Virtual Learning: Level Three

On Tuesday, November 10, there was a Board of Education meeting, voted unanimously on whether our school should go back to virtual learning. It has already been announced that we would be going back to level three, and returning on January fourth. 

As we are all going back to virtual learning, there were many causes that decided this. Some students are not wearing masks correctly, some violating the six feet rule, or some being quarantined.

Due to students not wearing masks correctly, it made the amount of students being quarantined, higher. 

Now going all virtual, many classes will be affected by it. Shop classes will be most affected by it due to not being able to do hands-on activity. Classes that require instruments, or requirements for art will be confused on what they will be doing. 

“No for two reasons,” Nathen Sanders (‘23) said. “It will be harder for me to do work at home because there are too many distractions at home. Second, how are the people in the shop classes (Woods, Home Maintenance, and Metals) supposed to do what they signed up for?” 

For shop classes, it will be very hard for them to do their work, due to not being able to have the equipment at home.

Ever since we went all virtual in March, the Covid-19 cases have still been rising. When school started, we had level two block scheduling. The cases are still rising, along with students and staff being quarantined everyday, with that happening, we are now going to level three. 

“I believe it was a good idea because students, staff, and teachers are out left and right,” Dominique Burgette (‘22) said. “We were probably about to shut down anyway because if anymore teachers got sent home, we wouldn’t be able to operate. When we return in January, hopefully everyone will be back but it won’t work if people continue to go out and expose themselves.” 

Since staff and teachers have been being quarantined every day, hopefully this does not continue in January.

Outside of school, students and teachers could be getting sick even if they are not in contact with others. Even in school, students stress about assignments, while now going into virtual the stress will most likely increase.

“I don’t feel like going back to level 3 learning will really help anything,” Bria Jefferson (‘22) said. “You don’t have to be in school to get sick; there are plenty other ways that could happen. Students will just have more stress weighing down on them because of the whole situation and it will make it very hard to communicate with anyone. It just isn’t the best idea in my opinion.” 

As Covid-19 is still around, students could still possibly catch it even if they are not at school.

Ever since March, teachers have been prepared for virtual learning assignments and lessons. Now that we are all going to level three learning, it should go a lot smoother due to teachers being prepared for about nine months. 

“I think virtual learning might go smoother, but if you think about how children’s grades have increased or decreased during the transition, students might have a harder time staying on top of their work,” Annabell Crosscon (‘24) said.

After going to the hybrid schedule, students may have been not struggling with classes, but going into virtual, they may struggle more.

Before the high amount of quarantine students and staff became a big deal, there have been projects and assignments already being started. Some students in general already do not have motivation in school, but now going into virtual only, they will not have any motivation.

“People won’t have to worry about being quarantined or forget projects at home/school,” Vanessa Jennerjohn (‘24) said. “I do think that some students are going to struggle with focusing and finding motivation to do their work, but that’s something that can be worked around.” 

Now going into all virtual, some students may struggle to find motivation while working from home.

Previously from March and up to now, many students have experienced internet issues, or having problems looking at assignments. Going all virtual, these problems will still exist, but for teachers, they will hopefully make it better. 

“No, there’s going to be a ton of internet issues, people missing information or not being able to do what is assigned because of miscommunication or poor internet,” Timothy Zoll (‘21) said.

Some students have not been able to go to these meetings due to internet issues or confusion on when the meeting is.

As for virtual students, they did not have a schedule to go by, while in-person students did. With level three learning getting introduced to everyone, virtual students will have to adapt their schedules due to this.

“I feel like, as an already virtual student, It will only affect me via the change of schedule which isn’t quite great in my opinion,” Travis Wimberley (‘22) said. “However several students who are used to going to school will struggle to stay focused.”

For virtual students, it may be harder on them due to the recent news of going to a level three schedule.

Before school started, all students had a choice to either be an all virtual student or go in-person, more than half of the students said in-person learning. Since this is now a change, students might have liked working in-person, with this change they might lose their motivation.

“I think it both has a positive and negative affect on students,” Emily White (‘21) said. “I know some people learn better in person when they have the resources in front of them at all times. On the positive outlook it makes us stronger as students/staff to gain our knowledge and adjust to the new way of living.” 

As we now go into level three learning, there are many different ways that we can adapt to virtual learning. 

For some students they might be stressed about when the assignment is due and how long they have to do it. While some might not even have known about the assignment due to miscommunication. 

“Learning at home is almost teaching yourself, so it’s automatically more difficult, added on personal issues and it becomes impossible to actually learn and you end up only caring about the due date,” Tysheah Gooden (‘23) said.

Students always want to know about the due date, now being in virtual, they might stress about it a little more.

During virtual meetings or doing assignments, there can be distractions all around you, whether it is your siblings, pets or your phone. For some students they might not be able to fix these problems due to their workspace.

“I think that it will make it harder for students because there are more distractions at home and if the students can not communicate effectively with their teachers then they are not going to try on their work because they will not understand it,” Ashleigh Blevins (‘22) said. “There are also the other distractions that come with being home, siblings, pets, outside distractions, being in their bedroom, I think that for some people it will be better but for others it will make it a lot worse.”

Some of these distractions can be fixed while others cannot be fixed. 

As we go into level three schedule, it will be different and difficult for everyone. Through this new schedule, it is important to not stress about the assignments that come up.