By Audrey Fleming

All over the country, preschool through graduate school students are continuing their studies from bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms this year following the shut-down of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For most American students, the shut-down began in March, and while the majority of states’ reopening plans varied by district, only four out of 50 states initially mandated in-person instruction, either for part-time or full-time.

A map of the brain. Image credit: CNS.org.

Data from a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicated that some children with more than seven hours of daily screen time experienced thinning of the brain’s cortex, which is responsible for critical thinking and reasoning. In fully-virtual environments, students must spend a large part of their day engaging in screen time.

The Henrico County school board voted to begin the school year entirely online. Holman Middle School sixth grader Sam J. estimates that he experiences about five hours of screen time due to online school daily. Mills E. Godwin High School junior Joseph Keeler reports a daily average of eight hours of screen time Monday through Friday due to online school, and an additional one to five hours on Sunday, depending on his homework load. Langley Sherdel, a Mills E. Godwin junior, reports an average of eight to nine hours of screen time daily due to online school. Abby J., an eighth grader at Wilder Middle School, says, “I am on my computer every day from 8:30-2:00, with an exception of our 10-minute transitions and 30-minute lunch break. After that, from 2:00-3:00, we have asynchronous work time.”

A pre-pandemic report from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder shows that compared to a national four-year high school graduation rate of 84%, only 50.1% of virtual high school students graduated in four years. Although some students prefer online school, on average, students do academically worse in an online setting. One academic challenge students have faced during remote school is an abundance of distractions in their homes. Abby says, “Online school makes it harder for me to focus, because I have the ability to easily turn my camera off and get distracted with something else.” Keeler agrees, saying, “I feel that I learn better in person, because when I’m in a classroom, there are far fewer distractions, and it’s easier to get help if I don’t know how to do something.”

Collegiate students also spent last spring online and faced similar issues. Maggie Bowling (’22) says, “I do better in person because I feel more comfortable participating in class. I don’t have to unmute myself, and we can all contribute to the conversation.” However, some students reported a better academic performance online.

Although they returned in person at the start of the school year, local independent schools St. Catherine’s and St. Christopher’s went fully virtual for two weeks in October after a COVID outbreak among the upper school student body. Ella Brown, a junior at St. Catherines, felt the effect of online school on her academics during the online period: “Personally, I think I performed better in person, because I had the ability to talk with my teachers in person and connect with students in class more easily versus online.”

One aspect of in-person school that has been lost during online school is face-to-face interaction with teachers. When students are lost in class, they often have to raise their hand and wait for the teacher to notice someone has a question. Brown says, “Many times I would find it difficult to receive help needed from my teachers. In person, I had the option to meet with them outside of class. Online, it was hard to find the time or even the ability to talk with them.” Sherdel agrees, saying, “I think I perform better academically in person, because I am able to go to teachers for help.”

Photo credit: Pixabay.com.

The mental and physical health of some students has also been reported as being negatively impacted, and some studies show that nearly three in ten parents said their child experienced emotional or mental harm after school-closures. Sam says, “Overall, I would say my mental health is okay, but at times technology can be frustrating and cause more anxiety.” Abby reports that after a day of online learning, “I am very tired of looking at the computer screen. Sometimes I get a headache, and I am overall a little more tired at the end of the day.” However, not all students report negatively impacted health. Keeler says, “I have a pretty steady mental health, and it doesn’t really get affected too much by things that happen around me.”

Recently, Henrico County shortened the online school day by 55 minutes in an effort to give staff an additional hour to plan, and additional time for instructional support. Students have varying opinions about the shortened school day. Keeler says, “I am a huge fan of shortening the school day, because I normally get my work done faster than most people do. I’d rather be able to get my work done and do what I want to do instead of waiting on everyone else.” Sherdel has a differing opinion, saying, “I don’t think the shortening of the school day did much because now we have more homework, and only 55 more minutes to do it.”

Students from multiple schools expressed that their most considerable challenge has been the lack of interaction with other students. Abby says, “I think the biggest downfall of virtual school is the lack of social interaction we get. You don’t realize how much you enjoyed talking to people by your locker and at lunch until you lose the ability to do so.”

Supposed benefits of online learning include added flexibility, demonstrated self-motivation, improved virtual communication, and new technical skills. Sherdel reports that it is nice to sleep in longer, saying, “I can wake up five minutes before class and still make it on time.” Sam has enjoyed saving time that was previously taken up by commuting to and from school: “I don’t have to spend time on the bus. Instead, I can just log off my computer and be ready for my next activity.”