When Covid-19 stormed the world, I was in the last month of my second year of University. When the world moved all education online for my third and half of my fourth year of University, I was only able to see online education from that level. So going into this class, I had my doubts and was curious as to how online school would look for those not yet at the post-secondary level. All I knew prior to this class was that zoom classes consisted of getting motivated to turn on your camera and get out of bed. We are all mature adults, who, for the most part could seem to get to class on time and have motivation to complete the work.  so my skepticism was how would this look for younger students? Do they have the motivation? Are they self-disiplined enough to hold themselves accountable without the teacher being physically present?  I was happily proved wrong, and honestly it seems like younger students might even be more engaged and motivated then us older folk were at online classes. 

After listening to Meghan Carrico, she really answered all my doubts and questions about online school in the primary and intermediate years. Her talk really opened my eyes to how a class could be done online. I never knew what the structure of online school would look like in younger years, but after fridays class,it seems manageable nad well laid out

I get all the benefits to online classes, like students who don’t feel comfortable in a real classroom setting, accessibility and  students living in rural areas, etc, etc can all learn online. I just worry about the social aspect of it at such a young age. The socialization during your younger years is so important, and you learn the most through your social connections in my opinion. By having young students online in-front of a screen all the time, and not in person with classmates it seems harmful. I read an article by Forbes saying the harmful effects of zoom, such as the social isolation that I already talked about, but also theres no outside play with friends, or critical brain breaks like the article suggests. I think in order to balance it out, a blended classroom would be beneficial,  just like how universities have shifted to after Covid. If you are sick or cant make it you can hop on zoom so you dont miss any learning. I love that 

Photo by Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC 4.0

I am curious if any of my fellow classmates can share their feelings towards social interactions with their classmates during covid. Did it have an effect on you? Do you feel like nothing really changed? Let me know! 

Enjoy your day everyone, cheers!