I hate distance learning! Distance learning is a challenge which has been on the rise for every student in West High School and United States of America since this March. Of course, we have closed our school for the new school year and tried to study online because it’s the best way which we should do for protecting students’ and teachers’ health as the safety for everybody in the pandemic is under control. I know this is a hard time for both teachers and students who must meet and work online for introductions and homework assignments. It has been a drastic change in a short amount of time and have had to face a different class platform for education. 

I don’t like distance learning because it is uncomfortable when we change from in person class (I have studied for a long time) to online class. There are different difficulties which the students must solve during this hard time. First, the meetings between teachers and students are on their computers everyday which means we have less time to talk with teachers and we are limited by the webcam in the computers which isn’t the same as usual. Therefore, when the students are not sure what we are taught, we will be less focused on the lessons and scores may be dropped. It is really draining that I can only meet my classmates and teachers from my computer and do the science lab online because I am a tactile learner.

Second, the homework assignments are a huge problem in distance learning because I have less time in the class. I know that we have asynchronous time to ask questions, however, students and teachers don’t have enough time to get every question answered. 

Finally, different classes will be affected in different ways which means classes will be less effective. As an AP student, distance learning is a bigger challenge and the homework assignments require huge explanations and introduction from the teachers that take up too much time. When I send a question to my teacher, it takes a lot of time for a reply. Therefore, I spend more time on homework assignments than I usually would in class. 

However, there are both positive and negative effects with distance learning. In distance learning, I have to attend meetings online with my teachers, do my homework and post my homework on time. Therefore, I can learn more skills with computers and technology- important skills for finding jobs in the future. For example, I will often practice typing in Microsoft Word or using Microsoft Notes to save any important files and notes. Moreover, independent study has helped me prepare for college. I need to do homework assignments by myself for most of the time, so I will improve my skill of solving problems independently. There are many challenges for students and teachers in distance learning, but we should try our best to learn in this uncomfortable setting until school reopens.