, on campus, and experiencing all those dull, stressful, exciting, sleep-inducing lectures and tutorials.
They are having to interact; deal with good and bad living situations; they are meeting other people and learning to like, dislike, stand up for, run away from, and to make choices about their life. They are on campus and while they might miss a lecture and have to catch up they are out in the world, engaging and living.
Online learning
There is an important place for online learning, it provides a range of different learning modes that can meet a diverse range of needs that ensures everyone can access education in a way that suits them.
But in an era where we are trying to ensure that our youth, adults, and elderly alike get the opportunity to create essential connections, it is vital that we retain the spaces of chance interaction regardless of how dull any particular lecture may be.
Aslan Shand, editor
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