Thoughts of Distance Learning: Patriot Survey

Thoughts+of+Distance+Learning%3A+Patriot+Survey

Julia Williams, News Editor

JC began online learning on Monday March 16 due to the global pandemic that is the coronavirus. A survey was sent out a few days into online learning to evaluate students’ progress and opinions. 172 students took The Patriot’s survey.
When asked about how students would rate the workload so far, 43% said that it was more than they expected, and over 44% said that they were doing between four to six hours of work per day. Some students indicated that the workload that teachers are giving can be overwhelming to students who are sitting at home having to learn new material alone.
Although the teachers are available through email, students still feel that they are having to teach themselves the material.
“I am unable to learn as efficiently, especially in math with its specific situations,” senior Spencer Bredesen said.
Students identified some positives about the cyber learning such as being able to sleep in, working in a more comfortable environment, not being rushed to complete work, and having extra time due to 11:59 pm deadlines.
When asked if they would be comfortable with continuing with cyber school beyond the initial closure, 30% of students said that they were not comfortable at all. Some students indicated that they feel uncomfortable with all the changes and new things being thrown at them in such a short period of time.
When it comes to communicating with teachers,  about 37% of students felt that communications with teachers was adequate. However, other students felt that it has been one of the worst things about online learning.
“Not being able to socialize and directly talk to teachers is the worst repercussion and outweighs the positives,” freshman Ty Hensley said.
Other students feel that locating assignments and posts have been hard to navigate.
“Teachers don’t post work at the same time or in the same places, so it’s hard to find all of the work you have to do that day,” senior Jess Purdie said.
AP students also had thoughts about online learning. “I think I will do poorly on my AP test because I will not be able to review in school with my teachers in person,” junior Daisy Radebaugh said.