JOHN JAY COLLEGE–Matthew Amos rolled his eyes as he clicked the “raise hand” sign on Zoom for his online class. He looked over his left and right shoulder to find students eating lunch and reading. Amos silently swore as he realized he would have to speak aloud and ruin the peace of his peers. He answered the professor’s question, ignoring his overwhelming feeling of shyness.
“It can be really uncomfortable being called on in class while sitting next to someone who’s watching a movie or hanging with friends or playing a game or sitting there doing homework and have no choice but to listen to you while you’re in class,” Amos said. “It makes it harder for you to want to speak up and participate.”
Amos, a sophomore taking two online classes, has found the school noisy at all parts of the day. He has trouble finding a quiet place for class and often relies on John Jay’s honors students’ section.
Since last semester, the college began offering more in-person courses. In the current semester, 59% of classes have some in-person element. However, as the college provides a steady diet of online options, students struggle with managing their online courses while on-campus. In addition, many are encountering issues with finding spaces to attend class and arriving on time.
