Unforgettable memories of online sessions in the era of Covid-19

NTTU – Teaching is a profession full of memories, among which those of online lessons will be the most unforgettable for teachers. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, a shift in learning mode from face-to-face to distant learning has occurred, leading to numerous interesting and emotional experiences, as described in the following article by a lecturer of the Faculty of Pharmacy.

For the past 10 years, I have been working for Nguyen Tat Thanh University. As a lecturer, I was accustomed to in-person teaching, going to campus everyday to meet my students. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, because teaching activities could not be conducted in the ‘normal way’ anymore, we had no choice but to switch to online classes. It was a bit confusing at first, then I gradually got used to it. I overcame the initial inconvenience of not being able to see students’ faces and familiarized myself with sitting in front of the computer to deliver lectures. Even though the pandemic forces us to change and adapt ourselves to the dynamic flow of life, it leaves me and my coworkers unforgettable memories. Some of them made me smile, while the others brought tears to my eyes.

During one of my Pharmaceutical Legislation online sessions, I raised a question and asked student N. to answer. When she turned her mic on, I heard the sound of a baby crying, about a few months old. It turned out that N. had just given birth and was coaxing her baby to sleep while studying online. In another session, I asked another student, Ms. H., to answer my question. When she turned on her camera, I was startled to see that she was a senior around 60 years old, the same age as my mother. She told me to slow down because she was not good at technology. It dawned on me that nothing can stop us from improving our professional knowledge, be it age, technology, or any other factor.

There was one time when I had just finished teaching an online class, I received a message from a student: “Miss, could you please repeat today’s lesson for me? My father just passed away, so I couldn’t concentrate on studying this morning.” Upon hearing that, I was speechless for a moment. The death of a loved one is a great loss, but he managed to put aside the grief to continue his study.

On another occasion, I listened to one of my students reporting her thesis onscreen. She apologized to me: “Miss, I’m sorry for the noise. I’m staying in the hospital to look after my Mom. Please pardon me if you can’t hear me well.” Not only did I see students taking care of their parents, I also witnessed students wearing protective suits on missions or guarding a checkpoints in the pouring rain answering my question through the camera, among many other stories. I used to believe that the cold screen could only serve as a medium of knowledge transmission, but that’s not true because I can still experience deep and complete emotions. At last, I want to assure my dear students that we can still be together, sharing knowledge and experience, regardless of the circumstances.

Author: MSc. Nguyen Thi Xuan Lieu

Translator: MA. Phan Thanh Thuy

Faculty of Pharmacy