For students at OHS there are many different choices that can be made when it comes to taking classes. Recently, more students are opting for online classes through the variety of options O’Connor provides, may it be Aspire, Rio Salado, or Blueprint. Whether it be for getting ahead and graduating early or trying to free up more time on their schedules for other activities, students are using online classes to their advantage.
“There are a lot of juniors and sophomores I know who are doing online classes to get more involved in just like, outside community things to free up time,” said Jaquelyn Samora, junior.
Online classes help students take courses that they are truly interested in and might want to pursue as a career.
“There’s a lot of classes, such as photography, for example, that we [OHS] only offer[s] online, and I think that it’s very important that they [the students] have access to that,” said Grace Schlicklin, junior.
Additionally, online classes also give students easier access to desired classes as well as courses that can help them graduate earlier.
“I’m an early graduate student, so I physically cannot fit all my credits in if I want to graduate early without taking online,” Schlicklin said.
Working online helps students get the required classes completed sooner; however, it is harder to learn the necessary material without a teacher.
“You don’t have anyone you can get immediate answers from or like immediate in-depth explanations,” said Morgan Hamblin, junior.
There may not be a teacher available to help guide students in learning; although, there are other ways to learn the material.
“It’s definitely a lot harder to learn online because you can’t ask questions to people, but also you have a lot more resources for when you do get stuck,” Schlicklin said.
Students may have access to more resources to help them with their work, but online classes typically have more work due to being a shorter course duration than in-person classes.
“I definitely had more work online just because I think in person you can work with your teachers a lot more, with deadlines and communication, whereas online is just straightforward,” Samora said.
Some students report that keeping up with the work is significantly harder due to having to set aside personal time to work on the class.
“Being in-person, you have these active deadlines you are working on in class; online, it’s so easy for that to get pushed to the side because you have other things you need to focus on,” Hamblin said.
It is easy to fall behind in any class, however, online classes no one is reminding students when something is due. It is their job to stay on top of it or risk losing credits.
“It’s a lot of accountability, responsibility that you have to hold yourself up to,” Samora said.
Students have to learn to get their work completed on time without consistent reminders.
“It’s a standard you have to set yourself up to, as nobody is keeping you up there and you just have to keep yourself accountable,” Samora said.
