Attending college during the coronavirus pandemic has discouraged many students, especially incoming freshmen and transfer students, from making friends and joining on-campus communities at San Jose State.
Luckily, some tech-savvy students have utilized various online chat platforms including Discord to rebuild campus social life lost because of remote learning.
The use of official and independent school Discord servers should be permitted by instructors because it helps rebuild social connections with peers lost during the pandemic.
Originally designed as a space for gamers to chat, Discord servers have allowed students to create study groups independently from their online classroom.
A group of students from Baltimore, Maryland formed three teams that were tasked with finding solutions for peers to cope with mental health issues during the pandemic, according to a Feb 1, article from the technology news organization Technical.ly.
One of the teams, Team Connect, used Discord as a tool for students to connect with their peers.
The group found Discord more reliable and accessible than Zoom.
“The ability to create a server for Baltimore public school, a classroom, or a club would allow for easier communication and engagement among students, staving off social isolation.” according to the article.
Without these groups, the only time students can interact with each other is during Zoom breakout rooms.
These usually last from 10-15 minutes per class session and aren't enough time to build friendships or connections with classmates.
But on Discord, students can communicate outside of class with instant messaging, voice calls and video calls.
Instructors should look into using Discord to build student engagement because servers are accessible and easy to moderate.
If implemented, instructors could take advantage of Discord’s functions as a hub for giving individual feedback or as a platform to communicate with students.
“In terms of moderation outside of designated individuals, there are scripts and bots that can be programmed into the server that can filter out inappropriate content,” the members of Team Connect said.
While Discord is a good way for students to interact with peers, many instructors worry about how easy it is for the groups to enable students to cheat.
"I am hearing from colleagues not only across the country but across the world that academic misconduct has surged during the winter 2020 term," University of Calgary Assistant Professor Sarah Elaine Eaton said in a June 2020 CBC news article.
An anonymous student source revealed in a May 2020 Teen Vogue article that 40 students used a private Discord group to work together on an AP calculus and AP physics exam without proctor knowledge.
“There are many servers that enable collaboration between students to solve whatever test version they have been given on a specific test day for a specific exam,” the student said. “Other servers are more straightforward and just post solutions to the problems a couple of minutes before the test window ends.”
But Discord is not at fault for students creating groups to cheat because it is an inevitable side effect of online instruction.
With or without Discord, students will find other platforms to cheat. Not allowing students to use Discord as a tool will only stifle student engagement.
On its homepage, Discord posted a message of inclusion with the goal of creating a safe space for those looking for a community.
“Whether you’re part of a school club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or just a handful of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to talk every day and hang out more often.”
In these trying times, Discord can help SJSU students find the Spartan community that’s been lost during the pandemic.
