Coronavirus got life turning upside down to a lot of people in Lebanon, including students who are relying on distance learning to finish the school year.
In Lebanon, online learning is new to many; professors as well as students are confused and trying their best to adapt to the new platforms. So, right now, these are the 10 types of students you’ll find in every online class:
#1 Frozen
This type of student freezes a few minutes after the class started and stays that way until it ends. No wonder the Lebanese government decided to increase the internet’s speed, otherwise online sessions will consist of a bunch of frozen screens.
This wretched student will just be sitting there in her/his living room going “Allo! Allo! Can you hear me now?” for almost 2 hours.
#2 The ones pretending to be frozen:
These are the same students who will ask to go to the bathroom when its time for them to present their homework. Now, they have an easier and smoother escape plan: freeze! Let’s see how long they can go without blinking so they can fool everybody that’s the internet’s fault.
#3 The ones who bring along all the snacks in the house
Everyone is wondering where these crunchy noises in the background are coming from, but this person just doesn’t care. They are home all day, they are bored, they want a snack, and ain’t nothing gonna stop them from snacking.
#4 The sleepy ones
They didn’t bother getting dressed or even getting out of bed. There’s always someone falling asleep in a normal classroom, just like there’s always someone falling asleep in a virtual classroom. Let’s just hope this person isn’t a snorer!
#5 The ones whose moms keep calling for them aloud
How are Lebanese students supposed to attend online classes when their moms call their names 70 times/day? “Ali! Ta3a Dob Oudtak!”, or worse yet, she might decide to sneak up behind you and ask the professor how her kid is doing at school.
#6 The ones who appear for two milliseconds and then disappear
They will actually ask if they can go use the bathroom, and then never come back. Who knows, maybe they forgot they had an online lesson; again, this is not a normal situation for Lebanese students. What is certain is that their classmates and professor will be left with a white wall for the rest of the session.
#7 The only ones actually paying attention and participating
These are the serious ones. Green chalkboards or laptop screens, these people will be paying attention no matter what. They are in charge of scheduling the meetings, making sure everyone makes it to the sessions, and recording classes. After all, you can’t really depend on the one showing up in a costume… like the next type.
#8 The ones who show up in a costume
The class clown… you can’t really get away from this one. They are putting their Halloween costumes to good use by entertaining their quarantined classmates. Just like they almost always get kicked out of the classroom, they will probably also get kicked out of the video chat as soon as they log in.
#9 The ones who just can’t figure it out
Technology just isn’t their thing. They are not sure how to join the group chat, or even how to download the application. They’ve actually started panicking the moment their school/university decided to implement the distance learning option. Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually.
#10 The ones doing chores
They only come to the realization that their background is super messy when they see it on screen. That’s when they decide to do chores, like putting all the clothes away and throwing out all the empty pizza boxes.
#11 And finally you have the professors
The process is definitely new for a lot of teachers, and it must be hard for them to adapt. Perks are, they don’t have to deal with their students face to face and they don’t have to dress up for their serious role of educators. Just put on a shirt and a blazer and you can go right back to bed when the meeting’s over.
So this is basically what students have been up to during lockdown. Teachers, administrators, and students have been working hard for the sake of education, and this is truly admirable.
