Teaching the entrepreneurs of tomorrow…with the limitations of today. Some students at Cal Lutheran University are returning to campus for in-person classes, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The classes are held in outdoor tents, with plenty of fresh air and social distancing.
Mike Panesis teaches a hybrid of on-line students and in-person students at the Thousand Oaks based university's school of management.
He says he's glad to be able to offer students a choice of whether they attend in person or via Zoom.
"Hybrid means that you can choose to be here in person or you can choose to be online. We don't want to force anyone to be here, they have the opportunity to decide for themselves."
He told KCLU that his students always used to request having classes outside, pre-pandemic, so says he welcomes the move into the open-air.
It’s an opportunity that student Austin says was a welcome surprise.
"It's really nice that people can come if they feel like it's safe. I feel it is safe because I've seen people wiping down the tables and disinfecting everything afterwards."
Educator Panesis says that the challenges facing students in the pandemic can help them to build their own resilience and ability to adapt – a lesson that’s valuable to these budding entrepreneurs.
"I remind them that this is not forever. I found them to be remarkably resilient. They are committed to their education, and they know it's not ideal but they know it's not forever."
He says as a teacher, he's found the challenge of re-thinking ways to teach to be "refreshing".
Cal Lutheran is the parent of KCLU Radio.
