The question, "Should we have Wednesdays as asynchronous learning days," has been floating around the district amongst administration as well as students. As of right now, most students are in a synchronized learning environment online due to the covid-19 pandemic. But what are some benefits of this way of learning? There is more engagement between students as well as lots of instruction and help from teachers; however there is a strict schedule that students need to follow in order to keep up with all their school assignments as well as technical difficulties that can make it hard to participate in class. Staring at a screen for six or more hours a day, then (according to a study in a New York Times article) doing homework for three and a half to four hours (or more) each night all while on a computer can be demotivating and challenging for a high school student. According to the National Education Association, students should only be getting up to about one or two hours of homework maximum. Asynchronous learning gives students the opportunity to work at their own pace and when they have the time too. This is beneficial because then they are less stressed about meeting others deadlines, as well as having less pressure on themselves by the competitive nature of some schools. It also lets people have time to spend with family, be outdoors, do extracurriculars, and focus on mental health. As a high school student participating in synchronous online learning, do you think having Wednesdays as an asynchronous learning day would be more beneficial or harmful? Is it a good break to catch up on work, or a waste of time and a day that could be spent in class?
Synchronous vs Asynchronous Learning Article
Pros and Cons of Synchronous Learning
I would love to have wednesday off to go outside, do my extracurriculars, work, and catch up with homework, but there may be some repercussions. Teachers are already cutting their curriculum almost in half to fit into the shortened time period they now have with the new online schedule, and I’m wondering if this would reduce how much we learn and understand in our classes. My teachers usually have entire lesson plans on Wednesdays, to the point where I feel like we would be missing out on crucial learning if it were to be cut. However, to your point, there still would be material to learn as it is asynchronous and not a free day, and people would be able to get the help they need to complete assignments and understand the content better. I think this should be a teacher-made decision as they know best how this non- in-person day will affect how they teach and how we learn. It may be best to do a wee experiment.
ReplyDeleteYes I completely agree, and I like what they are doing now, kind of testing the waters out for a couple weeks. It will be harder for some students because they might not have the motivation, and like you said the amount of material we can learn may also be impacted because of an asynchronous work day. But at the same time I think it's a good and bad thing that there is less material, because it is so much harder to complete work online. But at the same time we should still learn as much as possible. I am interested to see how the next few Wednesdays will be, especially because some teachers may have class and others won't.
ReplyDeleteI think that the debate between synchronous and asynchronous learning is very critical to understanding the best mode of education both right now, and in the future as we explore other digital learning alternatives (such as online courses) that will still be with us after the pandemic. Maya, I agree with your comment in that asynchronous Wednesdays would go a long way towards decreasing stress for students, but at the same time I feel like they would mean even less instructional time in a year when instructional time is already scarce. Although periods are just 30 minutes, I have been impressed by how much content teachers have been able to pack into just a half hour. Hopefully test-running asynchronous school a couple of times (starting next week) will shed some light on if that is a valid approach. Personally though, I am leaning towards no.
ReplyDeleteI think that this topic between synchronous and asynchronous learning is very important to talk about. As a student I agree that having one day be an asynchronous work day would be beneficial for the student in terms of screen time. Although I also agree that having a day without seeing a single teacher for the whole day may also negatively affect us students as well because there may be some material that we don't understand that would be better taught by a teacher. However I have heard that the teachers are still accessible during this work day for helping students if they have any questions. Over these next couple of weeks I am going to be very excited to see the differences in my learning during the asynchronous wednesday.
ReplyDeleteAsynchronous Wednesdays would be far more beneficial than harmful. First, we need to understand what this would mean for students. As of right now, at least on weekdays, we spend six hours daily on Zoom, then at least another two to three (sometimes more) on homework which is also majority screen based. Then we watch TV to unwind. We spend most of our waking hours on screen. Not only is this harmful to our long term vision, posture, and sleep patterns, but it affects how our brain processes and distributes dopamine and serotonin, which could have possible social implications once we return to in-person instruction - face to face interactions won't give us the same satisfaction as they used to. It's been almost seven months since we've had face to face school, and we'll experience challenges with regards to creating bonds with one another, let's not make this any harder than it needs to be. From an educational perspective, it enables students to work at their own pace. I think many of my peers interpret asynchronous as less work, and I'm a little unclear about this. I doubt the school board would allow an asynchronous model if it sacrificed instruction, so why would we have more time to pursue extracurriculars and interests if we don't have a similar amount of time when we're in synchronous learning? Granted, some students would finish work faster, but even then teachers could compensate by assigning more. For teachers, this could be much-needed time to thoroughly plan future lessons, which benefits synchronous learning, so including an asynchronous day could improve the overall quality of school. I fully support asynchronous Wednesdays, but I'm curious to hear how they'll be executed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maya on finding a balance between treating Wednesdays as asynchronous versus as a "free day". I know that I would find asynchronous Wednesdays very helpful, a time to get ahead on work and relieve stress, however there are a lot of students who would take advantage or asynchronous days and not do any work. While this is unfortunate, Wednesdays would just be another time for them to fall even more behind than they already are. I do admit that so many hours on Zoom and then on homework is excessive and gets tiring on the eyes, but if we are taking time out of classes on Wednesdays, won't the time in class on other days have to be extended? Also,it is going to be very confusing because some teachers are still meeting Wednesdays, some aren't, and some you have to come to class just to sit there with cameras off. I know Wednesdays are stressful for the teachers- they have to plan 30 minute classes that are really only 20 because of other distractions and such- and I think asynchronous Wednesdays would be beneficial for them too. At the end of the day, it's most important to treat Wednesdays as a work day, instead of a "do whatever you want" day, and to make sure to be efficient at using the time given to us on Wednesday to get as much done as possible.
ReplyDeleteWhile I clearly do recognize the importance of having online learning and direct communication with teachers, I believe that transforming Wednesday into an asynchronous day would be very beneficial to students and teachers alike. Now that we have been in school for the past eight weeks and have gotten more accustomed to the weekly schedule, I believe that we have had enough time to judge whether the 30 minute Wednesday class is effective/works. For me personally, I think that this short class period leaves little time for actual instruction or to get things done, and it seems to be over before we can truly dive into content, discussions, or other assignments. Teachers usually use this day to go over something small and quick, and occasionally just give us time to work on certain things that are due or that we will be continuing moving forwards. I think that instead of school being mandatory on Wednesdays, that we can take a break from screens at the midway point of the week, and be able to have a more relaxed day away from devices. Like many other students have said in the comments, I don’t think that this day needs to be “useless” or “free,” but that even getting small check ins or minor assignments to complete at our own pace would be nicer than having to be confined to the desk and screen all day. I also do think that this day being asynchronous could help with catching up with some school work, or simply having the freedom to do more things whether it be with family, go outside, etc.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have mixed feelings for Wednesdays becoming asynchronous. I do believe that if one were to take the the time to finish homework and/or be productive, then yes, I would say Wednesdays becoming asynchronous is beneficial. However, it's very easy to be distracted from doing work when there's no one to direct you, and if you have any problems with your schoolwork, it may be discouraging to ask a teacher, since they're not in easy reach. This will just cause students to procrastinate their work even more, and they'll be rushing to turn in their assignment at 11:59 Wednesday night. In Rowan's article, she mentions how it's tiring to look at a screen for 6 hours a day, and I agree. I also saw an email from the superintendent stating that Wednesdays are good days to take a break from the screen. However, I find this contradicting, because if the intended purpose of asynchronous learning is to catch up on work, while teachers are assigning work on Wednesdays as well, we will still be looking at a screen for 6 hours a day, trying to catch up and get ahead, thus, having no actual benefit. Not to mention if you procrastinate, you'll probably be playing video games or looking on your phone all day, which practically just defeats the purpose of asynchronous. As I mentioned before, I don't believe that asynchronous Wednesdays is all bad. There is definitely some benefits, like less stress of finishing classwork in a certain period of time, or giving teachers more time to further develop teaching plans. If I were allowed to develop this asynchronous plan further, I would tell teachers to assign work, but make it minimal, as adding additional work to a catch up day will be contrary to the purpose. I think that overall, asynchronous Wednesdays could work, but it will be up to the student to decide whether they want to make the most of it or not.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, asynchronous Wednesdays would be beneficial to students in numerous ways. The reality for students is that "Zoom fatigue" takes a large toll on their physical and mental stress. If you ask high schoolers, they'll consistently admit that Zoom school only incorporates all the less enjoyable parts of school while leaving out the social aspect and the creating personal connections. This lack of appeal for Zoom school makes it harder to stay motivated and focus on learning. By having asynchronous Wednesdays, students will have the opportunity to reduce their workload, reduce their time on screens, and spend time focusing on their mental and physical health. This in turn will improve their productivity on other school days and assist their school performance overall.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, asynchronous Wednesdays would be beneficial to students in numerous ways. The reality for students is that "Zoom fatigue" takes a large toll on their physical and mental stress. If you ask high schoolers, they'll consistently admit that Zoom school only incorporates all the less enjoyable parts of school while leaving out the social aspect and the creating personal connections. This lack of appeal for Zoom school makes it harder to stay motivated and focus on learning. By having asynchronous Wednesdays, students will have the opportunity to reduce their workload, reduce their time on screens, and spend time focusing on their mental and physical health. This in turn will improve their productivity on other school days and assist their school performance overall. Furthermore, this time will allow students to branch out and focus on taking initiative and exploring their interests. By spending time on extracurriculars, they are furthering their education in ways that lecture and zoom time does not allow. For seniors, this time on Wednesday provides the opportunity to work on college applications, a major hurdle given our different living circumstances. For juniors, a year filled with difficult courses and important tests, this lifts a weight off their shoulders by allotting a few hours more each week.
ReplyDeleteAs many people have stated before me, I agree that asynchronous learning on Wednesdays would be beneficial. Currently, we only spend 30 minutes in each class on Wednesdays and we barely learn anything. We sit in a class and the teacher decides that they would assign us what they couldn't teach in school. This causes large amounts of stress and causes even more problems for students. Along with that, asynchronous learning would allow students to catch up on either sleep or do work for other classes where they need it the most.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Wednesdays are typically pretty unproductive with only 30 minutes of class time. It can take a while for a teacher to get organized, as well as the students. It just is too hard to have a good learning experience in such a short time, especially with online classes with tech difficulties. -Rowan CC
DeleteI believe that there would be both positive and negative effects of having asynchronous Wednesdays. As many people have pointed out already, being on Zoom for an entire school day and then also having to complete homework for 5 days a week is a huge amount of screen time compared to the recommended amount. However, I don't think that having asynchronous Wednesdays would necessarily reduce screen time, since I'm expecting the workload to stay about the same. That being said, I feel like a flexible Wednesday schedule would be really nice, and currently, spending half an hour with each teacher hasn't been all that helpful- you can only go over a very minimal amount of content over such a short period of time.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that Wednesdays should not be asynchronous but the schedule should be changed. 30 minutes per class period is not enough time for a lesson, and 5 minutes between class periods is much too short to get students organized for the next class.This said, I still think that going asynchronous would not be beneficial to most students because it takes the pressure off the students to do their work and concentrate and I worry Wednesdays could just turn into a day off. The schedule could be changed to offer a larger flex period that students are required to attend. This puts the pressure on students to still attend, however they can choose which class to recieve extra help in.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. In my opinion, i hate having to be rushed in anything. Thirty minutes is definetely too short of a class to have an actual lesson. Attendance will take about five minutes, getting everything organized will be another 2-3 minutes, everything is just very rushed and i hate it. I really like the idea that you mentioned about a larger flex period because i think we could use short wednesdays to our advantage and use it as a time to catch up on work, ask teacher for help and maybe just have a mid week break. Obviously not a day off, but a somewhat useful day to help students improve and get better.
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ReplyDeleteAsynchronous learning is very interesting. Honestly I think having asynchronous learning days scattered around synchronous learning days is a lot better then just having synchronous learning days. After time, it gets boring and also stressful to constantly look at the computer while homework continues to stack up. I really like the Wednesday asynchronous days because they offer a time to catch a little break in the middle of the week while giving time to catch up and do lots of homework. For some classes like APs where there's a strict schedule in order to teach the content before the AP test, asynchronous days may be detrimental especially since we already have less class time. That's one of the things I feel like could be risky. Another one is that people may use that time wrong and waste it which would also be a problem. For me, it would be really beneficial though.
Similar to the previous responses, I also believe asynchronous Wednesday’s would be highly beneficial to students. Because of the long hours actively “in class,” as Wednesday’s approach, students start to feel a midweek burn out. This burnout includes physical and mental exhaustion, fatigue, and headaches due to excessive screen time. I agree with Max’s perspective that the fast-pace Wednesday schedule lacks productivity. This chaotic schedule results in lower quality of work; homework assigned on Tuesday block (worth two nights of work), must be crammed in order to turn in on Wednesday. Furthermore, because of the shortened instructional time this year, teachers often cram material through lectures in order to cover the necessary material for APs. An asynchronous Wednesday would allow students to catch up and ensure their mastery of the material. The flexibility asynchronous Wednesdays also help students explore their interests out of school and outside the screen: students may exercise, work, and more. Especially with the lack of physical interaction Zoom class provides, allowing students time to make connections outside of lectures is vital to their overall well-being.
ReplyDeleteI'm very supportive of an asynchronous Wednesday. Personally, the past weeks of having to go through all seven classes on zoom has been very mentally draining. The constant cycling through classes is somehow more conducive to fatigue than a longer day of less classes. I also agree with Max's point of it being harder to absorb material in just 30 minutes; I don't see the point of having class at all when class periods are so short and chaotic. The amount of time it takes to get set up and the mental exhaustion from so much screen time negates the benefits of synchronous learning.
ReplyDeleteHowever, despite the detriments of our current Wednesday schedule, I can see why some would be concerned with an asynchronous Wednesday becoming just a "break" day. While staying focused on your own is a challenge, the degree of independence needed to be successful with distance learning is also very beneficial for higher education. An asynchronous Wednesday would allow students to develop this sense of independence, and give us a much needed mental break.
I think that having some asynchronous days would be beneficial for the mental and physical health of students. Sitting in front of a computer screen all day is very draining and it can be hard to focus after a while. Having a day where the student can set their own pace and decide when to do work would relieve some of this stress and also allow students to gain more responsibility when it comes to work and time management. I agree with Emily that some students may take advantage of this type of learning and treat it as a day off, which is why there must be some way to hold students accountable to the work they need to be doing. Overall, I think this is a great way to switch up the monotony of classes and give students more freedom, while also teaching responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Emily, because if people don't do their work the privilege of the asynchronous day will probably be taken away. And since most teachers have an assignment for the day I hope people will be inspired enough to complete it because I don't think it is meant to be extremely difficult or time consuming. I also agree that it will help students become more independent and hopefully motivate them to take time away from screens. -Rowan CC
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