A week in the life of an Online Learner

The team at Loop reflect on the highs and lows of their first week of online learning...

Lockdown learning has been many things and an experience is definitely one of them. My motivation has been deteriorating day by day and finding something to keep my going has been the hardest thing possible. With Covid-19 not getting any better, going to an online lesson has been something that I could say is helping but also making this worse at the same time. I take Film, Media and Drama and Theatre Studies. All subjects you're probably scratching your heads at wondering “how on earth do you do that over an online class?” Film Studies has consisted of watch parties and Drama and Theatre Studies has been watching a play and analysing it. For very practical lessons it seems now is the perfect time to get all of the theory out of the way. Not the way I wanted to spend my first year of college. Everyone told me: college is amazing, you have no pressure, you don’t even have to go in sometimes, you have so much freedom. Let’s just say all of those statements are false. I love my lessons but with Covid-19 it is incredibly exhausting. The good thing is no more waking up at 630am, however I still need to wake up at 8 and keep my head up till 4pm. Everyone has good days and bad days, and that’s definitely how online classes are. Although we are not in a classroom and laughing with your peers, online learning has had some good moments. Getting those extra hours of sleep has been lovely, especially after Christmas and New Years which are extremely exhausting times. Overall online learning hasn’t been all that bad, even though being in a classroom gets you a bit more in the learning mood I guess you could say online learning is just a little break. My college experience has been nothing like I wanted or expected but it has been something I will always remember. - Emily

Nothing prepares you for online learning, waking up everyday to stare at a screen and then go back to bed. It feels like groundhog day. The main thing you need to do is find other things to do, ways to occupy your mind.You need to find things to do so you don't lose your mind. I feel focused on my work but that's not always a good thing. Since Boris has grounded us all again it feels like a constant repetitive cycle and we are all worried, especially students. We've missed prom, GCSEs and now our A Levels and the worst part is we will probably be made to do our exams next year even though we have been in YoYo of unknowing - Tegan

Online learning isn’t too different from what i’m used to; most of everything i do in day to day life is on my desktop pc, so having my education on here isn’t much to adjust to. I often find that the lack of a commute and inherent accessibility to ulterior resources whilst the class is going on definitely helps if i have any further questions into the subject matter at hand, or even with my terrible insomnia-dictated sleep schedule meaning i don’t have to work on 3 hours of sleep most days because the two hour long commute to college has been cut out of my routine. Despite this I did quite enjoy cycling to the bus stop when the sun was just starting to rise. - Arch

Hearing of Coronavirus last December for the first time could never have prepared me for what was actually coming to all of our lives. When our gcses were cancelled i was almost in misbelief it all seemed so unreal to me. Then lockdown came and i guess i adjusted however i wasn’t doing or having any education due to the fact gcses were cancelled and i could only wait until september to start again. Then college started and things almost felt a bit normal again but cases kept increasing and here we are back into a national lockdown and I'm on full time remote learning. Before lockdown we had some of our lessons online as well as in college, this definitely helped me to learn and adjust to online learning as i had done it before but never full time like this. The days almost merge into one, every lesson goes past and it doesn’t even feel like time is passing. The only positive of this for me is getting a bit more sleep in the mornings because i don't have to get up to get the bus each morning. I’m almost sick and tired of looking at the butterfly wallpaper in my bedroom ad my little sister is also now doing school online and my mum is also working from home so there isn’t many spaces in our house where we can all get quiet in the house as i’m always on google meets or my mums always in meetings so im almost confined to my bedroom all by myself all day. It does feel quite isolating and lonely being in my room all day by myself, but if i continue to focus and do all my homework and lessons at my full potential it will pay off in the future.- Elizabeth.

By this time, I think I’ve started to get used to attending my classes online - and in fact I quite like them. Some mornings it can be quite hard to get out of bed early in the morning and catch the bus, hoping that I haven’t missed it for the second time in a week. So, for me online classes are quite laid back and usually takes the stress away from turning up late, which gives me enough time to have breakfast in the morning. Though there are a few things that can be frustrating, which is being unable to sit with my friends at lunch as a group because now the restrictions have been getting more and more strict. Trying to maintain a social life is getting a lot more difficult. But, yet again, that’s what social media is for, though I prefer to see them in person as it’s not the same over a computer screen.

Online learning has been a nice break from the day to day life at college. I find that college is quite stressful when i’m on site and by learning at home the stress factor has been almost non-existent.The downside to having lessons online is that you are sat in one place for a specific period of time however at least I am at home! The highlight of my week has definitely been when the announcement for a third lockdown came out as I enjoy staying in. More time to read etc. I don't think there have been any lowlights yet. Fingers crossed and trying to stay positive!- Sulena

For me, online learning is better than I expected it to be. I can get up almost an hour later, I only have to make an effort on half of my outfit, and as soon as it’s over I can go straight to the sofa to binge Netflix (currently working through The Office US). There have been some challenges, with a parent and sibling also both working from home it is tricky to not get in each other's way. And finding motivation to finish all the work instead of procrastinating is a lot more difficult in the comfort of your own home. Luckily, for me, the positives outweigh the negatives and even though I miss going to college, I don’t mind a month or two of online learning if it means we can get back to some level of normality quicker. :) -Isabelle

Waking up 5 minutes before lesson starts and walking to class in 10 seconds would be weird 1 year ago but now it’s the new normal. The pandemic has forced us to show our social adaptability and change what we know as normal. The constant stagnation of setting and the lack of need to change clothes slowly has me transforming into a couch potato, becoming more and more stir crazy. But let’s be honest, who doesn’t appreciate an extra hour to sleep or being able to stay in your pyjamas - it’s a sign of the times but honestly, I'm not complaining! - Austín

Online learning is different for everyone. For me, however, it has been difficult. Usually, I would wake up at 6am to get ready to catch the bus, I would see my friends and feel like I have actually done something productive with my day. Learning online does have some benefits such as not waking up early and being able to wear comfy clothes; but it takes away the social aspect of college. It is also so much easier to get distracted from your work both in and out of the lessons even though I am trying to get all my work done within the set college day. I find that it is harder to do Photography online compared to English and Media because in reality it is a practical subject. It does have some elements where you sit in front of a screen but you don’t have the freedom to walk around college and take pictures with your friends. The new lockdown has added to this as it has caused me to change my personal project to something that can be done outside so I can still use my friend as my model. I’ve also had to create a new routine for myself to stop me from going insane - everyday I go for a walk whether it is 30 minutes or more as a way to distract myself and clear my mind. As well as this I’ve also started reading again to get me away from my computer screen more and I have made it to my 2nd book since Christmas. Overall, I do miss college and I miss seeing my friends a couple days a week, but I guess it is safer for everyone to learn this way. At least until we are out of lockdown and Covid is contained. - Grace