Photo via Getty Images A TIME OF TURBULENCE
Queens students, teachers discuss pros and cons of remote learning
BY ERIN YOON
Ever since remote learning
was initiated in March due to
the rapid spread of the COVID-
19 virus, students and educators
in Queens and around the
city have had to adapt to the
new reality of learning and
teaching.
Due to the scenario’s incapability
to carry out a normal
school routine, scholastic systems
are now relying on remote
learning applications such as
Google Classroom and Pupil-
Path to communicate.
“Online learning is so much
more stressful since it lacks
any sort of guidance from
teachers,” said Devin Xu, a
sophomore from Benjamin N.
Cardozo High School.
The unclear nature of the
lessons, Xu claimed, has contributed
to a mass confusion
experienced by students in both
his school and others all over
the city. Such bewilderment
and the irritation that comes
with it has deterred many students
from successfully completing
their work, according
to Xu.
While nearly all students
agree that online lessons are
perplexing, the opinions concerning
the time management
associated with remote learning
have appeared to be controversial.
“I like the range of time that
remote learning gives,” said
Gabby Gayle, another student
at Cardozo. “But many teachers
are piling large amounts of
work, making it hard for us to
do anything else.”
Students attending other
schools in Queens, such as
Townsend Harris High School,
also commented on the time
frame given by online lessons.
“There are upsides, like being
able to pace yourself. My
trigonometry teacher posts
videos of herself teaching,
which means we can pause
and rewatch as needed,” said
Isabelle Borgstedt, a student at
Townsend Harris High School.
The amount of time lost
and in some senses, gained,
through remote learning has
TIMESLEDGER | 4 QNS.COM | MAY 8-MAY 14, 2020
become a major controversial
topic amongst students and
educators. Some, like Borgstedt,
argue that while online
assignments consume nearly
the whole day for students, they
keep students busy and focused.
Others, like Gayle, claim that
the endless stack of schoolwork
have disturbed their personal
time and hobbies.
Teachers are having an
equally conflicting time adjusting
to the concept of teaching
and communicating only
through the Internet.
“It is just horrific. My life
is no longer my own. Here it is,
11 p.m., I started at 8 a.m. and I
am not even half done correcting
today’s papers,” a teacher at
Cardozo High School said.
The teacher said that the administration
also took spring
break away and that she and
her colleagues are constantly
loaded with emails, video
conferences, notes, plans and
answering questions from concerned
students and parents.
The endless workload is not
the only burden for teachers.
The shift in the scholastic routine
has left educators struggling
to maintain their teaching
methods.
“You need new and creative
ways of taking your materials
that you have created and converting
them online,” another
teacher at Cardozo said.
A spokesperson for the Department
of Education told
QNS they understand the challenges
that make it difficult for
students to complete every assignment
and the struggle to
balance supporting students
while managing work and personal
responsibilities — which
is why final grades will be
based on a holistic view of the
entire school year.
“We know students and families
are juggling a lot and we are
emphasizing patience and flexibility
when it comes to deadlines
and assignments,” said Danielle
Filson, spokesperson for the Department
of Education. “We are
grateful to our teachers who are
working hard to keep their students
engaged, and we encourage
both live instruction and
pre-recorded lessons, so that
they too can balance their time
in a healthy way.”
Additionally, the city has
implemented CUNY’s COVID-
19 flexible grading policy for
the 2020 spring semester, which
means high school students
who have successfully completed
and earned credit for a
course in June will have the option
to convert a passing grade
to a “credit” grade that does not
impact their GPA but will still
count as credit toward graduation
.W
hile there have been several
difficulties with remote
learning during the COVID-19
pandemic, things are not all
bad, and have been getting better
as students and teachers
continue to adapt.
As one Cardozo teacher
said, remote learning “is something
we will all have to learn
as we go.”
Erin Yoon is a sophomore
at Benjamin N. Cardozo High
School.
Additional reporting by
Angélica Acevedo.
/QNS.COM
