The COVID-19 pandemic changed our way to connect and communicate with colleagues and collaborators. The communication is often established through digital tools and platforms. What do you think: How did networking in academia change due to the COVID-19 pandemic? what advantages and what disadvantages do you see? Is it easier to join networks in an early career stage or do you see barriers? I'm interested in a wide variety of experiences to discuss those questions.
Dear Silvia Fränkel,
The SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic has increased the scale of citizens' use of the Internet, online platforms, communication, social networks, online messaging, and online videoconferencing platforms. This issue also applies to the academic community. As the a process has been transferred to e-learning, various staff meetings, chair meetings, conferences and symposia are also held remotely over the Internet using online videoconferencing platforms. Therefore, due to the pandemic, we are currently still communicating mainly or exclusively remotely via mailing, internet messaging, social networks, internet video conferencing platforms. As nowadays all these remote internet communication tools can also be used via smartphone, it is also a convenient form of communication. We can take the smartphone virtually anywhere with us and, being far from the university, we can remotely communicate and participate in various works, meetings, conferences, etc. from anywhere via a smartphone. So remote communication has many positive aspects.
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
We shift to online activities (learning & teaching, examination, seminars, workshops, conferences, ...) via the platform of Google Meets, Zoom....
- Advantages: lower cost, time-saving...
- Disadvantages: lacks of close interaction, of face-to-face meeting, of traveling, of real feeling...
Some collaborative research projects, however, cannot be conducted over an internet connection and instead require face-to-face interaction to thrive and survive. Such projects include those requiring fieldwork or experimental or bench/wet-lab research. Indeed, collaborations requiring expensive and exclusive laboratory equipment to advance cannot easily be replicated in a home office
Online learning and communication may have advantages in terms of saving time, but it does not allow acquaintance and dealing with new people, real cooperation, and an increase in actual knowledge, not only virtual.
When you can go outside but mask and social distance between you and your fd or college or relative or school collage office
The advantage is that we can join international conferences online, meet supervisors online, collect data online. As participation in onsite activities become difficult, we try to engage more in online activities. It saves time and sometimes money but we miss face to face interaction.