“They were quite motivated,” said Bellegia. “That’s a long way to drive for classes.”
When COVID-19 hit. OLLI converted its entire curriculum of about 275 courses to Zoom, Bellegia said. The good news, she added, is that remote learning is here to stay. About half of the nearly 100 fall 2021 classes will be offered online.
“It's a great opportunity to learn, be engaged, and be part of a community,” she said.
Leslie Burkhart of Fort Jones said she has been taking OLLI classes on and off since she retired eight years ago.
“Zoom access from home this last year has been a 'COVID bonus' for me,” Burkhart said. “Since I didn't have to consider the time and expense of the 100-plus mile round trip associated with each class, I went for it and took 10 classes," which opened up the world to her from the comfort of home.