Online school has given socially anxious students a way to be able to work at their own pace and to have more time going over subjects they struggle with. “I think online college is great. I get to set my schedule and I do not have to feel the pressure of what others may expect from me. In-person school is also great. It has been working for hundreds of years and I understand why students prefer in-person. You do not get the same learning experience from online,” Ivanik said.
Julia Gay, a senior in college, has always been a very sociable person. She enjoyed making friends and meeting people. “I fell into depression because of my personal problems. But school was the last straw. There was so much stress from assignments and a huge workload, which caused school to make things worse.” Gay was not aware of her social anxiety until she went to an in-person class. “I did not realize I had become socially anxious until I had the chance to go to an in-person class. It was my first time going anywhere in months. I remember feeling anxious in my car. When I got to the classroom, my heart rate skyrocketed and I started shaking. I was shaking the entire hour and 15 minutes of class and I could not wait to get out of there. I sat in my car for at least 10 minutes to calm down before I drove home.” This shows the impact that online school can have on sociable students and how it can change them.
It is still in question if online schools will exist after COVID. There should be ways to help the people who do not want to attend in person. Ivanik thinks that other schooling options should be available. “I think a personal tutor should be accepted as a way of being taught, as long as the individual feels comfortable.”
COVID-19 has allowed the improvement of online schooling to grow. But there is still some trouble in the online world. Teachers and students do not share the same connection as they would in person. It is more difficult for a teacher and a student to get to know each other online. Some teachers have done a fine job of trying to connect with students. Others have not been so effective. Ivanik said, “I do not feel connected with any of my professors. I try to reach out, but they do not usually reply like they said they would.”
Some troubles that have come from online schooling are that students sometimes have to teach themselves. Either the teacher did not clearly explain a topic or the student did not understand what was being taught. Ivanik sadly did not have good professors this semester. “I have had to teach myself in all my classes but one. The professors do not give me any help when I ask for it. I feel as if I am not being taken seriously at times.”
With how much society has advanced, perhaps it is time to include more options to make education fit each student?
