10 Pros and Cons Of Virtual Learning

Well, we've been at this virtual learning/ hybrid learning for over two months now and while I really do not like it at all I have found that there are some definite pros & cons to schooling virtually!  

I know that every school is handling virtual learning differently.  In my son's school when the kids are attending virtually they are expected to sign into each class just like they were attending in person. 

Attendance is taken each period and since the teachers work out of the building their day is still run off a bell schedule. The students are to keep their camera and microphone turned off (though they can turn on the microphone to ask/answer class questions).  On days that half- the class is in the building many of the teachers only log onto the computer long enough to take attendance and give out the day's assignment then they mute their microphone and turn off their video so they are not available for answering questions. 

Pros.

1.  My son can sleep in; for a high school freshman this is huge!

2. Lunch doesn't have to be eaten in just a 20 minute time span

3. He can make whatever he wants for lunch-- even hot foods.  He often makes himself English muffin or bagel pizzas. 

4.  School often ends earlier; most of his last classes are study halls and once he signs in he can log off for the day and be done.  

5.  No driving him to school or picking him up (which saves 2 hours out of my day).

6.  Since the cameras are off he doesn't need to wear his uniform and can attend school in comfy clothes.

7.  The teachers often introduce the day's lesson and then let the kids go to work so he doesn't have much homework after school hours.

8. He doesn't have to worry about forgetting to pack something in his backpack/lunch box.  

9. The couch is much more comfortable for a day of schooling than the hard chairs they have at school.

10. Friends and family can pop in and wave/ say high during the day when he's between classes or working on an assignment after the teacher has finished talking. 

Cons.

1.  Wi-Fi at both our home and the school can be spotty and glitchy and it can take WORK to meet up with each of his teachers.

2.  We have had more than one assignment get marked as not turned in because we could not figure out how to turn it in or we thought we turned it in but the teacher couldn't see it!

3.  Grades are given but since we can't see the work only the grade it's impossible to learn from mistakes or get any sort of feedback on how to improve.

4.  The teachers are working so hard and are so overwhelmed that we never get any answers to any of the emails we send asking for clarity on assignments (one teacher told the class she gets more than 200 emails a day!). 

5.  He really hasn't met that many students from his class as socializing isn't allowed during on-line classes and they are only in the building for classes a few times a month with 1/2 the students in the class.

6. Grades don't necessarily reflect what he has actually learned and knows since assignments go missing or he has to interpret a question that is unclear and make a best guess at the answer without having a teacher to discuss his thought process with. 

7. It is so stressful for everyone involved- the students, teachers, parents..  (I can't believe how much added stress this has given me!)

8. Since I homeschool my other two boys and we're used to being home working at our own pace; taking off on field trips or hikes on a whim, virtual schooling is actually pretty disruptive to our lives.  We can hear Alec's teachers and the bells while we're trying to do our lessons. I like to be nearby if he needs help and often put off anything we need to do outside the home until after Alec's classes are mostly over.

9. We can get loud and disrupt Alec's school day too and I think not being in a classroom with the teacher makes for many more distractions in the school day.  

10. Miscommunication errors happen all the time and not all the teachers are as flexible or understanding.  Last week one of Alec's teachers was unavailable to him until Friday and he suffered through a whole week of video assignments knowing he was getting multiple questions wrong with each video. He was then told on Friday that those assignments were meant to be done in class with her but the due date had said Friday... it was a mess and we're still not sure how it will work out grading-wise.  

Mostly we're trying to take as much of it was we can in stride and take heart from the fact that he's not the only student having these same issues.  

Linking Up With: