Changes in Education 

The University of Florida moved all course to online instruction March 16, 2020 in an effort to allow students and faculty to safe-guard their health and practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. To maintain the health of the UF community the decision was made to move all classes online for the entire summer semester – Summer A, Summer B, and Summer C.  

Faculty members within the UFTI have reported that adapting to teaching online took a little getting used to. Many professors are used to the back-and-forth that exists with students in a traditional classroom setting. While Zoom offers great possibilities for collaboration, it is still a change that takes adapting to.  

Early morning classes sometimes struggle with energy levels; to counter this, Dr. Jain tries to keep her class interactive. With the move to remote teaching, she had to get creative to keep student spirits up and the class engaging; she broke students into groups and used the game Taboo as an online class exercise to help students learn definitions and encourage interaction. 

Dr. Zhao has worked to create an effective teaching space on- and offline; her desk space is productive and personalized, and her remote instruction has evolved to address the lack of direct interaction with students. Dr. Zhao has found success in leaving 15 minutes at the end of each lecture for a Question and Answer session which she reports has improved the online communication between her and her students.  

Teaching online is a challenge that professors with the UFTI and the entire University of Florida community have risen to meet.  

For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 and the University of Florida visit their information site here.