In this descriptive analysis, we consider the experiences of students who prefer face-to-face (F2F) classes but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had no alternative other than taking their introductory biology class online during the 2020–2021 academic year. We conducted focus group interviews with 12 college students who enrolled in an asynchronous online introductory biology course for non-majors. We interpret their experiences through the theoretical framing of student engagement, which generally centers students as the directors of their learning experiences. However, when reflecting on their online, technologically mediated experience, our participants regarded their instructors as the hub or convener of their interactions with content, technology, and other learners. We explore the implications of these findings for engaging other students who may find themselves involuntarily online, and make recommendations for pedagogy and communication around the culture of online learning.

在这项描述性分析中，我们考虑了 2020-2021 学年喜欢面对面 (F2F) 课程但由于 COVID-19 大流行而除了在线参加生物入门课程之外别无选择的学生的经历。我们对 12 名参加非专业异步在线生物学入门课程的大学生进行了焦点小组访谈。我们通过学生参与的理论框架来解释他们的经历，该框架通常将学生作为他们学习经历的主导者。然而，在反思他们的在线技术介导的体验时，我们的参与者将他们的教师视为他们与内容、技术和其他学习者互动的中心或召集人。我们探讨了这些发现对于吸引其他可能不自觉地上网的学生的影响，并就在线学习文化的教学和交流提出了建议。