By Han Pham, staff writer
When I first heard about school moving to online learning in March of last year, it all felt so chaotic. I didn’t know whether it was a good thing or a new challenge for me since I have just moved from Vietnam to Galileo 2 months prior. I had not even been acquainted with friends and the learning environment at school, now I had to adapt to learning online. I thought about what could happen and how I could succeed during this distance learning – a studying method that I had never experienced before.
In the first three months of this school year, I felt very happy because I was able to arrange my study time according to the schedule I wanted. Also, I didn’t have to get up early from 6:30 am to get to school and take the time to move to each class after each period, and I can even relax in my own space.
Not long after, however, I completely changed my mind about online learning as it became more and more difficult for me. I felt like I lost control after a series of assignments given by the teachers. It is very difficult for me to keep track and make sure to turn them in on time without missing anything since there are many assignments that the teachers announce during class everyday. I always have complications while writing down each task and its deadline. Sometimes they overlap.
Another issue I’ve had is the acquisition of knowledge from the teachers is slower, and I have to search more problems from books, the Internet, or record the teacher’s teachings to review them later as the time in class is quite short. Especially in the science classes, this always happened.
Communication between the students and teacher is also one of the other disadvantages of taking classes on Zoom meetings. Every time I participate in classes, I noticed one thing that most of the students turn off the camera and even the microphone. They just turn it on for discussion when needed. This makes it difficult for us to be proactive in classwork and discussing related topics. Communication is an important skill in life that we need to practice through school, but it’s been very difficult to develop in the best way since we are all in a time of social distance.
Until we can return to school, I believe there will be better ways to improve distance learning for students and staff alike. For me, I would like to ameliorate my learning by getting more opportunities to raise my grade up. Furthermore, it will also become a good measure for all students to encourage a positive learning experience. Although I don’t really want to go back to school because I will need to wake up early every morning, I think it’s the best solution for me to be able to build social relationships and manage work better.
