In the time of the global pandemic, everything has to be done online. School is not an exception. We could start mentioning the disadvantages and advantages of this way of learning, but as it would be boring we’ll mention just a few of them.
Firstly, pluses and minuses depend on a person. The difference is between organized students and those who can’t get down to work. Online learning requires diligence in carrying out school work. That’s why a person's character plays such an important role.
However, not all the problems stem from the lack of motivation. The system of learning itself seems also to be an obstacle. We are assigned too much work and stay in front of the computers for many hours. There are also some school subjects which shouldn’t be included in online learning but rather practised outdoors (PE) or done in other ways than weekly lessons online (e.g. RE).
Another problem is the lack of equipment, high bandwith or good internet connection. It seems important that low-income families should be lent computers and other devices necessary to learning online.
We also notice some chances and dangers connected with distance learning. When it comes to opportunities, some students have a chance to get better grades using both fair and underhanded methods. They marks will get better but will they reflect the students’ knowledge?
Dangers seem to be much more
numerous. Firstly, there are some students that
don’t listen in the lessons and their only participation boils down to
joining and saying “Hello” or something similar. What happens later? They just
go away from their keyboards and return just before the end of the lesson to
say “Goodbye”.
The last danger is what we call
“border fading”. What does it mean? It means that for some students the border
between social life, relaxation and school life e.g. doing homework and
listening during lessons disappears. There is no special places or activities- everything
happens in the same place often at the same time.
All things considered, even though online lessons are necessary and crucial for our current safety, we don’t always benefit from them. Hopefully, we will be able to come back to schools and get back to traditional learning.
Authors: Michał
Adamczyk, Antoni Komoszewski, Wiktor Wnuk, kl. 8A
2020/2021