Online Education: Exploring the Student Perspective
Lindsey Ehrlich, Reporter and Web Designer
School News
With the COVID-19 pandemic breaking out across the globe, governments have been forced to instill new regulations, employers have been forced to lay off thousands of employees, and citizens have been confined to their homes. This pandemic is the center of attention, making headlines on some of the biggest newspapers.
For students, perhaps the most drastic change is the switch to remote learning. To limit physical interaction, many school districts, including the Mukilteo School District, shut down schools and distributed school laptops to students in an effort to continue education.
Every day, instead of waking up to take the bus or walk to school, students must now log into their Zoom meetings, sitting for at least 4 hours to complete classwork and homework. In addition, classes have been compressed so that students take three classes in one semester.
There have been many challenges with the change, one of the most prominent being the lack of social interaction. Andrew Shutov, a Kamiak sophomore, shared his experience with math class: “Math was my favorite subject last year. It is fun if you’re doing it in a group. It is not fun if you’re doing it at home in a corner.”
Shutov is not alone in wanting more connection with his peers. Edward Islas, a junior at Kamiak, says that his favorite class this year is psychology: “In my psychology class, I’m more connected with my peers because we are actually talking with one another. But say in my English or math class, where usually it is the teacher talking, we are just learning. We are just taking notes. I don’t have much of a community.”
With the switch to remote learning, contacting other students has also become more difficult. “With Schoology, we can’t get in contact with other students,” Shutov noted. “I tried to email some students to work on a big project that we had, but there is no way we can contact other students.”
For Shutov, motivation is also a big problem. “We can choose to go to the Zoom [meeting] or not,” he said. “We need more motivation for the students to learn.” Islas also agrees that, “It gets tiring just sitting down for four and a half hours… I’m not built for my eyes to just stare at a screen for long periods of time.”
Transitioning to online programs, such as Zoom and Schoology, has been a big challenge for many teachers at Kamiak. Technical issues often arise, hindering learning for many students. Rachel Lashbaugh, a Kamiak freshman, shares that organization is extremely important, as classes will be more successful in teaching and taking advantage of students' time if teachers are aware of how to use technology more efficiently. “Some teachers don’t know how to put all the information in a space that would be best viewed for students to see,” Katie Gilkinson, a freshman at Kamiak, added. “And also the students are having trouble finding some things too. So, I think it’s on both ends.”
But, with remote learning, there also comes a good side. “We actually get more time to sleep,” Islas noted. “And, there is not much stress or pressure.” Lashbaugh says “Being able to eat in class is a plus.” Remote learning also seems to be providing an opportunity for students to become more independent and, for Lashbaugh, that is another one of the positives.
Overall, the switch to remote learning has been a big change for all of us, with plenty of pros and cons. For now, at least, the negatives outweigh the positives as several students noted. Although COVID-19 is preventing any “normalcy,” most students would much rather go back to in-person learning.
There are many kinks in the process that are still being worked out but meanwhile, we can find other means to interact more with each other. This is a unique situation for all of us but in the end, it will only make our community stronger.