Snowy Days and the New Ways of Learning

 

It has been several years without snow, but finally, we have been hit with snow storms several times this winter. Let's just say, it has changed the way we attend school. We have missed several school days that our county had to implement Asynchronous and Synchronous learning. Students in my county are struggling with this remote learning and want to go back to school. This remote learning has caused many inconveniences to students and their families.

Asynchronous learning is when students work virtually by themselves at their own pace. Their teachers will post their classwork for that day and students are required to complete it within a week. Some teachers give the students only a day to complete their work, depending on what they decide is right. I prefer this type of learning because it lets me be independent and responsible with my learning and the completion of my work. Although it works for me, it doesn’t work for every student.

The other type of learning is called Synchronous learning. It means the students have to join an online meeting and attend class. This method of online learning was normal in our county during Covid in 2020. The students are required to have their cameras on at all times. This is an effective way of learning because the teachers can monitor the students as if they were actually in class.

Some students are affected by this large amount of snow. People are losing water, electricity, and some can’t even go outside because of the slippery icy conditions in their location. Because of such power outages and lack of basic needs, many students are unable to attend these online meetings or complete their work online. This causes them to fall behind on their work and makes their grades drop drastically. 

Since we are having so many asynchronous classes this winter, every school day in March has been extended by 20 minutes to recover the lost days due to snowfall. Our school will end at 3:35pm instead of 3:15pm. This 20 minutes can impact the students' after-school activities like swimming, karate, or even parents who have to pick up their children in the middle of their work hours.

In conclusion, many students are affected by this asynchronous and synchronous learning in a negative way. I hope this asynchronous and synchronous learning ends soon and gets back to regular in-person classroom style of learning.