Zoom or the Classroom: Living with Virtual Reality

Zoom or the Classroom: Living with Virtual Reality

Miles Kresic in front of the St. Andrews School library in Middletown, Delaware.

By Miles Kresic

The Covid-19 pandemic prevented many schools, including my own, from having in-person classes for many months.

I experienced virtual learning for the last semester of my sophomore year at St. Andrews School in Middletown, Delaware and then again for the better part of the fall and winter terms of my junior year this past school year.

One of the main differences between inthe-classroom instruction and zoomed computer classes is fairly obvious. While in virtual sessions, students are alone and without the support network of faculty and even their fellow students to help them grasp new concepts and learn subjects effectively.

One of my biggest challenges involved learning new material in classes, mainly because there was no opportunity to talk to teachers and faculty after hours or have them explain concepts in person.

Emailing teachers was an option, but just wasn’t the same as having a real person help with problems and give instruction. Many fellow students told me they were experiencing the same problems and often struggled most with classes that were not necessarily their strongest subjects. And even the most exciting courses could be challenging, as well.

On a positive note, our teachers didn’t need a lot of time to adapt to virtual sessions. Though the students’ support network was somewhat lacking, the classes themselves changed dramatically for the better throughout the course of the pandemic.

Some of the first virtual classes were awkward, ill-planned and disrupted by technical glitches. By the time I had my last virtual classes, there was an entirely new schedule in place, teachers had set up virtual office hours and classes were running far more smoothly.

My teachers had figured out how to engage students and make classes more interactive. And while it still was not up close and personal learning, classes became more engaging as we went along than in the early days of March, 2020 when virtual sessions began.

It also became clear how important it was to find ways to keep busy outside of class when we were away from our computers. It was imperative to avoid having a monotonous cycle of attending classes, then doing nothing for the rest of the day.

Because we had somewhat shortened schedules, there were hours of free time in which there was nothing to do during lockdown. Students across the country had to deal with no extra-curricular activities or playing sports, intramural or interscholastic, for the second half of the 2019-2020 year and most of this past academic year.

I was fortunate enough to attend school in person for at least some of the last school year. But virtual classes in my home presented a different sort of challenge. Each day I had to make sure I stayed productive and did something useful around the house, the better to avoid boredom and frustration.

I did a lot of household chores, and exercise was another healthy and satisfying activity to avoid the pandemic blues. It helped my overall outlook to accomplish something meaningful every day.

That being said, I’m greatly looking forward to my in-person on-campus senior year. With schools around the country finally re-opening, I’m sure students coast to coast are probably as excited as I am to get back to the real normal.

Warrenton area native Miles Kresic is entering his senior year at St. Andrews School in Middletown, Delaware.