Online or In-Person Learning?

Many people have had to adjust their lives due to the world-wide spreading virus COVID-19. About 56.4 million students went back to school this year in America. Before the school year began, students were given the option to either completely return to school physically, attend only specific classes physically, or remain at home and go to school online..

This was a hard decision to make for students and their families.

“It was more of my parents' choice because one, they want to make sure that I'm in a safe learning environment because of COVID and two, transportation issues since Edgewood doesn't have buses anymore,” Anshi Patel, 8, said.

Due to COVID-19, Edgewood had to cut much of its bussing system, which was a problem for many students. The lack of this free transportation encouraged many families to keep their kids at home as e-learners. However, a lot of students do better when they can physically see what they are taught.

“Yeah, going to school will make it better because I need to be able to hear and see stuff directly to be able to understand well,” Jawad Mosrie, 9, said.

Students doing online school have experienced some changes to their daily school life, such as sleeping in for longer and having more time for themselves.

“I enjoy that it gives me more time to finish my school work and give me time to do other things by cutting off the transportation times,” said Patel.

Online students who previously had long transportation times to and from school definitely make use of this time.

Teacher-student bonds, however, are more difficult to maintain online. Many online students, especially incoming seventh graders, have never even met or seen some of their teachers.

“My bond with my teachers are not that strong because we have never met and there's a lack of communication between teachers and students other than if we are called on to answer a question,” Patel said.

Teachers are finding it more difficult this year to engage with all of their students; maintaining a balance between the students in-class and the students online has been a challenge.

“I feel like my teachers do their best to make sure all the online students get the same amount of engagement we would if we were in the classroom.” Miller said.

The most obvious advantage of e-learning is the added sense of safety that it allows; students at home know that they're not being exposed to the virus.

“I feel safer at home because going to school in person puts you at greater risk of getting coronavirus, but staying home is much safer because you are indoors with your family and you are not interacting with others who have been to other places,” Mariam Vayda, 8, said.

E-learners are also given great flexibility in terms of potentially changing their decision and returning to school physically. Many online students plan to reevaluate their learning method after the first semester, determining whether it is safe to return to school, because while online school is the safest option, in-person learning can make a difference for students.

“If I'm in person, then it's easier for me to learn, because I'm in front of the teacher, and she's doing whatever she's doing on the board. it's easier for me to understand and look at, rather than sitting on the computer,” Vayda said.

While staying at home, it's harder to focus and keep up with the class, especially when teachers are trying to teach both kids at school and online.

There are many pros and cons to e-learning. On one hand, students are able to sleep in, not pack a lunch, spend no time on transportation, gain new experiences, and most importantly, reduce risk of COVID-19 infection. However, for some students, the detriments of e-learning outweigh the benefits; not being able to follow the teacher, using a lot of class time to get connected, staying home all day, missing your friends, not really knowing your teachers, and even missing out on your senior year encouraged many students to return to school physically.

These in-person students had to go through the same decision making process as the online students, and they had the same factors to consider when doing so.

“It was both me and my parents' choice to go back, I am fortunate enough to live really close to the school, so it was never a transportation issue. Another factor was that I am a really social person so being without talking to people was really hard,” Shannon Stuckey, 9, said.

Students at school have a very different day compared to e-learners. These in-person learners have no choice but to wake up early, and have to take extra precautions to protect themselves when at school and surrounded by other students.

“My family and I have gained some new habits, such as washing our hands between classes and when we arrive home. Also we have been trying to limit being in places to long as much as we can, so hope to we don't spread covid accidentally,” Stuckey said.

While in-person learning may come with more risk of infection, it also has significant advantages. Physically seeing teachers and being able to talk/ ask questions is a big bonus for at school students and can help them to create a bond with their teachers.

Besides the fact that half of its students are at home, Edgewood has changed in a variety of other ways in order to adjust to circumstances under COVID-19. Students and teachers have to wear masks at all times, and new additions, such as water bottle fill stations and one-way walkways, have been added to reduce the spread of the virus.

“I honestly feel pretty safe because everyone is taking precautions,” Mosrie said.

In-school learners have also been forced to adjust to new circumstances at school because of COVID-19. Even in-school learners have had to learn how to use new technology- because teachers are trying to avoid passing out physical papers, students have been relying on computers and other digital modes of education.

“A con would definitely be using a computer at all the time because I have had to learn how to scan and upload things, which is a huge mess," said Stuckey.

E-learners and in-person learners' lives and school experiences are very different from each other. They both have different challenges and things they find easier about their different experiences. However, in the end, both types of learning are good options, and teachers have been doing everything they can to make both experiences equally valuable for students.