Why Remote Learning is Better

Mika Carter

 Ever since the beginning of the year, the Coronavirus have been spreading and caused a worldwide pandemic that led to schools all across America to close early in March. Students were out for at least 5-6 months and schools didn’t open back up until the middle of August. The way students are getting taught since we are trying to avoid person-to-person contact is through e-learning, i.e,remote learning. E-learning is learning conducted via electronic media, typically on the internet. 

Recently, at Carbondale Community Highschool students now have the option to come back to school to learn in an actual classroom or stay home and continue to learn remotely. Students are split into three groups-by their last name or if they are strictly remote. Group A, which is A-L in-person days are Mondays and Thursdays, while Group B, which is M-Z in-person days are Tuesdays and Fridays. Group R is the third group and those are the students that don’t attend school in-person. (Wendsdays are our Asynchronous days). Image.jpeg

 Even though students are now able to attend classes in-person they are still responsible for bringing their laptops and attending zoom meetings with their teachers and remote classmates.There are pros and cons of  remote learning and there are pros and cons of in-person learning, but from my experience, I  enjoy remote learning better than being in an actual classroom. 

With remote learning, students miss the social aspects of the learning experience. Many students are not as connected online as in-person and find it easier to engage in person than through your computer, but with me not being the social type, those disadvantages don’t affect me but I know it impacts the students and faculty who are. I believe that online learning is the more effective option for students, but also better for the environment. The number one reason why remote learning is the better option is flexibility. Students have the freedom to juggle their personal and school life because they aren’t tied down to a fixed schedule. Students can study at their own pace and place and that is the most peaceful way of learning. Learning from home during a pandemic helps the environment because we don’t have to worry about person-to-person contact if we are not out in the public. We don’t have to worry about getting dressed-fixing our hair, wearing a mask for hours, starving because we can’t bring outside food, being afraid to use the school’s restrooms because we don’t want to spread germs, etc. Students attending school in person is semi pointless because from my experience teachers pay more attention to the zoom meetings while the whole purpose of in-person days is to interact physically but students are still learning from their computers and I don’t think that is worth learning in-person if it’s the same thing remotely. I  believe that staying at home is way more beneficial and gives us freedom since we are in our own homes. Overall, I know that there are students who miss being in an actual classroom and teachers who miss teaching a class full of students , but the best way to prevent the virus from spreading is if we go back to strictly remote to be safer and cautious of in-person contact.