If you have kids in university amd you're not familiar with this format of learning (it's pretty different from my uni days 17 years ago), you might be confused by design choices.

How you approach this year may impact how students approach their learning, so some thoughts /1

1. Synchronous zoom lessons might seem most similar to what you experienced in UG, but it, on its own, in a large class, is not the social experience you imagine it to be. Many classes are saving these live experiences for tutorials, labs, and sub groups for this reason. 2/

2. Synchronous activities are not as accessible to students w accommodations, students who took up extra jobs, students with care responsibilities, and students with shared devices or lower bandwidth. It's also less flexible if a student needs accommodation during term. /3

3. Asynchronous activities can be very social and lead to deep learning experiences, but of course it takes time for connections to form. In many cases, these student learning connections are likely to be stronger than previous years. 4/

This year is different for parents, students, and educators alike, for sure. But there are still going to be great learning and social experiences. Educators spent a lot of time with these design decisions, and weighed their options for their content and the learning exp 5/5