Online Learning

 I do not believe that online learning provides equal opportunity learning. I have always been a straight A (with an occasional B) student, and this first year that is already down the drain. I have taken online classes in the past, and struggled terribly which is why I decided I would take in person courses if I had the chance. I am struggling to keep my grades up as I am taking a few pretty challenging courses such as Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Experimental Psychology and Spanish. Having to learn on an online platform has made every single course I am in much more challenging. Many students are struggling with online learning and I have heard this from many of my friends. I have a friend at Morehead State who is in similar classes as I am, she has never really struggled learning material or retaining it. Her grades have continued to drop as well as her test taking skills, study skills, and social skills. Because we are forced to learn online, I feel as if we are not able to really learn material so much as just submitting assignments by 11:59 every night. Future classes I take are bound to be more difficult because I am not learning the basic content in my basic classes. 

I do think there should be some sort of hardship clause for students who are genuinely struggling with the impact of covid. Although, I really don't know if there is any possible way to distribute this fairly. Once announced that something of the sort has been produced, some students may decide that they want to slack off and just not do the work, where as other students are genuinely struggling to pass a course. Lets say someone is taking in person courses on the same major pathway as I am. In person, you are basically forced to learn the content because otherwise you will not know what to do in any given situation. I am a pre nursing major currently, so lets say I am taking anatomy online (which I am) and am basically teaching myself the material. Whereas someone else whois able to take in person courses has other people in a classroom setting to communicate with and a professor to clear any confusion. In the future, if a healthcare facility were to use these grades, they would choose the one who had higher grades and a higher grade point average. Now, what if the student who took online courses just struggles with learning online, but didn't`t have an opportunity to retake the course for any reason. This makes students who struggle with online learning, or staying home less competitive in the job market for something they cannot entirely control.