Photo Courtesy of Hofstra University
Quarantine cannot stop Hofstra’s physical activity programs from running. According to Professor Steven Frierman, who, along with Professor Enid Friedman, coordinates the physical activity classes in Hofstra’s Department of Specialized Programs in Education (SPE), all of the physical activity classes have transitioned online, with the exception of scuba diving.
Since the online class trend first started about 20 years ago, there have been efforts to create online physical activity classes. Professor Joseph Bubenas, for example, received a grant about five years ago to teach his Tai Chi class in a hybrid format, which means the class would alternate between online and in-person sessions. But by design, the classes are most effective in person, where students have access to facilities, equipment and one-on-one feedback from their instructor.
“The most important thing is individualized instruction,” Frierman said. “Being able to go and demonstrate certain skills, and then go and observe and give positive feedback and correction and things of that nature. Not that you couldn’t educate somebody about how to do something online, but by no means is it the same thing.”
In this time of crisis, however, there is no choice but to offer physical activity classes online. The professors in SPE have turned a horrible situation into an exercise in resilience and creativity.
Each professor has a different approach to the online format, depending on their teaching style and what they are teaching. Zoom, while effective for simulating a regular class, is imperfect, as it is difficult to keep students consistently engaged when they are in different time zones or have different levels of comfort with being on camera. Video recordings can be effective in terms of showing teacher demonstration and student comprehension. Depending on the class, workout sheets and supplementary academic materials – which might have already been offered – are often emphasized to accommodate online learning. Professor Enid Friedman teaches her swimming class online, which presents a uniquely challenging set of circumstances.
“The goal of the Swim for Fitness class is to build cardio fitness and muscular endurance through various workouts in the pool,” Friedman said. “Obviously, we don’t have the pool right now, and [the students’] final exam is a one-mile swim in one hour. This is totally doable when we’re in the pool for a semester because I work on a principle called progressive overload, where I gradually increase the intensity or the duration of their swim and give them different swimming workouts … We’ve developed a program that competitive swimmers use when they’re training out of the water, and we call it ‘No Pool, No Problem.’”
While none of the professors prefer teaching their classes online, they recognize how the experience is making them better teachers as they are forced to find solutions beyond their tried-and-true methods.
“I’ve been teaching these classes here at Hofstra for many years,” Friedman said. “But by putting me into an environment or a situation where I’m not comfortable, where I’m not used to it, it’s making me dig a little bit deeper and to try to not be so content with the way I’ve been doing things, and to try to do them differently … Even though I’m not happy with the online teaching – I’d much rather have the face-to-face teaching – it’s making me a better teacher because I’m getting a whole different understanding of what I teach and a different way of presenting it.”
With an eye to the future, this experience is giving professors the necessary tools and insight to consistently offer their classes online, even when the pandemic ends and things return to normal.
“We may consider offering, not a lot, but maybe one or two online classes for students who have difficulty commuting to and from [Hofstra],” Frierman said. “Students who need a credit, but they live far away [for example].”
The physical activity classes are not necessarily meant for athletes. They are mostly meant for students who want to improve their lifestyle and become healthier under the supervision of a knowledgeable instructor. With the onset of COVID-19, the phrase “healthy lifestyle” has taken on a whole new meaning as health becomes the world’s top priority. Now more than ever, exercise and physical fitness act as a means of coping with the pandemic, either as a precautionary measure or as a form of stress relief.
Professor Lora Ahlemann, who teaches yoga, finds that her classes provide her students with methods for handling the new disruptions in their lives, whether it is an issue of traveling to a home halfway around the world or a lack of confidence in taking classes online.
“There is a heightened sense of anxiety, I feel,” Ahlemann said. “And a lot of [my students] are writing about how the breathing techniques are helping them. I think it’s amazing how they can take the yoga techniques into their lives and use it in all sorts of ways to help.”
Meanwhile, there are the empty pools, tracks and studios. The Hofstra campus seems like a distant memory. It will be a relief to return to campus and for students and teachers to breathe the same air. But in a way, the pandemic is teaching the Hofstra community to appreciate campus life more than four years of normalcy ever could.
“You young men and women are basically not happy with this situation,” Bubenas said. “You didn’t come to college to be in your home, or in your dorm, on a machine. You came to college to be with other human beings and participate with them. So, I think the goal is that interaction. I benefit, for sure, but the students benefit a lot more than I do. Or certainly as much [as I do].”
A previous version of this article stated that Stephen Frierman coordinated the physical activity program. The statement was incomplete and has since been updated.
