Enlight 21

Lifestyle Changes In Remote Learning

Author: Victor Wan | Category: Lifestyle | Date: 07-22-2020

The Coronavirus has had a major impact not only on the working economy but also on many people's shelter-in-place lifestyles. The number of infected patients rises every day, people are stuck working at home, and the education of many students around the world has shifted to remote learning.

Ever since the Coronavirus began spreading rapidly all across the US, schools immediately shut down and quickly transitioned to online learning. Palo Alto Senior High School(my high school) had a more distinct approach because we were not prepared for online/remote learning nor did we have online classes. It was a bit strange and confusing for the students and teachers since we didn't know where to start or how tests and assignments would be graded.

On March 16th, 2020, Paly shut down the campus, and on Schoology(our school website for assignments and classwork), my teachers posted a lot of Flexible Learning Options for us students to do. They recommended that we do these optional assignments for extra practice and so that we won't forget the material that we learned in class. Of course, I wanted to keep myself busy rather than lie down at home with nothing to do all day. The practices they gave us were ungraded and some of them were to help us students better prepare for the AP tests.

The AP testing situation this year was very strange but simplified by a lot. My AP English Language test was condensed from three distinct essays to one 45 minute essay. My AP CSP test got rid of its multiple-choice test. My APES test also removed the multiple-choice part of the test and only kept the Free-response questions. The test was online as well and was much shorter, which relieved a lot of stress on most of the students.

In terms of remote learning for us Paly students, I believe that despite not having a preorganized online class schedule, our school handled the situation quite well for the rest of the school year. My teachers posted the assignments that needed to be completed to earn a passing grade. They also hosted weekly zoom meeting so that us students could either ask questions about homework assignments or receive more instructions for upcoming papers and projects. My math teacher, for example, recorded herself giving lectures on the remaining material on Precalculus before the end of the school year, so we basically could rewatch her lectures over and over again in case we needed some help. My Chemistry teacher hosted discussion forums every week before quizzes so that we can answer questions as a class to better prepare ourselves. Overall, I believe that this remote learning experience is new to me and much more relief of stress and anxiety that is typical during this time of the school year.

There are some cons that I associate with this remote learning. Of course, since we must follow social distancing protocols, my friends and I see each other much less often, probably once or twice a month. The teachers may not be available every day each week, making it somewhat difficult for me to reach out to them for help. Finally, being stuck at home for months with many extracurricular cancellations bores us and reduces my motivation to actually get work done for the day.