Work-in-Progress: Online Learning During COVID-19
Maddie King is one of our teenage staff members at young & free press. She is currently a grade twelve student at Parkside Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Online schooling has been in place for a little less than a month now. When the announcement that we would be beginning online classes first came out, I was a bit worried. I’ve never taken an online class before, so I was unsure of how this would fit into my life.
The provincial government has put out some guidelines and rules concerning e-learning. First, schools will be distributing Chromebooks and iPads to students who do not have access to devices at home. Second, we are expected to complete three hours of work a week for each course. Third, our grades cannot drop below the grade that we had before the March Break. Everything is essentially optional.
All of my teachers have been managing our online school very well. They have been super-understanding and caring. Some have been running a weekly survey on how we are doing with the course-work, along with how we’ve been doing mentally during this challenging time. Teachers have been clear that everything is optional, but they encourage us to keep working, especially those who are preparing for post-secondary education. In most of my classes, the teacher has been hosting a weekly Google meet, so we can ask questions live and discuss course-work with our peers in a class-like setting. Throughout the rest of the week, my teachers are always ready to answer questions we have about the work. Most importantly, they are promoting openness. The teachers want us to be honest about how we’re doing, how much work we’ve been completing, and how much we understand. They’re doing everything they can to help us succeed.
Adjusting to all classes online is difficult, but some have been harder to navigate than others. Math has been relatively straightforward. We watch a video lesson our teacher has prepared for us, and then complete the assigned homework. Science has been a little different. We have the Power-Points for each lesson, but without a teacher there to explain it more, it’s harder. Luckily, there are tons of good videos and websites we can utilize. Drama class has been the toughest. This course is all about working together and performing, which we can’t do. Drama has a special energy that you can’t recreate through a screen. We’ve decided to work on the monologue unit because it is an individual project, but we can’t keep focusing on monologues if online school continues. We’ll have to find a way to work in groups if we want to cover the curriculum. There have been some problems since e-learning has started, but so far teachers have found solutions.
Each student is handling this change in a different way. Personally, I have decided to continue to work through all my course-work so I can be prepared for the future. I’ve taken time each day to work on a bit from each class. I find that, when you break the work into smaller chunks, it’s not as overwhelming. I’ve also participated in the Google meets (class video chats) so I can receive information and instruction from my teacher directly and collaborate with my peers. Teachers have been very open to answering questions, so I utilize that as well. The more I know, the better I’ve been able to handle this. I’m also honest with my teachers – if I’m having a problem with something, I’ll ask for help. This is crucial if you want to succeed in whatever path you take in the future. To motivate myself and to stay on track, I’ve tried to complete all the work by the suggested due-dates. Just taking everything day-by-day has really helped.
Online school is a way for students to complete and learn the course material, which is essentially the purpose of school, but there are other things that school offers that we aren’t getting this way. Right now, we are missing the social aspect of school. There were so many events and activities planned that most likely won’t happen now. These events create lasting memories that everyone will miss out on. Sports are a huge thing that people are losing. For some, it was their last chance to achieve their dream of scoring a goal on the school soccer team, or winning the relay race with their closest teammates. They’ll never be able to have that now, which has been very hard for students to accept.
Although students are missing out on a lot, online school does have benefits. Students can go through the material at their own pace and understand everything more deeply. There isn’t the pressure of huge tests, so we’re learning for the sake of learning, not to pass or fail. For myself, I’m sad that I’m missing some of the last moments of high school and that I didn’t get to finish my term on the Student Council, but this has taught me a lot. I’ve learned how to take more responsibility for my learning, and not to take everyday things for granted.
