Skip to main content
Harper Adams University logo

    All Harper

    COVID Diaries: The positives of learning from home

    13 May 2020

    In light of Covid-19, many of us are having to make changes to the way we work. Particularly this change affects our students entering into a new academic environment, learning from online lecturers rather than in person seminars. However, for Danielle Hudson, there have been great positives to the endeavour as she shared how online classes were not as daunting as she once assumed.

    Danielle is studying MSc Veterinary Physiotherapy and joined her classmates in a weekend session via Microsoft Teams, completing a variety of tasks. She commented: “We spent the weekend working through case studies in allocated groups: canine on one day and then equine the next. We then had to present a PowerPoint to the cohort at the end of the day with our findings.”

    Although initially apprehensive, Danielle had a great experience, saying: “I was originally very sceptical about the whole thing as my internet isn’t very good and I couldn’t see how group work was going to work. But the weekend worked fantastically and I can’t thank the tutors enough for putting it all together with such short notice.

    “I thought it was a really beneficial weekend. Because we only had those tasks to do, we all were very thorough in our breakdowns of each case. Having 4 hours per case enabled me to really work on a logical and sequential approach to cases.

    “Having other members of the group in our own private virtual call was super beneficial as their input shed light on factors that I was either missing or hadn’t thought of. I found people were less distracted as it was just you and your group.

    “Speaking in my group, and then to the cohort, about the cases has improved my confidence in public speaking. Mainly because most people had their cameras off so you didn’t feel faces staring at you - it’s almost a mid way point to accomplishing public speaking!”

    Working from home also had another benefit for Danielle: “A huge bonus of the weekend was not having to get up at 5:00am on Saturday morning to drive to Harper and having a 4 hour drive home on the Sunday! Not being tired and in the comfort of my own home was the added bonus to it all.”

    Fully able to concentrate and having learnt plenty of new skills from her peers, Danielle is excited to see what the next online sessions will bring. She said: “I'm now not the slightest bit worried about the upcoming weekends as I feel I’ve got just as much out of the weekend as what I would do if I was at uni!”

    For other training vet physiotherapists, Danielle has this advice: “Don’t underestimate the amount of work that is required - people will tell you at the start so take their advice! Equally, don’t sit back and struggle, ask your tutors for help. If it was easy to achieve, everyone would be doing it. To help, save up some money before you start and cut down your work hours to part time; otherwise you aren’t going to get as much out of the course as you can and you’ll be absolutely shattered all the time. Likewise, get your SEL’s signed off as soon as you can! But, overall, just throw yourself at it and enjoy it.”

    Interested in how you can come become a veterinary physiotherapist? With a degree that matters, you can make a real difference. Discover more here.

    Subscribe

    Share

    Cookies on the Harper Adams University website

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the website. However, you can change your cookie settings at any time.