Remote Learning: The Pros and Cons

The global pandemic that has been going for a year now has impacted the students in many ways. I think that one of the biggest impacts would be the learning style- especially for the full remote students. Starting from September, students who decided to choose full remote have been working from home virtually. These students have never been to the school yet, haven’t had the chance to meet their friends and teachers physically in school. They haven’t gotten to be in an actual class either, like they have been since kindergarten. They often work virtually through instructional/help videos posted by the teachers, zoom meetings, emails, etc. There are a variety of opinions regarding how students think about remote learning. One common thing would be that it’s very different and awkward, but also an interesting experience they will never forget.

Learning from home everyday is indeed very different and sometimes difficult. But there are many positive things about working from home. 

As a remote student, I personally think this is a very interesting experience. One positive thing about remote learning is that I’m able to concentrate better working quietly alone in my room because I don’t get distracted as much. I also like remote learning because I feel “safe” since I don’t have to worry about wearing masks, COVID-19, social distancing, etc. However, when I work at home, there’s only my family so I don’t have to worry about the virus as much or have to make sure I’m wearing my mask properly. 

Another positive thing about remote learning is that my time managing skills increased. The schedule for remote students is quite different from the previous schedules we’ve had before. There are some classes that have a huge gap in between and due to that, I started to try managing my time effectively. For example, instead of having the “lunch time” being assigned, based on my schedule for the day, I choose the right time to eat lunch. I also have to decide which homework to start first, based on how much work is given. 

Remote learning helps me organize myself better and also makes me create my own schedule instead of having an “official schedule” given by the school to follow, which I think is a good skill to practice. 

Other remote students noted that there are pros to remote learning:

“Some positive things about remote learning is that I can see my dog a lot more, I can’t get sick, and the teachers are very understanding when somethings goes wrong due the technology”

– Megan Henel

“The pros of learning from home is not having to spend the whole day doing school related things because I can actually do other things I can’t do while in school. I also don’t have to wait for other classmates to catch up while doing work because everyone can work at their own pace. I feel like remote academy should still be an option even when the pandemic ends because for some kids, I think their lifestyle fits better doing remote, such as for kids who don’t like being involved in drama or who likes to work more alone in their room”

– Ava Leshinskie

“I can sleep in/sleep more if I can, and I don’t have to get ready as much like I would’ve when going to school. And one thing I like about remote learning is that I can take a break when I don’t have zoom classes.”

– Olivia Bantle 

“I think being in the circumstances of the world that it is not very safe for everyone to go to school, teachers are trying to make remote academy the easiest it can be. And while there are many hard days, there’s also some good days. Is it challenging? Yes it is very challenging at times because since remote students are at home, half the time we’re teaching ourselves and it is very hard to learn that way. But we’re making due and hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.”

– Anonymous

One of the biggest negatives about remote learning is the technology problems. We can’t always control this, but there are times when the internet doesn’t work, Schoology closes, or even zoom classes glitch. This really affects the class and the learning for students, especially since the class times with the teachers are limited. 

Since the time with the teachers and classes are limited, we often only get to “learn” the things we need to learn but not as deeply and much practice. Before the virus, we had longer class periods with teachers for more days, so we were able to have more time to prepare for the test or in general to learn about the unit better. Now that the class time is limited, and even if the teachers want to have more time to teach and give more instructions to help us learn better, we only get to learn the basic information of what we are supposed to learn. Many do say that they are still learning many things through remote classes, but sometimes it feels like it doesn’t stick to their brain as much, especially compared to when they went to school before the virus, because of how much limited time they have with their teachers now. 

Lastly, full remote learning has a lower amount of interactions between people. This is safer but sometimes, like in zoom classes, many of the kids are muted and only listen to the teachers teachings. This really decreases the ability of students to interact with each other, compared to when going to school. We just learn the lesson we are supposed to, only talk when we have to, and leave when we are done. Plus, we don’t have any hallways or a place we can be with other friends for even a minute, which is very different and feels weird. 

Other remote students also noted that there are some cons to remote learning:

“I don’t get to see my friends, there’s delays, and I was not able to take all of the class I would’ve liked to have taken because I was in a remote academy and there weren’t enough kids taking it.”

– Megan Henel

“I’m not able to fully understand the work I’m doing when working remotely, and I am not able to see anyone in person. I like remote academies, but I miss going to school.”

– Ava Leshinskie 

“The cons of remote learning is that I don’t get to be with other students, I’m in my room all day and the work can be stressful.”

– Olivia Bantle 

“The cons of remote learning is that for me, sometimes I have a question while doing work and it might be something that’s small or not important so I don’t think it’s worth the time to send an email to the teacher to ask since they might not get back in time before it’s due (although this depends on the teacher).”

– Anonymous 

“Being in my room all day and working only through iPad can be stressful at times. And working only through an iPad is sometimes hard to communicate with others because some things are just easier to explain in person than email. But since I’m remote and if I don’t have a class, emails are usually my only communication which I don’t always have my answers being answered completely despite how much the teachers try to explain”

– Anonymous 

Learning from home is not always easy and there are times it can be very difficult. But the teachers are working their best for the students, and always work hard to help students have the best learning environment possible. Remote students are very thankful for this, as they are still able to learn many great things and be part of the Sweet Home even from home! 

Hawon Kook

Hawon is a freshman this year at Sweet Home High School and is a new writer for The Panther Eye. Although it’s her first time, she is very excited and hopes to help write about various topics for the school!