JAMES DANCE
Casey Smith (20), like most Deakin students, enjoys the convenience of CloudDeakin. Unexpected family crisis? No problem. Last minute shift changes at work? No problem. Global pandemic forces everyone inside? No worries. “If I can’t make it to the lecture on campus, I can just watch a recording of it later that day.”
This, however, was the beginning of a bad habit. After missing a lecture due to covering a mate’s shift at the last minute during trimester 2 in his first year, Casey simply watched the lecture recording that night when he got home.
The Law/International Relations student, now in his first trimester of his third year, is yet to re-enter a lecture hall. “It’s just so convenient, you know? Rather than hopping in my car, enduring disgusting traffic (even at 11am for some reason?) and then paying for parking after looking for a spot for 40 minutes, I simply wake up and click ‘play’. I don’t even have to get out of bed!” exclaimed Casey.
According to our interviewer, Casey was most impressed by the ability to speed up the recording. This is particularly useful to maximise lecture time. “Sometimes I have to speed the recording up to 2x just to bring the professor’s speaking speed up to normal,” said Casey.
Although Casey still attends his online seminars, he felt as though he would benefit from booking in a consultation with the Equity and Trusts lecturer to discuss the unit material. Once the professor began talking, Casey was shocked to discover that they do not, in fact, speak in 2x speed. “Man, it was rough. My ears had adjusted to a much faster speaking pace. I could barely keep up with the slowness of our conversation. I forgot that people have to pause and think of the next thing to say!”
Despite Casey’s intention to be a good student, he has decided that 1x speed just isn’t for him.
