By Anton Dedvukaj
We’re about halfway through the 2020-21 school year, and so I did some thinking: between online school and in-person school, which one is better? Which one is more beneficial? Which one is better for students? These are all loaded questions, but here are some benefits and drawbacks to each of the two that I was able to come up with.
First off, online school. The Google Meet sessions we’ve had in place since about April of last year have their positive and negative aspects. For example, online classes provide a safe alternative to going to school in-person, and dramatically lowers one’s chances of getting sick while at school. Not to mention, simply logging onto class is certainly a fair bit easier than waking up in the morning, quickly eating breakfast, getting ready for school, and going there.
However, there are a fair amount of drawbacks to it as well. For one, being online means that you lose a sense of human engagement that comes with in-person interactions. Seeing someone over a computer screen isn’t as effective in connecting with your peers as an in-person interaction would be. For another thing, it can be harder to learn at home than at school. Sometimes a teacher’s microphone doesn’t work particularly well, sometimes you don’t have all the materials you need to do the assignments, and sometimes your Wi-Fi will cut in and out or maybe not even work. Clearly, while there are benefits to online learning, it’s not without its problems.
Then, there’s in-person learning, which largely fixes the problems online school has. For one thing, you’re seeing your friends and your teachers in person, and your teachers are more readily available to help you with concepts you’re struggling with. Also, all of the problems that come with technology in online learning disappear for in-person learning, as technology is no longer a factor. Overall, the learning experience may be easier in school, which is the main reason why it has the benefits it does.
That being said, it has its negative aspects as well, most notably that, in our current situation, with the COVID-19 pandemic still not gone even after nearly a year, many consider going back to school to be unsafe, and this makes sense. This is the primary reason why many students chose to be all-virtual for this school year. Safety is the main concern here, and many have decided that they don’t want to risk contracting the virus, even with our school’s social distancing guidelines.
It’s definitely up to interpretation as to which of the two is the better option. Personally, I prefer in-person learning, as it’s easier for me to learn in person than at home, but there are many that likely feel differently. With safety still being an issue, a hybrid schedule is likely still the best option going forward, but hopefully things get better to the point where there will no longer be a need for this schedule and we can all safely return to in-person classes once again.
