After prying their eyes open at 7:30 a.m. and opening their Chromebooks from bed, Loy Norrix students logged into their first hour. The switch to online schooling during the 2020 lockdown resulted in an instant decline in the education and enjoyment of our students. Starting on Apr. 9, students and staff of Loy Norrix prepared for battle as they clicked the “join meet” button from the comfort of their beds.
For seniors, the entirety of their freshman year was online. Now, as they are within reach of ascending off to college, they had to relive their freshman troubles.
For senior Sam Bistrek, returning to online school was nothing but unpleasant.
“Back then when I was younger, I was really unfocused as I had so many distractions, and never ended up learning, and now I’m in the same spot for these online days as a senior, which really sucks,” said Bistrek.
The in-school distractions were amplified while students were at home, since they can freely grab a TV remote or gaming controller within a second, and most of all they have unrestricted access to their phone throughout class.
“Kids have to make their own decisions whether they are going to learn or not, but at least when they are in front of ou in a classroom and they decide to take a nap, you can make them up and realize they should be working and an adult has guided them to that,” said English teacher Brianna English. “Yet, when they are just a dot on a screen, there is nothing I can really do to know if they are engaged or not.”
Junior Sayani Jones struggled with attention during the online days due to the distracting environment of his house.
“When I’m in class trying to pay attention to my teacher and work, I get texts from my friends to get on the game,” Jones said, “which is pretty tempting since online classes aren’t very serious and nobody is paying attention.”
Yet, it’s not only these obvious distractions, there are deeper cuts that students experienced.
Boise State University claims that while students aren’t experiencing in-person school, they are lacking the face-to-face interaction that many students thrive from. When students are behind a laptop, they cannot build professional connections or relationships with students or employers around them. The constant fear of the notorious Wi-Fi crash that would destroy the class in seconds also hangs over their heads.
Online classes did have some perks though, as students were able to take a quick breather and relax at home for a couple of days. The reason school went online was mandatory state testing, which is a graduation requirement and could help a lot of students to attend college. Although online learning may be the worst thing to hit our school since the introduction of the geese, it’s something that will be a part of life for the days when in-person school is not possible.
To have a more successful experience for students, more preparation and different methods could be utilized by staff. Many students don’t take it seriously as they aren’t required to turn their cameras on. With stricter rules online learning could be a more valuable option, as right now students are neglecting these days. However, we cannot blame students since they were thrown behind their screens with no rules or monitoring. As online education isn’t our first option, it allows us to count these classes as school days so that students will still be released for summer break on schedule.
