Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students have been having to choose between being a remote or in person learner. While most choose to do online, others decided to go the alternative route. 

“It really took away from that interaction with my students, I felt like I had to be interactive the whole time,” biology teacher Aubrey Ross said. “I feel so much more for them knowing what challenges I had and having to limit my distractions. Having those additional distractions just put me in a different mind set.”

While some students need to be in a classroom setting to be motivated to do their school work, others can do their work anywhere with no problems. 

For senior Logan Mackey, being an online student didn’t offer him the same opportunities as being an in-person learner. 

“The group projects, labs and in-person only stuff is hard for the online students to do. Trying to be in a group of people is hard since I wasn’t there to help them out and to physically be there is a different experience than sitting in front of a computer,” Mackey said. “When I came to the high school for picture day, it kind of hit me that I haven’t seen my peers since March and I missed being around them. I missed the school.” 

Being online gives students more time to do school work, while also having to deal with more distractions being at home. On the other hand, being in school gives students a chance to interact with their teachers, to be in a classroom setting and to have a hands-on learning experience.

“From my perspective, it feels a little bit harder than what it should be on campus. Submitting my work is kind of confusing,” sophomore Cynthia Garcia said. 

 Trying to submit things online is more difficult for students. Learning this new technology also confuses teachers as well as students.    

“There are two sides to this,” Ross said. “ I don’t think either one is better.”