Despite the constant fires, COVID-19, and the major fear of everything, 2020 is slowly coming to an end and we are very thankful for that. But, with COVID cases still spiking and dropping, we have no idea when or if we will be able to return back to school. So, in order to shed light on the situation, I’ve decided to write about the positives of distance learning and how I believe that distance learning, in reality, is a lot better than regular school. 

To start, what could be better than rolling out of bed and opening your laptop as your way to go to school? Nothing! Compared to what we had to do previously before COVID-19, waking up as soon as your class starts seems like the best of both worlds. You don’t have to wake up hours before school starts to get ready, instead, you can just walk from your bed to your laptop in a good ten seconds. 

Distance learning allows you to be able to work at your own pace, without the pressure of time and overall noisy environment. You aren’t forced to learn within that zoom period of your class. You can take your time on your work and email your teachers if you have any questions or concerns. It’s extremely similar to how we work in a classroom setting but better! You can use your asynchronous time to learn more about the parts of the work you don’t understand while still having enough time to finish the work assigned. In a survey completed by the Easttown school District, around 72% of students felt as though the amount of school work they were getting was appropriate. 

Some students against distance learning tend to feel like the workload given is way more than it would be if we were in the classroom. However, this is actually not the case. Since we are limited in synchronous time, there is some work that still needs to be done to make up for all of the work that we get in a regular school environment, which is why the workload may feel more than usual. 

From distance learning, students can also learn to become more independent by having to better manage their own schedule. This can benefit you later on down the road and teach you important skills that you may have to use in the future. You now have the responsibility of motivating yourself to get up and attend your classes, which is a lot more responsibility than some students may have had previously. But, it’s important to self motivate and build the organization skills to maintain a constant and sturdy schedule. 

Overall, we spend less time in synchronous time than we would regularly in the classroom. This allows you to work at your own pace and still have extra time for extra activities. Distance learning may be hard, but if you make an attempt to look at it with a more positive attitude, then it may not be as bad as you think!