Blog Post 3, EDCI 339
MainĀ Inquiry Question:Ā How do students learn best, should they choose their own learning methods/ styles?
Supporting question: How did the abrupt transition of moving students’ schooling to online during COVID-19 affect their learning?
My Learning: The sudden change to online schooling in 2020 left many students feeling confused and unsettled. This transition affected students’ mental health, physical health and social skills (Stoain et al., 2022).
A concerning result of online school during the pandemic was how many students reported having symptoms of poor mental health. Depression, anxiety, and fear were felt by many students. These symptoms cause students’ motivation to drop. In result leading to poor grades, participation, etc (Stoain et al., 2022).
It can be argued that physical health is just as important as mental health. Many students reported seeing a drastic drop in their amount of daily exercise. As organized sports, walking around campus, physical health classes were all canceled. For many students their days consisted of sitting at home in front of the computer completing schoolwork. Not only did this affect the amount of exercise students were receiving but also caused issues such as eye strains, back and shoulder soreness, stiffness, etc (Stoian et al., 2022).
When looking at social skills there was a huge decrease in any sort of social interaction. Due to isolation mandates there was very little opportunity for maintaining previous relationships. Social interactions mostly occurred over the phone or internet. Many grew used to spending their days alone and were out of practice with simple interactions. Inevitably, socializing had to be reintroduced when in person classes resumed. This created unintentional awkwardness and nervousness around in person socializing for some students.
Reflection: The forced transition between the two learning styles was not easy for many students. Now the pandemic has been overcome and we don’t necessarily need to rely on online learning anymore. But the question of whether we should continue to utilize online learning remains. Many students have differing opinions on which learning style they prefer and feel benefits them most. Unfortunately, there is no clear answer on which learning style should be used.
Next Research Question: Should students have the opportunity to pick between participating in online or in person learning?
Next Steps:
– Creating a survey to gather students feelings on the switch to online learning during COVID-19?
Google survey for students to fill out: Link to Google survey
-Comparing the differences and similarities my members may have had.
-Interviewing a teacher who taught during the online to back in person transition to see their perspective on how students’ learning may have been affected.
Multimedia- Youtube Video: Molina, a licensed mental health therapist in Florida, shares his insight to why the transition from online learning to face-to-face during COVID-19 caused many difficult challenges for many students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRPMg3ZMeOM
References: Lemay, D., Bazelais, P., Doleck, T. (2021, August 10). Transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958821000786
Stoian, C., Farcasiu, M., Dragomir, G., Gherhes V. (2022, October 7). Transition from Online to Face-to-Face Education after COVID-19: The Benefits of Online Education from Studentsā Perspective. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12812
Hensley, L., Laconelli, R., Wolters, C. (2021, July 6). āThis weird time we’re inā: How a sudden change to remote education impacted college students’ self-regulated learning. Taylor & Francis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15391523.2021.1916414