Written by Tasia Lundberg (News Writer)
The pandemic has spread. Schools are being shut down, and classes have become digital. “Social Distancing” is the new norm. Covid-19, also known as the coronavirus has completely taken over people’s lives.
The county decided the best way to prevent the spread of the outbreak was to shut down all schools, including San Lorenzo Valley Highschool. The reopening time of the schools is not exactly known, but SCCS.Net predicts that schools will be reopening on May 6thof 2020, after spring break, but our Governor Gavin Newsom has mentioned schools being closed down until August. This, however, can not be confirmed or denied, because of the unpredictable spread of Coronavirus. Nevertheless, San Lorenzo Valley has taken the digital route to keep their students educated.
The real question, is: Is online learning effective? When students of San Lorenzo Valley Highschool where questioned, there were many different results. Some students loving digital learning, while others were not keen on it. One junior, when interviewed, explained how digital learning was less stressful and effective, “I like that I can work at my own pace while staying in an environment I’m more comfortable with. I’m never forgetting my work at home and I can get up stretch and get food when I need.” This student felt very positively about the school shutdown. However, there are some students who are having quite a negative view of it. One student stated, “I don’t learn well with the distractions in a home environment and the constant work from home, along with stress, makes me less willing and motivated to do additional homework.” The student expresses the motivation difficulties that came with being stuck at home. It is hard to say whether online learning is effective or not because it depends on the person. People have different preferences and are ultimately different. But in the end, online learning is not effective because there are people struggling with it.
When online learning came into many different students’ lives, so did a particular facetime program called “Zoom.”. This app lets students communicate via facetime with their teachers to teach lessons and helps with overall communication. But not all teachers think it’s effective and refer to it as a violation of privacy. When some students were asked about the violation of privacy that came with zoom, many disagreed referring to the “new tech” GoGuardian as the real violation. One student when asked says, “I don’t think zoom is, I think GoGuardian is though. They didn’t have us sign anything at all, and it’s just uncomfortable to know they signed us up and now they can access our screens on any computer, even personal macs.” Despite the unpopularity of GoGuardian, The company in charge of Zoom is compliant with FERPA (Family Education and Rights Act), which protects the privacy of students’ educational records, which is very good.
With online learning becoming accustomed to many students, questions come up with effectiveness and privacy. And there are many answers to these question, however, it is best to be protected as well as we can from Coronavirus instead of soaking in it on school grounds.
The Claw 