“I started at Ithaca College as a new faculty member in the middle of the pandemic,” said Shuzhan Li, associate professor of education at Ithaca College.

After over a year of Ithaca College resorting to remote learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the first time Li is teaching in person at the school. He explained that in the middle of the pandemic he had to learn everything he was once taught in how to teach in an actual classroom and had to change that to online learning.

Shuzhan Li, Associate Education Professor at Ithaca College Photo by Melissa Megali / IthacaWeek

“I never did fully online teaching,” said Li. But he has discovered that some students have found it helpful to learn online. Li teaches an Education Studies minor Senior Seminar Class. “Students had the option at the beginning of the semester to come in-person learning or online, and 75% chose online.”

Li thought his students would be tired of online learning but this was not the case. Li does still stay in touch with his students weekly and schedules meetings with them to stay updated on how their semester is going.

Assistant professor of journalism Allison Frisch, said she is overjoyed to be back to fully in-person learning. “We’re here to be engaging with our students in the classroom, that’s what I enjoy the most.”

When the college decided to transition to remote learning, Frisch taught from inside her living room with her husband nearby.

“I did get used to being at home, my husband also worked from home so we would have lunch together.”

Given that Frisch commutes approximately an hour to work, she said that she enjoyed that she could wake up and teach from her home.

 Professor Allison Frisch teaching Introduction to Journalism. Photo by: Melissa Megali / IthacaWeek

Frisch came back to campus last semester and explained it was overall a difficult experience. She taught hybrid learning: some students attended class online, others were in person.

She explained, “ It was really hard keeping track of which students were remote and which students were here.”

Health Promotion and Physical Education Professor Joanie Groome is also glad to be back in the classroom with her students. . Groome teaches a Personal Health and an Understanding Disabilities course.

“I love my classes, my students are phenomenal,” Groome said

She allows her students to have downtime in class, which some students find helpful. She tries to create a fun space so that they are excited to come to class each and every day. On Fridays Groome plays educational games with her classes “to end the week off right.”