Can BU Students Really "Learn from Anywhere" During the Pandemic?

Caterina Scaramelli wants her students to get the most out of their time in the classroom. In previous years, the College of Arts & Sciences research assistant professor of anthropology has been known to bring a cat to class as a “guest lecturer,” organize in-class “water tastings,” and even use an inflatable beach ball to help get a point across. This year, creating that kind of engaging, hands-on classroom experience has become much more complicated, not least because half of her students might never actually enter the classroom this fall.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston University has instituted a hybrid classroom experience called Learn from Anywhere, which allows students to attend class either in person or remotely, via Zoom. For Scaramelli’s course Culture & Environment, this means that on any given day, she might have only a handful of the 30 students enrolled in front of her (physically -distanced) in the classroom, with the rest logging in live via Zoom, their faces projected onto the wall behind her. The resulting classroom dynamic is unlike anything she has ever had to navigate. “Overall, it’s both fun, because every class is different and unexpected things happen,” Scaramelli says, “but also it’s tiring. I think it’s three times the work.”

And her students have had to adjust as well. Listen to what they’re discovering.