A Sudden Shift
In mid-March the University of Waterloo suspended all on-campus classes and quickly transitioned to online learning. One of the smoothest transitions for me was Linear Algebra I for Honours Mathematics (Math 136), which employed the use of Möbius. The remainder of the course was primarily taught using videos created by professors using Möbius, along with practice questions on the platform. Even though you couldn’t directly engage your professor face-to-face, Möbius made it easy to understand the concepts being covered. For example, a big advantage for myself was that I could pause and rewind the videos when I was unclear about a topic being covered. With Möbius, I could continually review the concepts being taught, until I understood, unlike in-person lectures where I would miss certain parts or not fully understand certain concepts.
Möbius also helped contribute to my overall learning experience through certain features. Most notably, Möbius would pause the video when an example question came up, which forced me to attempt the problem on my own before looking at the solution. During a lecture, I wouldn’t have time to try the entire question or not be able to because of not fully understanding concepts that were covered quickly during the lecture. Also, I liked that the solutions provided would be detailed, which would allow me to see how I could have improved my answer to get full marks on an assessment.
Fall Semester Going Online:
Waterloo has also announced that for most students, the upcoming fall semester will also be online. As a computer science major, all of my classes will be online. Learning tools such as Möbius combined with my professors holding virtual office hours so students can ask questions will be key to my success for the upcoming term.
About Tapish:
Tapish is a second-year Computer Science student at the University of Waterloo, hoping to specialize in either Software Engineering or AI. He is interested in machine learning, cybersecurity and software development. In his free time, Tapish likes to play sports like basketball and soccer and listen to music and code. Tapish worked entirely remotely as a full-stack developer for DigitalEd during the Summer 2020 co-op term.