The academic director of the Campus of Terres de l’Ebre, Xavier Nadal, makes an assessment of how the online classes are running in the grades in CAFyD and Physiotherapy since it was decreed, more than two months ago, the cessation of classroom activity because of the application of the state of alarm by the Covid-19. With a long experience as a teacher, Xavier Nadal, who has a degree in Physical Education, a diploma in Teaching and a Master in Sports Management and PDG in sports entities, explains that everyone has had to put the batteries in this new scenario and that, thanks to this collective involvement, the curriculum is being completed 100%.
It was difficult to change from giving classes in person to online?
The adaptation process in the first two weeks of confinement was exemplary. A very big change had to be made in a very short time. And the effort on the part of teachers, students and PAS members was key. And it made a transformation that was very complex easier because we had almost no experience in online training. Now we can say that in the last few weeks we have been able to guarantee 100% of the teaching and at the same time we can say that, both on the part of the teachers and the students, the level of satisfaction is very high.
Online training has radically changed the day-to-day life of teachers and students?
I believe that online classes are a methodology to be taken into account for the future, but also in very specific aspects. We must always bear in mind that we have a degree model with a high percentage of practical classes and we must think that everything will return to normal. In any case, the exceptional situation that we are experiencing has led us to another scenario that we did not know about but to which we have had to adapt. These have been very intense and at the same time very productive days. And the capacity to work and optimize time has been considerable, despite the fact that direct contact with the students, interacting with them in the classroom, is greatly missed…
What advice would you give to students?
I would advise them to focus on the continuous work and the daily monitoring of the subjects. Persevere and persevere, but don’t get overwhelmed. And that they maintain, even if now it has to be in a virtual way, the maximum communication with the teachers. Now more than ever we can show that EUSES Terres de l’Ebre is a university of proximity, with a personalized contact with the students. Here we know them by their name and surname, by their origin… And this is an added value we have.