Online Class: What's poppin'?

Have you ever complained about not having any messages received before the online class

implemented but got annoyed after the online starts because of how chat heads popping at the same

time when you wake up in the morning? Yes, I am one of those students who up until now, my system

is still adjusting with this new norm of education. The COVID-19 caused havoc on the delivery of

lessons in both offline and online versions. Lockdowns were implemented by the Philippine

government, resulting in a quick shift to entirely online teaching and learning techniques.

Communication via online classes is way different from what we perceive in a traditional classroom

because, we use different channels, had more time thinking about our feedback, and most of all, the

communication barrier is inevitable.

In order to prevent the number of positive cases, we have to do things virtually and education

is one of them. The online class is convenient for the situation rather than went to school where there

is a fifty percent chance that someone could be a carrier of the virus and all of us can be infected.

However, not everybody can adjust quickly since the resources are limited. This is what I felt when I

am just starting to engage in online class such as; Having second thoughts every time I reply to

something important, Being anxious about my grammar, and how I construct my sentence to sounds

politely since body language is absent, I avoid using internet slangs and abbreviation, I go over the

sentence to decode the message correctly and avoid misunderstanding. In other words, I learned

proper online netiquette. Also, I had to clean my account for the use of online classes like using a

complete name and change of profile picture for identification. An online class is like my personal

space, and how I deliver my message on social media is invaded but got improved for both uses of

occasions.

In conclusion, Online flexible learning courses have become the new norm of education, so

we have to adjust and accept that our studies will be done through a google classroom, zoom,

messenger or any online platforms which is the presence of a communication barrier is more

unavoidable compare to traditional classes. Everyone is still adjusting to the new norm of studying

and how stressful facing technological devices every day. Due to online class, my way of how I use

the social media platform got enhances but my anxiety level has intensified.