My experience of online teaching

It's nice to not be limited by your location. One day you can be at a fabric fair based in Munich, and the next on a course advancing your skills in Adobe Suite.

Since starting university, I have loved the creative surroundings of Falmouth, the practical side of my course and spending time with friends. The news of the national lockdown and the move to online teaching threatened to change this.

I knew that things would be different and at the time this caused some worry and speculation as to how courses that often rely on specialist facilities and technicians would be able to adapt.

Getting used to having online tutorials and lectures was slightly odd at first but it quickly became the new normal. Lecturers and technical support have gone out of their way to help during lockdowns, setting up weekly coffee mornings, sending over digital patterns and more. Communication was always going to be difficult but over time using emails and Microsoft teams has become more familiar!

Being in third year, a lot of my learning this year has been independent. This has suited blended learning as I can easily jump on a call and then get back to what I was doing where ever I am!

The university and student’s union were great, ensuring that we were able to get back into the facilities as soon as possible.

This has been so beneficial and I know that this has not been the case at every university. The opportunity to have access to the facilities and do blended teaching has made the best of a very odd situation.

It has benefited me as a designer, I have become a better problem solver and learnt to be more resourceful.

It's nice to not be limited by your location. One day you can be at a fabric fair based in Munich, and the next on a course advancing your skills in Adobe Suite. It has also been more flexible, there is less time lost travelling to and from places, meaning sometimes you can get more done.

My course has also been able to have more guest lectures than usual due to companies being more familiar with online calls. This strengthens our industry connections and helps us prepare for graduation!

My skills with using technology and communicating remotely have also improved. This is great when working in the clothing industry as often fabric and manufacturing companies are overseas, with conversations often happening online.

It has benefited me as a designer, I have become a better problem solver and learnt to be more resourceful. Thinking on your feet and using the things you have around you can lead to outcomes you would never had imagined! Overall, I have found that people are more willing to collaborate and are excited to form new connections.