The Good, The Bad, And The Worrisome

As in every other September, the back-to-school grind is upon us, but it looks very different this year. With brand new platforms, a never-before-used schedule, a fresh principal, and shifted school-wide policy, navigating this year is going to be a largely novel experience for students and teachers alike. While many of the new changes are exciting and could revolutionize the way that students learn online, others are cause for concern.

The Good

First and foremost, the clear structure of classes is a great improvement: 55 minute periods at a specific time of day, as opposed to the asynchronous video lessons and Google Classroom posts of last semester that had the tendency to feel haphazard. The 10-minute breaks between classes are a major upgrade, as they give students the opportunity to go to the bathroom, stretch, grab a snack, and rest our Zoom-weary eyes. Given the lack of clear plans regarding the future of school sports and extracurriculars, the 9:10 a.m. start time is an incredibly thoughtful and generous decision by the administration and provides a comfortable start to an unusual school day.

Teachers’ creative use and variation of online platforms also elevate the remote student experience. On Zoom, for example, teachers have been embracing the full potential of features like breakout rooms, polls, and reactions. Some have been experimenting with platforms beyond Zoom, like Flipgrid, which allows students to create and post their own videos, and Edpuzzle, which allows teachers to record tutorials with built-in questions for students to answer at certain points in the video. For STEM classes, Whiteboard Fox effectively emulates a blackboard, allowing students and teachers to follow along together (and even saving the board for future reference).

Some teachers have been using these technologies to experiment with the “flipped classroom model,” in which students learn the material from a pre-recorded video outside of class and do practice questions or participate in a Q&A during the live session. This model is ideal for remote learning, as it allows students to pace the “lecture” portion of class as they wish and then collaborate with their peers and teacher during class time.

Perhaps the most tangible shift from last semester to now is the implementation of definitive policy on camera display on Zoom. While last year’s classes often felt disjointed and empty, staring at a list of silent names or icons for an entire virtual period, the camera-on policy enforces much higher participation rates and increased engagement across the board. Additionally, the mandatory office hours time makes for a much more cohesive learning experience from class to class and provides some much-needed reassurance for distressed or confused students.

The Bad

This year’s remote learning has brought with it the same challenges as last semester. Because many students have siblings and parents who are also situated at home, it can be difficult to emulate the same school environment without an optimal space to learn. Moreover, the separation between school and home has been blurred as both classwork and homework are completed at home: without a daily commute or after-school sports practice, assignments blend together, and it becomes exceedingly easy to either let assignments slip by or not take enough time for oneself, outside of school work. Having to keep up with class and homework updates makes it increasingly difficult to take a break from our technology.

While the 10-minute passing periods have been useful in granting a short break between classes, with the extra 14 minutes per period, students spend many hours sitting in the same chair and staring at the same computer screen every day, leaving their eyes sore and their bodies cramped and stiff. The back-to-back calls for each class have already left students feeling drained with “Zoom fatigue” within the first few days. As some teachers have already adopted, incorporating short breaks into classes (or “stretch-breaks”) is very helpful for maintaining focus and engagement through the extended class periods. Sitting in front of a screen for almost an hour straight per class is a very difficult task, and staying focused throughout is even more challenging.

The Worrisome

The main difference between last year’s remote learning and this year’s is the scheduling. While students are receiving significantly less instructional time, Advanced Placement (AP) test-makers are not planning to shorten the amount of material that will be covered on AP exams, which brings up the question: how will we cover everything we need to get to in only two-thirds the time? Thus, many of us are worried about finishing the curricula in time for standardized tests at the end of the year—and, more broadly, fully absorbing all the material.

Furthermore, less class time provides less opportunity for students to get to know teachers, and vice versa, especially given that all communication is only through a screen. This could raise concerns for future teacher recommendations, as it’s difficult to write for someone whom you don’t know well. While there is no clear solution to this concern, some students are concerned about organization: with the vast majority of learning materials online (and without the Parents’ Association’s planner), it is easy to lose track of assignments in the online abyss.