by Ashanty Gerard, IB-1
With the return of physical school in the Eurocampus, dating back from the 16th of February, many students were displaying doubt and distress in returning to physical schooling. This was due to the two years spent laying extra hours in bed and waking up mere minutes before their online class began. However, even with these stifling feelings, a vast majority were also excited to be able to return as many have expressed that online classes have made learning more strenuous because of the easy availability of distractions within arm’s reach, and that the return of physical classrooms have reduced these issues. In addition to this, it seems like many students have also been able to experience much of the classroom fun that they were missing out on from online, as many students have been able to get their hands on the required materials for their hands-on work with large grins on their faces.
A prominent example of this occurred early last month when the class of IB1 Chemistry was able to perform their first hands-on experiment, after having only been able to experience the fun of science through online simulations. When the student, who will not been named, was asked about the experience of the two, she has stated that, “while the two are both considered experiments, there are many distinct things that one will simply not be able to experience through virtual investigations.” When asked for further clarification of these ‘things,’ she expressed that she was talking about the “joy and fun one would feel through the fright and dread when they realize that data is not actually perfectly consistent.” The student later on conveys that returning to the campus showed her how much fun she actually had in the classrooms, after having spent much time blankly staring at a screen and pressing down on the keys of her laptop.
While the school still does have certain limitations to what they can offer students in terms of material access, the school has been able to illustrate prominent progress in getting greater participation and enthusiasm from the attending physical students. There have also been hints that the school is making greater efforts in opening up more their facilities for the students as the school continues to stay open and adapt to the current environment. Hopefully, many of the remaining online students would be able to return to the classrooms and enjoy the much fun that everyone else has.