At the beginning of this school year, students were offered the opportunity to go to school online rather than in person due to the worldwide pandemic we’ve been dealing with for months now. Most of our Delphi students decided to keep coming to school in person, but some did not. Some, whether it was for curiosity or health concerns, chose to try out virtual school.
One of the students who has been going to school online is sophomore Kaylynn Friend. This decision to go online came from curiosity about online schooling, which she has always wanted to try. She decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try something new. She also was worried about her grandparents. She stated, “I was concerned my grandparents might get COVID and I didn’t want to risk that.”
This year, Kaylynn has been using Edmentum, an online learning platform, for her school. As one could assume, this has been much different than in-person schooling. For example, she starts school at the same time, but she can finish whenever her work is done. She can also do school on Saturdays and Sundays. Aside from her schedule, the way she learns is different too. Instead of having teachers to teach the material, she teaches herself. As she stated, “[The teachers] are only there if you need help.” Unless she has questions, she is in charge of her education.
Aside from the differences academically, there are also many social differences caused by going to school online. Due to less communication, interactions among friends become more difficult. According to Kaylynn, “[Since going online,] I haven’t been able to interact with my classmates outside of school.” She also has not been as involved in DCSC activities. For example, she stated, “I only went to one [football] game and that was for my brother’s senior night.”
Even though she chose to go to school online, Kaylynn misses in-person school. “I will admit that I miss going into the school building,” she commented. While she prefers in-person school, she isn’t sure if she is going to come back next semester. Due to COVID-19 and the impending threat of sporadic virtual and E-learning, Kaylynn said that she would rather just go completely online, stating, “I am thinking about coming back, but I am not sure if I will because I don’t want the school to close and have to do e-learning again. I truly dislike e-learning, and I feel better doing the plain online option.”