A.

SPEAK OUT

Tell your friend and your experience of remote learning during your high school period by
using these prompts.
a. What did you first feel about school disclosure due to corona outbreak?
b. What did you do?
c. What were the challenging situations?
d. How did you cope or adjust with the situation?

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING ABOUT REMOTE LEARNING?

Something I find really special about my

high school is that we are really focused on
student-centered learning. We use a
Harkness-style teaching method where all
the students and the teacher sit at a round
table together and instead of learning
through lecturing, we learn from each
other. Peer-to-peer interaction is a really
pivotal part of education at my school, and
it feels like it falls so short in our distance
learning. We use Zoom and can see one
another and our teacher, but everyone is
always muted so as not to interfere with
background noise. Our classes have been
cut down by ten minutes and instead of
having six classes a day, we only have three
or four classes synchronously. I feel like my
education is not being fulfilled. I have a
significant lack of motivation and I miss the
thought-provoking discussions I used to
have with my classmates during physical
school. I am really anxious to get back to
school and really foster my love of learning
through my peers.
— Emily Barkley, Lawrenceville, NJ
I’m in my second week of online distance
learning and it’s exhausting! Yes, school
now starts at 9 am and we end at around
2:30, so it’s not like I’m doing school work
all day. However, now I’m on the computer
for about 4 or 5 hours at a time. Before the
whole pandemic happened, I only spent
about an hour, maybe 2 on the computer
both at school and at home. At the end of
the day, I don’t want to see another
computer for a while. I actually did some
research (on the computer) and I found that
I was suffering from computer fatigue. Yep,
it’s a real thing.
‘THE WORKLOAD HAS
BEEN OVERWHELMING.’
“Oh my goodness … Why there is so
much homework?” This was my first
reaction to online study as I looked at
the homework checklist. Due to the
outbreak, most activities, including
daily clubs, are canceled at present,
thus we do not have much to do at
home. At least teachers believe so;
therefore, tons of homework
overwhelms us everyday. However,
we actually get much to do everyday
besides homework: standardized
tests, such as TOEFL, SAT, AP, etc.,
needed to be prepared; activities that
could be done indoor had to be
completed … Homework is the straw
which breaks the camel’s back. How I
hope that assignment could be a little
less and more time could be
controllable by ourselves! I am now
in China. Online study has already
taken place for 2 months so far.
Sometimes I really wish to go back to
school having lessons face to face
with teachers and classmates. School
is not only a place for study, but a
place to prepare us for future life
when we embark upon complicated
society and interpersonal relationship.
Online education cannot replace

— Miriam, Oakland, CA