By Mary Eby
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a majority of schools across the country have shifted to an online learning format. But this type of learning is not exactly the same as the usual online learning.
Many people are not aware of just how many children actually attend a virtual school, like Ohio Virtual Academy and Virtual High School, instead of a brick and mortar school. According to the Evergreen Education Group, the current number of online K-12 students is approximately 4.5 million. This is significant considering in 2000 that number was fewer than 50,000 students. Online learning is becoming increasingly popular as the years go on and situations change.
During the current pandemic, brick and mortar students are being directed towards online learning mechanisms such as watching videos and doing assignments that are posted through sources like Google Classroom. While this is effective in a short term sense, online schools across the United States are much better equipped for online learning.
In my own personal experience from years of online education, the process is actually decently structured. For one, online schools use live feed programs in order for teachers to communicate with a virtual class full of students and to present a slideshow lesson in real time. Students can actually chat back and forth and communicate with their teachers by using hand raising buttons and buttons for expressions such as confusion or one to show that you are comprehending the material. Not only are live sessions generally available, but recordings are too in case you couldn’t make a class that day.
One of the more complicated pieces of online school that students tend to have trouble with is time management. This is one thing that online schooling and the makeshift pandemic school have in common. A lack of concrete due dates and teachers who can continuously reinforce the need to work in person can cause a student to lag. But, the upside of that negative is that any form of online schooling, whether it be an actual structured school or the week to week structure of the current pandemic, is it can help a student to become more self-disciplined. Having to control a workload alone and create your own schedule for things can be extremely difficult, but if a student can get through that part, they will be better set up for future success.
For many students the concept of the current schooling state is difficult to grasp. The majority have never experienced the type of learning atmosphere that schooling online brings to the table. Online school creates more of an independent world of learning that can be hard to navigate. Brick and mortar students are used to entering a physical building every morning and learning from a teacher who is standing right in front of them. But when you eliminate the presence of the learning atmosphere, it can make learning just that more difficult. The good news is, there are roughly 4.5 million students, just like those in brick and mortar, who learn online every single day. If that many students can succeed with an online education, then there is no doubt that anyone else can too. In addition to the positivity of the success of online education for millions of students, Sylvania’s teachers are working tirelessly to help every student succeed.
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