You walk into your fourth period, dragging your feet and dreading the boredom that you are about to experience in your math class. Once again, you’re practicing on your third worksheet this week and feel the burnout slowly coming on, this is what school can feel like for some students.
“Sometimes school feels really draining and just feels like an overload,” junior Jayden Hallmann said.
Since the general school education system was created 400 years ago, the curriculum and technology used in schools has changed but, there is one thing that seems to have remained the same: students are still taught in a basic manner where learning is based on repetition and memorization. While in the 1700s this might have been useful, it does not fit our standards and skills needed for our more modern-day jobs and opportunities. Our school’s education does not fit everyone’s learning styles and doesn’t support the mental wellbeing of anyone, nor does it prepare kids for the future.
“I feel like school doesn’t support all the different ways people learn which makes it hard for students to reach their full potential,” junior Chandler Formaro said.
The learning style of repetition and memorization is called ‘Rote Learning’ which has been around for centuries. Implementing this style of learning can promote cramming information at a fast rate which does not teach and help students learn whereas instead promoting memorization to receive a good grade which shows it is an ineffective learning style. As time continues, different ways of learning are found and identified that can help students learn thoroughly, the main four styles are: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. It is also good to note that one student may not stick to one learning style and may vary depending on the topic. These different learning styles are not catered to in the traditional style of schooling. This leads to many things like burnout, mental exhaustion, etc. This is why online learning is becoming a popular choice for students. As of right now the Des Moines public school district has 400 students enrolled into online Virtual Campus.
“I really do think online learning can help so many students with their high school careers,” East alumni Kinsley Kain said.
Online learning was created in the 60s but gained popularity once COVID-19 shut down schools and affected the way traditional schools operate. Online learning provides so many opportunities and helps with schedules and provides an outlet for different styles of learning. Online classes allow students flexibility and to make their own schedule to fit in with their personal lives so that school can still be a priority along with other things. Online schools can also provide other classes and electives that some in-person schools don’t offer, which may vary.