Students have reported high levels of satisfaction following Griffith Business School’s COVID-19 response. With face-to-face classes and tutorials moving online, both staff and students have come together to ensure a smooth transition.

Griffith University is a leading provider of online education, with 40 per cent of its cohort studying at least one subject online. This certainly gave students and teachers at a huge advantage when it came time to make the move to completely online study.

“I was so glad with how Griffith reacted to the situation and transitioned to online to protect our safety and wellbeing,” Melissa Bansraj says.

The Bachelor of Laws (Hons)/Bachelor of Government and International Relations student says she has been impressed with how smooth the transition has been, thanks to their already-thriving Digital Campus. “Griffith really has gone above and beyond for us. They were able to move completely online well before the mid-semester break, without pulling the plug or pausing classes, which was great.”

Jazmin Winkworth, who is studying Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Design double degree was also impressed with the speed at which the online transition occurred. “It happened pretty fast… One week the lectures were all online and then the week after that, everything else went online. The communication from my teachers was great, they kept us all up-to-date with everything that was happening.

“A lot of the technology I was already using in my classes, with Griffith already having lectures online before this. I had already used Microsoft Teams in my classes, so it really wasn’t new to me,” she says.

Bachelor of Business student Jessica Lawless says that even though she was initially hesitant about studying from home, she’s been impressed with how the Griffith Business School community has continued rally around its students: “I still feel just as supported as I did while studying on campus, maybe even more so. It was all so seamless.”

She’s also noticed some benefits to the new flexible learning system that she’s more than happy to take advantage of. “We can directly type questions to our lecturers in real time, as the lecture is happening and get answers,” she says. “I feel much more confident typing a question than I normally would raising my hand and speaking in class… I feel so engaged.”

Melissa says that even though she always thought of herself as someone who prefers face-to-face learning, she’s thriving in an online environment thanks to the extra support on offer from both the teaching staff and the School in general.

“Communicating and learning with people over an online environment is not something that we’re really used to, especially in a Law and Political Science degree… it’s usually all face-to-face. But what our teachers have been doing now is having more consultation sessions online, they have been so supportive in this transition.

“Having lecturers and tutors right at the tip of your fingers and being able to consult them directly is a huge benefit.”

And it’s not only classes that have made the move to online; many extracurricular and co-curricular programs have adapted their material to suit a new study-from-home audience. “I find it so helpful being a part of the Student Leadership Program at the moment… they’ve done so well transitioning online to Microsoft Teams. There’s an extra layer of support there so if you get stuck you can ask them for help too.”

Melissa agrees that ensuring the continuation of various clubs and groups online has been very comforting in this time of uncertainty and helped her maintain a work/life balance outside of study.

“There’s also other resources we are all using that make things that little bit easier. Griffith online has this really good timetable where you can schedule in study, sleep, exercise, free time, things to make sure you’re looking after yourself.

“And it’s not just classes, other parts of the university like Griffith Sport have been doing online classes where you can just log on and do a virtual fitness class.”

Jazmin says immersing herself into an online learning environment will give her confidence when she enters the job market. “I think knowing how to work online is going to be a really valuable skill to have, especially in my degree doing graphic design and business. There is a high likelihood that I’m going to be working with clients who I don’t get to meet personally. So knowing how to successfully work with them online, will be invaluable.”

For more information on studying online with Griffith, click here.