Thanksgiving break is a time for students to take a break from the business of the school year and enjoy time with family and friends. This week begins with two days of Zoom school, which brings along the question of whether Zoom is benefiting the students or taking away from their break.
NDB students are given Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off from school to spend time celebrating Thanksgiving. However, Monday and Tuesday are spent engaging in class via Zoom calls. This time on Zoom can present challenges, but it also has benefits for the students, especially those who wish to travel over Thanksgiving.
“Definitely, it’s easier to travel and kind of get a longer break,” said Sophomore Lily Roche.
When students take classes over Zoom, it can give them much more freedom and accessibility than being in school may allow. Many families enjoy travel over Thanksgiving break, and without the Zoom schooling, students would be marked absent from two days of classes; however, with Zoom, students can travel and still attend their classes. Another benefit that students can gain is preparation for their adult lives, when Zoom may be a key part of their careers.
“Which is also why we like to do it at least once a year, because there are going to be interfaces in everyone’s life where they do need to get on Zoom,” said Dean of Science, Engineering, Math and Schoolwide Technology Jolanda Breazeale.
On the opposing side, Zoom school gives both teachers and students trouble. Teachers can find difficulty in creating engaging lesson plans for a forty to fifty-minute Zoom class. Students may also find it difficult to get engaged in class when they have to switch from in-person learning to Zoom learning for two days, imposing a huge challenge to their learning.
“I have mixed emotions about it…It’s really challenging to come up with a lesson plan that makes sense in a 45 or 50-minute Zoom meeting, and then have some kind of a result that comes out of that,” said Visual and Performing Arts Teacher and Chair Martha Anne Kuntz.
Zoom can allow students more opportunities, but also cause uncertainty in their learning. Is Zoom schooling truly a smart choice to aid students’ learning, or does it impose more challenges than growth?
