CAMAGÜEY.- Like thousands of young people in the country, Yania Garay Jorge yearns for her reunion with her teachers and her classmates in the university environment. While the COVID-19 prevents the return to the classrooms, the second-year Architecture student continues from the municipality of Guáimaro her professional training in the modality of distance study at the University of Camagüey Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz.

“It has been difficult, especially because in my career the use of software speeds up work, but we have had to replace it with other more affordable technologies at home. Can you imagine how long it takes for the freehand drawing of an entire urbanization to take? ”, She says between challenging and proud when showing the plan whose design took her several days.

-How did you send that task to your teachers for evaluation?

-Normally I designed on a computer, with specialized programs that we have in our faculty, but now I draw on paper, take photos and send them to teachers by WhatsApp. The greatest difficulty is in correctly determining the scales.

The student notices the need to assume an attitude in her comprehensive preparation in accordance with the demands of a different school period and the efforts of the Camagüey's university for the development of its academic plans in exceptional circumstances.

University students encounter various obstacles in understanding content outside the usual educational setting, through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). For many, autonomous learning is a challenge, even with the tutoring of teachers; and the interaction with virtual environments such as the Moodle platform, which demands constancy in the practice of digital knowledge for access to the didactic resources of the subjects. While setbacks are born, solutions also grow.

-A specialty such as Architecture requires teamwork and exchange with other specialists. What strategies do you adopt in the face of physical distancing measures due to the new coronavirus?

-The activities that guide us must be carried out individually, however we debate ideas over the phone and social networks as if we were in class.

“When I need to ask questions, I contact my teachers, from whom I receive very good attention. Also, a young architect from my town has shared some of his experiences with me and has been of great help.

“In the face of difficulties, you can always do a little more. For example, some of my colleagues from other municipalities have been involved in paying attention to subsidies, a task where they learn a lot and in which I would like to participate. "

-What has this experience of distance education given you?

- At first it seemed to me that I would not succeed, because I have to combine my student duties with the routine of home. I have learned to organize myself according to the study and to manage knowledge through different ways. Now I feel more adept at drawing and the work is better done. I can say that I have gained in discipline and responsibility.

Yania accepts the challenge of distance professional training while waiting for the return to the atmosphere of blackboards, conferences, sports games, cultural festivals, scientific events ... From Guáimaro, the most eastern territory of Camagüey, she lives at the rhythm of an active University in times of pandemic .