With the increasing popularity of electronic usage, classrooms have started to move toward a more virtual-based classroom. This tool has proved to be very useful as classrooms are now more ecofriendly than they were with high paper usage levels. For homeschooled students, taking entirely online classes has become a new norm for older students. Adults have also turned to online classes to further degrees. The freedom to control one’s own education sounds ideal in theory, but is it the most beneficial method of learning for high school and college students?
There are many benefits to having complete control over a daily schedule. Online classes are a great option for adults and college students furthering their education because it allows them to manage their own time. According to PV Alumni, Nathan McDonald, “Taking online classes is a lot different because of the distractions that you have at home with family and other responsibilities.” Being constantly surrounded by other obligations proves to be detrimental to learning levels.
While in high school, attending school is important for more reasons than experiencing a wide variety of classes. At school, kids learn how to interact with others and adapt to new environments easily. Brookings.com says that students’ performances in online classes was worse than that of the face-to-face classes. Kids who already struggle in a certain subject retain less after taking an online course than they do in a face-to-face setting.
As online classes may pose a distraction at home, traditional classrooms have many other distractions such as friends and other activities. Although kids may be a disturbance to one another at times, these common distractions are things they will have to learn to deal with in the future. Having a strong friend base can also help students learn more efficiently because increased happiness equates to increased learning.
Student happiness and overall mental wellbeing are essential parts of maintaining a strong academic life. Extracurriculars help to boost student morale by providing a safe place for comradery and another thing to focus on that is not school. They also provide a place for kids to be active after school to boost overall mental health. Although many students can get involved with clubs while being homeschooled, these extracurriculars are not found through online schooling.
School is mentally exhausting, so providing kids with an outlet to decompress and reenergize is essential to keeping academic performances up. Online classes are a convenient way for adults to further their education while managing their own schedule. For high school and college students, development is not complete and kids are not ready to be so independent. Traditional public schooling teaches kids so much more than just math and science; it teaches the importance of teamwork and being successful in the business world.
