The ending of the pandemic semester: What online learning has really been like
Students stare into a screen instead of engaging with peers and teachers in a physical classroom.
December 14, 2020
All campuses in the Santa Ana Unified School District are currently temporarily closed to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). This may help minimize the spread of the virus but how does this affect our students?
According to Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States, “In addition to threatening people’s physical health, COVID-19 brought great stress to the public and affected people’s mental health.”
This new way of learning has been a significant change. Some students to this day cannot get used to this change resulting in stress, therefore, taking a toll on their mental health and well-being.
Junior Saul Nocelotl thinks the expectations of students in the online environment may be too high.
“This virus has affected many people, definitely, but I feel like it has affected students the most. The reason being that we had to adjust from going to school physically to now do everything online and be expected to keep high grades when there is so much that goes on at home that people may not feel comfortable talking about sometimes,” Noceltl said.
“Not every student has a way of distancing themselves and having a quiet place to learn. I feel like teachers might sometimes unintentionally forget that and pile on the same amount of work they would give if we were still going to school normally because they are so used to teach the same thing every year and this pandemic has thrown them off by a lot,” said Sophomore Cecy Rivera.
In a large nationwide survey conducted by Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States, “35% of the public experienced psychological distress during the outbreak of COVID-19”
The pandemic has spiked tons of added on worries for students.
“I feel like students were impacted dramatically and definitely make a part in that 35% but don’t want to show it. Personally, I have been really stressed especially as a junior but I don’t want to make it seem like a big deal cause I don’t want my teachers to think I’m making up excuses; other students may feel the same way and not feel comfortable sharing it,” said junior Ivan Estrada.
According to What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in 2020 America, “Teachers find themselves at the heart of the national crisis — responsible not just for children’s education and well-being, but also for essential child care as parents struggle to get back to work.”
Students have lots of obstacles; they sometimes forget teachers and parents do as well.
“Like us, teachers have a lot of challenges as well and do their best to make this year go as smoothly and possible. Parents have also been faced with this unexpected change. I feel like we get caught up with school, home, and other things that we forget we’re not the only ones going through changes,” said junior Jamie Sanchez.
“This pandemic is something we can’t change. I feel like teachers can really tell when we are trying our hardest and cut us a little bit of slack,” said junior Jennifer Gonzalez.
“The best we can do now is try our best and communicate with teachers and parents as much as we can and hope that we are understood,” said junior Adonis Sandoval.
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Communicating, listening, and understanding one another is an essential key to life. Being sulked in your own world filled with stress, worries, and problems you forget others are going through the exact same thing. Like junior Saul Nocelotl said the expectations on students during a pandemic maybe be way too high. Teenagers are expected to perform the same as if we were in person learning. Challenges and struggles will forever be a part of life that’s the way it is but we’ll surpass them together. That’s where communicating comes in.
This is a really well written article. It really shows how even though it may seem like students would enjoy the “easier” classes, the new environment is not working out well. I have personally been really stressed lately because of all the work we’ve had to do, and the lack of socializing that distance learning lacks. Its been a rough semester to be honest.
This pandemic has definitely had one of its largest effects on education. Online learning has been hard, it’s easy to get distracted at home. I thought the point that Cecy brought up was interesting. I think that teachers have definitely tried to adapt their normal curriculum to online learning. It must also be hard for teachers who all of a sudden have to figure out breakout rooms, and other difficult technical things. This was a great article and very informative.