Before the school year started, students were asked to make the decision of learning at home or in school. The discussion of many is which is better in regards to the quality of learning and staying safe.
There are pros and cons to both options, mostly surrounding safety and learning quality, which has caused students and parents to have a hard time choosing between the two.
With online, there are two systems: synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous learning has students join Webex calls with their teachers and work on pace with them, while asynchronous has students work at their own pace and do assignments whenever they want as long as it’s by the due date.
“I’m enjoying online a surprising amount,” sophomore Aurora Del Vecchio said. “It took a little getting used to, but I like being able to have a bit more freedom.”
Online learning has a lot more freedom than in-school as students can wake up late, take lots of breaks and relax in the comforts of their home while they work.
“You are able to have more control over what you are doing throughout the day,” Del Vecchio said. “It’s less stressful because you are able to work at your own pace and don’t have to get up so early.”
Even though these things might sound great, online learning also comes with some disadvantages.
“Some of the things that aren’t so great are not being able to ask questions when doing work and just communicating with teachers,” Del Vecchio said. “Also, just general problems that come with everything online, like problems with connection and internet.”
Sophomore Kenza Allen used to be an in-school student, but switched to online a few weeks ago, so she has experience with both worlds.
“Online school is probably better than in-school since in-school was more stressful and lonely, especially at lunch where you can only sit by yourself,” Allen said. “I feel like online was also almost like in-school since we did the learning on a computer instead of our teachers really teaching us anyways.”
In-school, however, does have some advantages that online misses out on.
“You don’t get the face-to-face learning that is important for grasping some concepts,” Del Vecchio said. “A lot of the teachers don’t really know how to use Canvas. I even had assignments uploaded for the day at 4 p.m.”
In-school also has disadvantages as students are put at a greater risk of getting COVID-19. The district has to constantly enforce more rules to keep everyone safe.
“Naples High seems to be doing a good job at enforcing the rules, and when I was going to school it seemed that everyone was following them too,” Allen said. “I feel like there are multiple ways to improve the rules. One is if someone gets COVID, it shouldn’t be just the people they were sitting around being sent home, but the whole school since that person could’ve been touching other people and walking in the hallways with everyone.”
“I feel that I do better in an in-home environment,” Allen said. “I also have much more freedom and I keep up with my work pretty well.”
