The COVID-19 virus has shown its effects on human health, daily work, social norms, etc. A crucial effect of this major virus is how it had affected schools for children and young adults. Many parents have come across a number of struggles, especially single parents. People have found themselves in situations that they would never imagine. Single parents with more than one child have found more conflict in the house when their children want to use a single laptop for different purposes.
According to recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 14% of American children from ages 3-18 do not have Internet access at home and are facing difficulty completing assignments online. 17% of kids live in households without a laptop or desktop computer. Using this information, it is jarring to hear the number of students whose learning was affected by COVID. 12 million students were affected and 1 in 5 students have trouble with internet or computer access, which is unfortunate considering that education now, completely depends on a virtual platform.
The financial impact on schools also ranged drastically. With schools closed, there was no funding coming in for teachers. They struggled with pay under the influence of this virus. According to Forbes, “there are some schools that are fragile financially for which this unanticipated development could be sufficiently large that it is their death knell”. As you can see, schools themselves were also under the effect of the virus. Most are operating under a loss since guardians are unwilling to pay the same fees for online classes as they were for in-person ones. Additionally, most teachers were unprepared. Many were new to the online platform and its mechanism and hence struggled with giving proper instructions. Therefore, due to unpreparation of material and knowledge of online programs, students became ‘lost’ and did not learn much from the lack of teaching.
However, online learning has evolved. Now that many people have mastered online learning techniques, we have access to new technological resources. An advantage of online learning in this pandemic is that teachers have the ability to ‘personalize the content for each individual.’ For example, when a student repeatedly struggles with a concept at the course, and the platform can adjust the e-learning content to provide more detailed information to help the student. Online education can also help shy or hesitant students come out of their shells. Live meetings and chat alternatives “offer shy or more reticent people the opportunity to participate in class discussions more easily than face-to-face class sessions.” The schedules for both students and teachers also become more flexible with online learning. With the online learning industry, people “can arrange their schedules according to their convenience and this enables them to scale themselves.” If online learning is funded and students explore their resources, they can see that sometimes, online courses are “more affordable options than traditional ones and there are no commuting costs, and sometimes required course materials, such as textbooks, are available online at no cost.”
Due to COVID, many programs reliant on schools were compromised as well. Many students rely on their schools to get counseling and therapy for problems they are dealing with at home. Schools are a big part of students for social and mental development, which has been infringed due to COVID. Schools also provide meals for students who may not have access to food outside of their school building. Schools generally provide meals for children who are surrounded by poverty when they go “home”. Students are dependent on this factor that has been taken away due to the pandemic. They are metaphorically formed by their schools, including forming their income-earning based on their learning, provided by classes. This will undoubtedly impact the economic growth in the future and how our generation perceives the world. With education compromised, many students are facing more physiological and physical problems that are progressing by the day.
The availability of certain aspects, like online education, is growing by the minute. New software, along with new live class programs, will be more and more accessible to us daily. We have now learned a new alternative, and we will continue learning and building upon it.
Stay safe and wear a mask :)
-Daniella Agayeva
Designed by Patricia M.
Read More:
Koksal, Ilker. “The Rise Of Online Learning.” Forbes,
https://www.facebook.com/forbes, 2 May 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2020/05/02/the-rise-of-online-learning/?sh=26dc647172f3
Vedder, Richard. “The Novel Coronavirus Can Kill Colleges As Well As People.” Forbes, https://www.facebook.com/forbes, 9 Mar. 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardvedder/2020/03/09/the-novel-coronavirus-can-kill-colleges-as-well-as-people/?sh=4dfcf78b215d
Walravens, Samantha. “Why Online Learning Is Failing Our Nation’s Most Vulnerable Students.” Forbes, https://www.facebook.com/forbes, 8 June 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/geekgirlrising/2020/06/08/new-report-shows-impact-of-digital-divide-on-low-income-students/?sh=233ce9601701
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