Many of us have had to adapt to working online during the lockdown, and faster than we would have liked to. As a University student, the jump to studying and attending classes online changed the way we were learning - drastically.

I’m sure a lot of you reading can relate, whether you helped your kids adjust to online learning, or you had to switch to working from home yourselves!
Each school student and university degree has different challenges to face after the impact of covid-19. I am currently in my final year of a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in radio at AUT. Our learning has been predominantly shifted online, which was great for keeping things running during and after lockdown, but there are aspects of being on campus that just aren’t the same over a screen. Attending lectures and classes online means missing out on the vital social interaction that classrooms and university campuses provide. As a radio student, one of the biggest parts of the final year is the experience we get to have inside real radio studios at AUT, but myself and a lot of my peers are missing the exposure to using real equipment while studying online.
We were couriered small recording microphones at the beginning of level three and had to adapt to running our radio station - Static - remotely from our homes. It’s a very different atmosphere from sitting in a studio, but at the same time, learning to work in online environments isn’t all negative. It’s great that we are able to see how working from home will potentially impact us in the future as technology in certain fields continues to grow.
Studying and staying motivated is a little harder when the only spaces we have to achieve learning tasks are at home. It’s important to keep a routine of getting ready for the day and maintaining the same amount of focus towards online content as I would if I was heading into the city to study. Although - there is an added bonus of being able to learn in my pyjamas, and not spend $5 every day on a coffee as I make my way to class!
Covid-19 has forced us to endure new challenges and adapt to new ways of learning, which will probably be handy in the long run as we face these changes in technology throughout our careers. I think I speak for a lot of university students when I say that it will be an exciting day when we can start learning on campus again, but for now we need to focus on keeping ourselves safe and making sure we face each day with as much positivity as we can.