STUDENT LIFE
Three years ago, I had never thought that I would be learning from the screen of a computer. When I thought about school before Covid-19, I could only think of being in a classroom face to face for the whole school year with my teachers and classmates doing activities like regular field trips, and holding school events such as assemblies, capstone events, and school productions to large audiences. The best part about all those things was that everyone didn’t even have to wear a mask everywhere!
It’s been three years since we have been introduced to virtual learning and all I can remember is spending half of each school year online and the other half in person.
To this day, we are still wearing masks and social distancing everywhere. This has certainly affected my life and the people around me. In this article, I will be explaining the effects that come with learning overseas and how our mental health and productivity are affected by it.
How does learning online affect mental health?
Online learning affects mental health in two ways.
First, being online for long amounts of time can cause something called zoom fatigue. According to the Kentucky Counseling Center (KCC), this is when a student is physically exhausted from long virtual meetings and can sometimes affect a student's ability to comprehend new information. Although this is not a diagnosed illness, this can affect a student's mental health and overall happiness, as well as increase stress and anxiety levels.
Second, the lack of interaction that online schooling students have affects their mental health. Without socializing and seeing friends, students will face greater social isolation. The KCC states that ”going to school teaches learning from books, but it is also where friendship starts and fun memories are created. Communication and social skills are best learned with social interactions.” This tells us that any sort of socializing or communication with one another is crucial for our mental state.
However, it is not only the students' mental health that is affected but also those of their parents and teachers. When students are in a different time zone and have trouble learning more independently, this can cause their parents and teacher lots of stress as face-to-face classes allow for more immediate support and feedback. Without being in-person for teachers to answer all the questions that they have, students could not be fully understanding a topic which causes more stress for themselves and their parents to help them understand.
How does schooling online affect learning productivity?
Learning from another timezone has many effects on a student's capability to learn. Attending classes virtually while also in a different place means that most students will either have to start schooling early in the morning or end late at night.
This might not seem like too much of a problem but online learning has a huge impact on a student's productivity level. In an article written on productivity by Ryan Luke, he states that scientists have proven that the most productive working time for students is in the early afternoon. The reason for this is that students' energy and efficiency are at their highest during this time so getting work done in the early afternoon is better. This information tells us that students who start school at 5:00 pm or 3:00 am are not likely to reach their full productivity potential which may not be helpful for their learning in the future.
Another study from the Council of Ontario states that across the entire population, students who are tasked with homework formatted online are more likely to procrastinate and take longer to complete the assignments normally given to them in-person. This is because it’s a lot easier to get distracted by playing video games or finding something on your desk and in your home to fidget around with.
Furthermore, a study by the Johns Hopkins Newsletter found that students who are in another timezone feel more depressed and not connected to their friends and family. More importantly, they feel as though they cannot adjust to the new school times while also juggling school and interacting with other people.
How do THS overseas students’ view virtual school?
I surveyed some students at THS that were overseas and asked them about their opinions on VC@T. These students are currently in other countries like Singapore, Hawaii, England, Sweden, and Australia.
Question 1. What is the biggest challenge you have/are facing with online learning?
Some of the biggest challenges that these students face with overseas learning is that it's really hard to focus because if schooling starts at a later or earlier time than usual, it is hard to adjust to the new school times. This also makes it harder for them to participate in classes because they do not have the supplies that they normally would have if they were learning on-site.
Question 2. Do you think that this kind of schooling has affected your productivity? Why or why not?
Out of all of the responses, most students replied that since they are at a different timezone, it is hard to stay productive and concentrate when learning early or late in the day. On the other hand, there were a few students who thought that learning overseas, even with their classmates in person, reduces the amount of chaos and helps them work at their own pace.
Question 3. Do you prefer to be in online or in-person schooling?
This was a very controversial question because some students needed to be face to face to understand the topic while others preferred more individualized work so learning online wouldn't be so bad of a problem for them. This would generally just depend on who that student is and what they prefer.
In conclusion, virtual learning can be good or bad depending on the type of student you are. It is still important to understand how to handle the stress of being online and how to make sure that you are keeping productive. Learning overseas has its pros and cons but it is also about exercising a growth mindset and having a positive point of view.
Sources: