Online classes have become much more popular in states across the country. Schools have been switching back and forth from online and in-person classes for about two years now due to the effects of the pandemic. But online classes are just not as efficient as in-person classes are and there are many reasons for this. 

With one of the biggest online school platforms, Edgenuity, there are so many negatives. Many students that have tried this platform have not liked it because there were so many problems with it. Some students complained that the website crashed a lot and wouldn’t allow them to turn in their work which led to more assignments that they had to do outside of class time. 

If someone is a hybrid student, meaning they take classes both in person and online, the work that they are doing online and the work that they are doing in physical classes almost never lines up, meaning they are learning the same material just at different times. Which caused a lot of confusion for both the students and the instructors.

According to the foothill dragon press, the program is really bad at motivating them. Once students get so far behind in their work, there is just no desire to try to catch up. Having the monotone classes through a screen makes it so that students don’t stay very engaged or motivated, nor are they especially interested in the class.

In face-to-face classes, the hands-on activities are very good for keeping the students involved in the material. These activities usually can’t be transferred into an online format which is a big disadvantage to online classes.

Online schooling is so much more prone to technical issues as well because you are relying on the computer at all times. If someone doesn’t have reliable wifi and their school doesn’t offer personal hotspots, the student could get very behind.

The students that do online school are more likely to feel like they are isolated from everyone else. Most people’s social life is mainly at school and when someone is taking online courses it is so much harder to maintain a good social life because they aren’t seeing as many people during school. This could affect the student’s social abilities and development as well. Many people complained that Edgenuity barely requires any interaction from the students, causing problems in staying engaged.

When students are at home all day it is so much easier to get bored. Usually at home there are many things students can do to keep themselves busy, but if someone is taking online classes, all of those chores are now being used to distract them from their schoolwork. The Internet is also often used to distract people, and with having all of the students’ classes be completely online, they are always only one click away from a sea of distractions.

Online courses require self-discipline. Physically attending classes increases accountability to a great extent. If a student that is doing online school feels like they aren’t getting the guidance they are supposed to be getting, it makes it so much harder to engage in the activity. Students may not have enough self discipline to pay attention or even attend the class.

“It’s really easy for students to say ‘I’ll work on it tomorrow’, and then they get behind and have to really work hard and struggle to get caught up,” counselor Lori Hallberg said. 

Online learning also adds to the student’s and instructor’s screen time. An excessive amount of screen time can lead to headaches, bad posture, insomnia, and can cause eye strain. Not only is it a physical downside it can also be an issue for students who have a hard time focusing on a screen.

Overall, online school is just not very efficient for most people. Although some positives can be found, the negatives need to be corrected before online classes become the preferred method of learning.