Darby-Marie Henshaw

Graduate Student, Master of Planning, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary, Canada.

Interviewed August 2020 by Martina MacFarlane

MM Darby-Marie, please tell us about what you do.

DH I am a student at the University of Calgary within the master of planning program at the SAPL (School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape). In the Fall I will be entering my second year of the program. This summer has been a bit different for me as the pandemic has impacted professional work opportunities. However, I’ve been doing some research with SafeGrowth in the Marlborough community in Calgary and have created a variety of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) strategies for the community to implement.

MM What was the biggest challenge when moving to remote learning in the Winter semester?

DH I would say that the biggest struggle was creating a routine. In general, during the wintertime, people have a hard time setting boundaries and defining their routine because everyone is burned out and the winter conditions are inescapable. This added an additional barrier for me. I often felt as if it was okay to sleep in a bit longer and it was okay to watch my favourite show a bit more, just because I was at home. It was convenient; everything was at my fingertips and there wasn’t any sense of accountability. I longed for the structure that comes with physically being at school.

MM You go in, you put in your hours, you go home, and you can separate your personal life from your work life. It’s hard to do that as a student doing online classes, because we are passionate about our work all the time. Those rigid boundaries are hard to establish when working at home.

DH For sure, and by losing that rigidness in your schedule, it’s easy to fall into a pattern that does not prioritize balance. Because ultimately, having balance is an important contributor to being a better student.

MM On the flip side of that, what would you say are the unique opportunities created by digital education?

DH I felt like I could connect with people whenever and wherever and that has been great. I could have a meeting with a group of people from one class, and then have a meeting with another colleague a moment later. The accessibility was unmatched because of the connectivity opportunities presented with online learning. I believe that as we get more acquainted with the available tools and resources out there, the online platform will continue to provide exceptional connectivity.

MM What would be your most-used software tool?

DH I would say for me, it was primarily Zoom because it is the tool that our classes are delivered on. I’ve used WhatsApp a lot too for personal use and to stay in touch with out-of-province family. I find that Zoom has been a great resource for school as it is extremely user friendly.

MM What would be your recommendations for online education from a student perspective?

DH I would say that there must be a thorough breakdown of expectations. I believe that if expectations are not outlined at the get-go, communication becomes confusing, and the direction can be misleading. This ultimately creates a lot of wasted time trying to communicate with people individually rather than as a collective, which is common in the classroom setting. I felt like there was a lot of confusion within my classes for this reason. What are the expected expectations to begin with? And then, what do we do now because it’s all online learning? Because a lot of our work is done in partners or groups, we need to know what’s expected of others and how we are going to circumvent the barrier of not being able to be with each other. If the professors and students create that threshold of understanding on what’s expected from each other then it can be smoother sailing.

MM What do you expect that higher education might look like in the short-term future?

DH I do think that this is a great opportunity to take the chance to understand the possibilities of online learning. People move long distances to pursue education. It’s a defining stage when someone goes away to school—it changes family and friendship dynamics and it’s quite a risk and changes your lifestyle substantially. I think that online education can help education become more affordable and convenient for potential students. Maybe it will even encourage more people to apply themselves and dream big. The goal is to have a diverse community within higher education. That’s how knowledge advances. But I also see that, on the other hand, physical presence is very important within education. In-person communication is a tool and a skill that is learned through observation and practice. So, I see pros and cons, but I do think online learning provides more opportunities.

MM For you personally, do you find that you’re liking online learning?

DH I’m indifferent. I understand its role and that it’s a tool that must be used right now in order to get my degree, and I love what I’m doing. However, I’m a very social person and I think everyone in my class would know that. I love checking in on people and making sure everyone is doing well, or offering my help when needed. It’s important for me to connect with my peers. I truly feel like part of my experience has been taken away from me in that sense. I can learn online, but I’d prefer not to learn in isolation.

We create such a good sense of community within education, because it’s something that brings people together—sometimes it’s unlikely that those people would have connected otherwise. Without physically seeing the community, it’s really difficult to feel a connection and know that you have support. We can use online platforms as tools to connect in different ways and with different people around the world, but I believe it’s a little bit of an ungenuine connection. I think it’s great to actually be together. We need that community.

I feel extremely blessed to still be able to go to school right now, even though it’s all online. We are learning just by going through this change. This is a great opportunity to practice resilience and work through an issue that isn’t ideal, get through it as a community. As someone going into an extremely social field such as planning, it really helps to understand the kinds of barriers that could occur and how to assess these issues and work harder to make it more accessible for future endeavours. This is just another learning moment. I think we can put a positive spin on this and gain some great insight into the opportunities for learning.

Reflection

I have always been eager to learn and to excel. What I didn’t realize until now is that excelling within education is not synonymous with the confines of a classroom. The pandemic has brought a multitude of challenges to light, but it has also illuminated our resilience as a collective. Not only did we adapt our educational model in blind faith, but we became actively aware of the existing gaps within the age-old system. Through this process, we have become more invested in being proactive about fine-tuning our approach to learning, whether it be in-person or online.

My personal experience with this transition has been vast. I was a master’s student at the height of the pandemic, and I continue to be impacted by it in professional practice, utilizing online services such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams instead of holding in-person meetings. I remember being significantly impacted by this change at first. As someone who values in person interaction, it was a change I didn’t know how to manage—both personally and professionally. It was uncertain and uncontrollable. However, I’ve managed to adapt my own learning style and work ethic. I continue to time manage appropriately, ensuring enough balance between screen time and real-time experience. What I mean by real-time experience is incorporating elements of true human interaction—whether it be a walk or a coffee outside with a friend, ensuring that you provide yourself with an outlet is the most vital component to success with online learning.

I also believe that setting manageable expectations is critical. This experience has helped people uncover their feelings and identify their needs. Of course, higher education comes with higher expectations, but by acknowledging both your personal and professional expectations, a critical path can be identified that can prepare you to establish a more suitable approach to learning and living.

While these tools can help identify personal ways to succeed within higher education settings in a virtual format, I do understand that some learning is best done in person, regardless of the tactics applied. I entered my design-based program without any prior knowledge about the design world. I had a minimal understanding about computer software and hadn’t hand-drawn much more than a quick sketch. The brief time I had in person was vital for my understanding of these concepts. I learned from my peers through observation, which is something that is extremely hard to recreate within an online format. However, it’s not impossible, and I see incredible potential to recreate these seemingly not replicable in-person experiences.

I believe the future of higher education will rely on this experience substantially. As someone who has undergone the majority of a program and successfully completed a professional program during this transitional time to online learning, I see the value and the potential in this platform. I believe that we can leverage our resources to provide more opportunities for people to pursue higher education through enhanced accessibility. Through the sharing of experiences, thoughts, and processes, we can use these online learning tools and initiatives to create meaningful connections in academia that will transcend into professional practice.

About 

Darby-Marie Henshaw is a recent alumnus of the master of planning program at the University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Prior to this degree, she completed a BA in criminology at Simon Fraser University, with a focus on environmental criminology and crime prevention. Darby-Marie was born and raised in the Vancouver area of BC, where she enjoys some of her outdoor passions such as hiking, biking, and kayaking along the West Coast shores.