LRCC goes to online learning for rest of semester

LACONIA — Classrooms at Lakes Region Community College will be empty for the rest of the semester as the college switches almost entirely to online learning in the face of spread of the coronavirus.

Students have been on spring break this week, but when classes resume on Monday, most students will not be returning to campus, instead continuing their coursework via computer hookup, College President Larissa Baia said.

Lab sessions on campus will continue in programs like electrical systems, nursing and automotive technology. However, the number of students in each lab session will be limited in order to keep the numbers in the room low, as well as to follow social distancing recommendations.

“We are trying to be creative and flexible,” Baia said.

She said the switch to all-online learning will require more of an adjustment for some students than others. Some teachers have already been using online material for part of their instruction, whereas other teachers have used strictly classroom presentations, she explained.

Students who do not have internet access will be able to do their online learning in the college’s library, Baia said. However, those students will have to call to sign up for a specific time slot, because the number of people who will be allowed into the library at any one time will be limited to maintain social distancing.

The elimination of conventional classroom learning is the result of guidance from state and federal officials to eliminate gatherings wherever possible.

The college has had to make adjustments for some programs which require students to have a certain amount of supervised, hands-on experience in order to obtain a professional license or certificate.

Baia said students in the nursing and EMT certification programs normally spend a specified amount of time in a healthcare setting where they must demonstrate they know how to satisfactorily perform certain procedures. Because hospitals and nursing homes are now closed to non-staff members, those internship-type experiences will now be performed in the laboratory using medical simulation mannequins.

Baia said all instructors will have the contact information about their courses available on the college’s by sometime today.

“We are focused on finishing the semester,” Baia said.