Of the many social changes that the pandemic has pulled us on, perhaps the most tectonic migration of the entire professional spectrum was to the digital world. Suddenly, it moved online unless your job required you to be on site.
The mysterious notion of working from home – hitherto reserved for fringe professionals: the indecently rich and struggling artists – became an unglamorous norm.
It was an awkward transition for many, but no more than young students. School is as much a social experience as an academic experience. When it comes to enhancing your interpersonal skills, a Zoom meeting does not cut it like a classroom.
For young adults, the impact of a lost year is enormous. Although the curriculum may be largely unaffected, poorly managed e-learning has had profound and lasting effects on many students’ attitudes towards learning.
Lack of motivation
The most notable effect was the blow to motivation. Online, hard-working students began to underperform and became less worried about slipping standards.
A study conducted by Student Experience at Research University (SERU) in 2020 showed that 76 percent of undergraduate students viewed a lack of motivation as the leading obstacle in online learning.
Similarly, a survey of U.S. high school students conducted in April by Bay View Analytics found that students, professors, and administrators all ranked the same top three challenges that hinder online learning success as “feelings of stress” followed by “level of motivation ”and ‘have time to do homework’ ‘.
Frederikke Schmidt, a student from 9th grade at Sønderborg International School, noticed her classmates’ lack of motivation, which she attributed to certain online teaching methods.
Gone are the days when we participated in the teaching and discussed with the teachers. Today we are given assignments and then sent to complete them individually. Only occasionally do the teachers check how things are going, ”she told CPH POST.
Screen time or scream time?
Other frequently cited barriers to e-learning in both the Bay View and SERU studies were ‘distracting study space’ and ‘lack of face-to-face interaction’.
School interiors are designed to be bright, ambient spaces that build focus and creativity. Personal classes benefit from this atmospheric homogeneity as it encourages sharing and collaboration – but this is diminished online.
The fact that privacy, silence, the right tools and 2020’s hottest item, good WiFi is a luxury that not all students have access to at home, means it’s no wonder the focus suffers.
That said, an ergonomic keyboard, noise-canceling headphones and a private study suite full of natural light simply do not compensate for the hard pill that online schooling is sometimes just … boring.
Inhibited by problems with delay and the microphone or speaker, the lessons often move at the snail’s pace. It is hardly necessary to pay attention to performing tasks, and because teachers cannot monitor students, there are no consequences to cheating on tests or finding answers.
That is not bad …
So it may come as a surprise that a recent student survey at Llandrillo College in Wales from news aggregator website Inyourarea showed that 93 per cent rated the quality of online learning as ‘very good’. In particular, the college invested in technology-based resources such as Chromebooks and smart devices to ensure students could connect with tutors.
The digitalisation of learning has undoubtedly reshaped the way teachers and students connect – but some say it’s a good thing. Jessica Rowland Williams, head of the expert network Every Learner Everywhere, praised the out-of-the-box insight generated by e-learning.
“The pandemic has given us a unique opportunity to pause and listen to each other, and we have begun to discover all ways [students’ and teachers’] experiences overlap, ”she said.
In fact, a survey of teachers and their experiences online by the School Education Gateway (SEG) in April showed that “the most pleasant surprise, mentioned by 38 percent of respondents, was innovation or freedom to experiment.”
Other positives were flexibility, the wide range of digital tools, the availability of materials and resources, and increased autonomy and motivation among students.
But can it be compared?
Nevertheless, SEG stressed the great difficulties of involving students from disadvantaged homes, dissatisfied students and supporting those with special needs or disabilities.
In addition, “digital competence was reported as equally challenging for both students and teachers”, and the assessment of students’ progress was repeatedly listed as a key obstacle.
It seems that nothing beats the right thing. Humanities teacher Oscar Manero at Sønderborg International School told CPH POST that he is relieved that the students are leaving the screens and returning to the classroom.
“I never got training in this kind of situation. There were factors that affected students that I could not control, completely unrelated to my teaching ability. I had no idea what I could do and I know I was not the only one, ”he said.
Source: The Nordic Page