On Sept. 22, the Ventura County Community College District announced its plan to stick to largely remote learning through the spring 2021 semester. As a result, students, staff and faculty will continue to remain off campus for all but the most essential of business. For faculty in particular though, this extension means planning another semester to operate as remotely as possible.

Johnathan Bair is a professor with Moorpark College’s Game Design program and has had to adapt his classes to run remotely, without much of the equipment normally available.

Bair is glad for the extension though, as he feels it shows the district is taking the ongoing pandemic seriously. Moreover, Bair feels that his classes have actually benefited from the new online format.

Despite the loss of usually available resources, Bair elaborated, “…with Tabletop Simulator or Discord, we are able to move on. We have found a second home in a Discord server I created just for our students and we have had more Game Jams and student showcases on Discord then we ever had in the classroom. While I am sad to not have my space right now, we are still operating at 100% and having a great time learning and developing.”

Meanwhile, FTMA Adjunct Faculty Jason Beaton teaches classes on radio broadcasting and audio production at Moorpark College and also helps run campus radio station KMCJ.

Beaton understands the inconveniences that come with remote learning, but strongly endorses the VCCCD’s decision to distance through spring 2021. Despite the challenges posed by remote learning, Beaton sees learning opportunities.

Drawing on his professional background, Beaton explained, “This is not the ideal situation for all but it is something that I fully support. In my 35 years of professional broadcasting I had to deal with many obstacles such as earthquakes (Whittier ‘87 and Northridge ‘94), riots in 1992, the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and now the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020. Each of these presented difficult sensations and situations for Broadcasters that required us to adapt and change.”

Similarly, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral and Vocal Activities Brandon Elliott acknowledged the downsides of remote learning, but emphasized that student safety should be a foremost concern.

“While it is unfortunate that our music majors will receive little, if any, in-person instruction, the safety and wellbeing of our students is our priority. Ensembles and applied music are extremely difficult to transition online,” Elliott stated.

Current drawbacks aside, Elliot stated that the music department is currently allowed to host some in-person instruction for specific groups, albeit masked and socially distanced. Moreover, with district approval, vocalists might be allowed to hold group practices under similarly stringent guidelines.

On an emotional level, Elliott summarized, “Personally, it is sad to not make music in person for such a prolonged period, and I look forward to the day where we can all join in song again.”