Online school is a different beast than regular school. Everything is online, it’s easier to slack off and get distracted, parents can have more work to do, there’s not as much social interaction, and everything just seems foreign.
When you’re first switching, there’s a lot of stuff to do and it seems like a lot can be missed. Heck, I forgot to do an entire subject for the whole year and had to do all of it at the end (still got an A, though, haha).
So, how can you do online school, what kind of stuff do you need, and what are some things to avoid when doing online school?
How Does Online School Work?
Online school is basically the same as brick-and-mortar school, only online. There are some differences, but it’s generally pretty similar.
The work is all done or submitted online–homework, tests, etc. The students get the work, do the work, and send it back in for grading.
The materials used for the classes are either online or physical–much like brick-and-mortar school. There might be books that get sent to the student, or they could just get a login for an online textbook. I’ve had both happen.
Teachers are something that may or may not be a part of online school. Generally, they are, but some courses are highly automated to where teachers aren’t necessary. In those cases, teachers might not be available for the class. Sometimes they are in those scenarios, and virtual classes don’t take place because of how automated it is. The meetings with the teachers would be more individualized.
The classes, if there are any for the course, are generally online and recorded. The students all log in to a virtual class with the teacher and talk about assignments, go over course materials, etc. The usual stuff that happens in a physical classroom.
The medium that it takes place in depends on the teacher and the class. I’ve seen Google Hangouts used, Zoom used, and BlackBoard used.
Generally, these applications allow for the sessions to be recorded. So, if a student misses the class and the teacher records it, they can look back over the recording to find out what they missed.
What Does the Work Look Like?
The schoolwork is something that depends on the class. Some classes have online videos that are watched, and then quizzes that are taken to see how much has been learned by those videos. Those are the highly automated ones I was talking about earlier.
Other times, books are read, work is done based off of what is read, and then there might be a quiz at the end of the book to recap it all. The work is sometimes done on paper and other times it’s done in something like Google Docs or Microsoft Word. So, the usual brick-and-mortar style.
Presentations are also sometimes done, depending on the class. The student shares their screen with their presentation and then goes through it. A lot of times, the only difference between online school and brick-and-mortar school is the medium through which it takes place.
If you’re looking for the “too long, didn’t read” version, there can be presentations, automated quizzes, work done on paper, work done in things like Google Docs, classes, and books.
How Long Does it Take?
This one is highly dependent on how quick the student can get stuff done. There are things like classes or videos which take a certain amount of time and can’t be skipped or fast forwarded (very annoying for those that want to be quick, I know). Those things, obviously, take time.
Classes are anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours long. It depends on the class and the grade level. How many classes there are depends on the school and which classes are being taken.
The stuff that doesn’t have a set time period are the things like books and the work done. They depend on how quick the student can get it done. If you’re like me, you can get all of your work done in the first three days of the week (at most) and then chill out the rest of the week.
It depends on how quick you can (and want to) get it done, how many classes there are, how much work you have, and how many interruptions you have. Generally, though, you can expect it to take about four hours of school work per day. Classes and interruptions may extend this period of time.
While online school is a bit different from brick-and-mortar school, I’m sure you’ll find some similarities. Once you get into the swing of it, it’ll feel just like normal school. If you’ve got any questions, send us a message here and we’ll try to help you as best as we can.
