A lot has changed in the world during the pandemic including how students learn. Although doing virtual school is necessary and a good idea to keep everyone safe, I think that it’s much more challenging than having school in person.

One thing that’s nice about being in a classroom with a teacher is that you can ask them questions and get help when you need it very easily. This isn’t the case when you’re online though. Instead of easily asking a quick question, students have to send an email to a teacher which causes them to have to wait a while for an answer since the teachers are busy and aren’t always checking their emails. 

And even if you have time during a Zoom call to ask your question, it’s still a lot harder to communicate with your teacher since there can be problems with technology on both ends and it’s more difficult for teachers to see a message in chat or hear a student talk if there are multiple people that have something to say.

Another reason that online school is harder is that it’s easy to lose focus. In a normal school setting, you wouldn’t be allowed to have your phone out and are constantly being watched by a teacher. Being in a classroom environment also tells your brain to be more focused.

Although, when you’re in your own home with access to technology and other distractions, it’s easier to lose interest in your school work and start doing something else that’s less productive. For example, when a student is having asynchronous or even synchronous time with their camera turned off, they could easily get on their phone without anyone knowing. 

And even if you try to stay focused and keep your room free of distractions, your brain might shut off a little bit since it associates being home with relaxing and not working. With no one to hold you accountable, it can cause you to care less about your work.

But virtual learning isn’t just hard for students. It affects teachers as well. If a teacher isn’t comfortable with using certain platforms such as Blend or Google Drive, then this can affect their ability to easily teach their classes. 

It can also be stressful to constantly be having to create lessons that work for students whether they are synchronous or asynchronous. They have to change the way that they’ve always done things and it can be frustrating which could negatively affect how they teach things to their students.

One argument that could be made is that you don’t have to move around as much and that it’s easier to get your classes without having to wander around the building trying to find your next class.

Although this is true, I don’t think that this makes being home and doing school any easier. In fact, when you’re not moving around as much it can cause you to become more tired and again, less focused. 

It can also be stressful to try and get to your next class Zoom meeting because sometimes you can’t find the link, or your computer is being glitchy or having problems. This can cause students to miss important information in the class or be confused about the material. 

Although it is necessary, online school is much more difficult than having school in person for both students and teachers.