Online School May Jeopardize Student's Futures, According to Study.

By Erich Meslin

Online learning may be putting college student’s education in jeopardy, according to studies by West Point and Marshall University.

          The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many colleges and universities to change the classroom dynamic by making online learning the new normal.

          More than 700 universities and colleges have adopted the online platform ‘zoom’ to allow their students to learn without fears of spreading Covid-19.

          According to a study conducted by West Point, 551 freshman students learning online were observed to have lower grades in comparison to classes taught in person.

          The study concluded that final grades for online students dropped by 0.215 standard deviations: a result apparent in both assignments and exams, according to the study.

          Many students reported that they struggled to stay focused and felt less connected to their peers and professors.

       Stonehill College is one of the many higher education institutions that implemented online learning into the fall and spring of 2020.

          Shane Paolozzi, 19, is a sophomore economics major at Stonehill College that experienced online learning in his first semester at school.

          “It impacted me socially because I had no physical interactions with my fellow classmates and teachers. Academically, I lacked the ability to focus on the zoom camera throughout the entire semester,” Paolozzi said.

          Kevin Miller, 19, is sophomore psychology major at Stonehill who said, “I feel like my first year at school was negatively impacted by Zoom. I never really focused and retained the information my professors were teaching me. I felt like I was being setup for failure and am feeling those effects in my sophomore year.”

          “Some feel Zoom is an escape from the real classroom and ultimately that will hurt their future,” Miller said.

          John Lynch, 19, is sophomore finance major who felt Zoom was an integral part of learning safely during the covid-19 pandemic.

          “I liked zoom because it provided a safe environment for students and teachers to connect through a dangerous pandemic,” Lynch said.

          “People forget we are still in a deadly pandemic that has killed many people, I think it is great for zoom to step up and allow us a safe space to continue our education. I have noticed I am not learning as much but feel I can catch up in the future when the pandemic is over,” Lynch said.

          The foundations of these college students may be put into jeopardy, according to a study by Marshall University.

          According to the study, 32.7% of students have admitted to cheating online during the course of the pandemic.

          Another 73.8% of students have said online learning makes it easier to cheat online than in the classroom, according to the study.

           “Cheating is one of the worst things you can do in a higher education institution,” James Harwood, 19, a sophomore business major at Stonehill College, said.

          “I know people that have been caught and punished for cheating during the online school semester,” Harwood said.

          “The fact that online school allows people the opportunity to cheat hurts my graduation class’s performance and the institution itself,” Harwood said.

          “I fear for the future because my class is not as up to date on integral values that should have been established in my freshman year. I have already noticed how my freshman classes were the foundation to my classes now and a weak foundation may lead to problems in the future,” Harwood said.

          Kelly McKillop, a faculty member at the Meehan School of Business and teaches many sophomore classes,  recently returned to Stonehill College after a long break from teaching.

          “I have noticed that the sophomore class does not perform as well as the entire faculty would like them to,” McKillop said.

          “One of my favorite classes to teach is managerial accounting, the first exam of the term resulted in a school wide average of 51%. I have never witnessed such numbers,” McKillop said.

          “The sophomore class experienced online learning and had to adapt to the new system but a lot of information that should have been established their freshman years is not available,” McKillop said.

          “This problem is so pervasive that as a department, we are trying to undue the freshman online learning era and prepare our students for their futures,” McKillop said.

Chris Cox, 19, talks about his experiences with zoom and the transition into college.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYI6PmNqMbM