As the Coronavirus continues to spread throughout the school, more and more students are finding themselves at home, learning through zoom. Students have been having a hard time staying motivated and keeping a positive attitude. I sent a poll out to both students and staff of Alliance High School in order to get their opinions on online learning. 

In the poll sent out to the students, out of the 97 students that answered the polls, 69 (71.1%) of the students have been, or are currently quarantined. Although not every student has been quarantined during this school year, quarantine is something that everyone experienced last spring, for over two months. Of the 97 responses, 59 stated that they thought that it was harder for them to stay motivated on Zoom without the social interaction of their peers. Being quarantined affects everyone differently, because some students have the ability to work at home, free of distractions, while other students are not as fortunate. Zoom classes can be hard for students because some students do not have a reliable internet connection, so they get disconnected from their class, making them get further behind. One student said that school was more difficult online because, “It was hard to stay positive because some teachers would specifically pick on zoom kids to answer and get mad at us from not knowing the answers when the kids in class didn’t have a clue either. Also because my work could not be given to my teachers until 48 hours after I brought it to the school, causing my work to be given to me later and later. It was also hard to stay positive because schoolwork is just straight up harder online.” Many students are lacking motivation because they miss the social aspect of learning – they miss seeing and talking to their friends and colleagues that they would see on a regular basis at school. 

In a similar poll sent out to AHS Staff, I asked approximately how many students they had to zoom into class on a daily basis. The answers ranged anywhere from four students to fifty. In the 20 teachers that responded to the poll, 19 (95%) stated that they believed that it was harder for students to learn on Zoom. The reason behind their answers were pretty similar – the students on Zoom are lacking the hands-on aspect of learning and Zoom makes it more difficult for students to ask the questions that they might have. Teachers, along with students agree that it is hard for people of any age to stay motivated without any form of social interaction – especially since many high school students are stressed out anyway. 

Zoom is a tool that is extremely helpful during the pandemic. Although, students and teachers that are using this believe that it does add stress to an already stressful time. It is hard to stay motivated and positive without social interaction, but that is why it is so important to wash your hands, mask up, and stay healthy and safe.