Students spend each and every day wishing for the time that they can get out of school and go home. Most people sit in their classes, listening to the teacher lecture for hours on end. But what if there could be a change? What if students could go to a class by logging onto a computer? Instead of raising a hand to ask the teacher a question, they send an email with the question attached. Some students may be able to complete a whole week of school work on a different, more flexible schedule. There is the freedom to work ahead of schedule and finish assignments early. Online classes can be very beneficial for people who need flexibility, or just a more relaxing school experience. Each class varies in workload and rigor, just like in traditional school.

In the last few years, there has been an uproar of people signing up for online classes. There are many different factors that cause someone to take an online class. Online classes offer prerequisite courses so students may later take the AP or IB version of that course. Students may also take classes online so they can have more AP classes in preparation for college and graduation. Sometimes, people take courses like health, PE, or a world language to check off the requirements for graduation ahead of time.

Taking online classes may be intimidating and nerve-wracking, because they are not like the traditional classroom; they have a totally different feel. Plenty of people have taken online courses, especially at South. A survey was conducted to get an idea of what type of classes students were taking and their reasons for taking online classes.

Many of the responses of the classes that most students have decided to take online were pathway classes or electives. Students took classes like AP Psych, AP Music Theory, Heath/PE, Intro to Digital Tech, and Intro to Business. Students who take classes like these reported that most students are able to succeed. They also reported that online classes are much more laid back and based on students’ diligence and responsibility.

Many of the responses show that students take health and PE, a class required for graduation, online. The majority of responses of students who take the classes did so to make room in their schedule for other classes. These students also felt that you need to be a determined, hard worker to be able to succeed in online classes. They enjoyed being able to have flexibility in their school schedule. Taking these classes also opens up spots for them to explore their pathways or add more rigor into their schedules.

There are a few students who take academic classes that are required for graduation. Some students take Accel B, AP Physics and other rather rigorous classes. There are many differences in these classes in that they are far more academic than pathway classes or classes like health and PE. Not having a teacher readily accessible can make it harder to ensure that you are covering the material.

One response even included, “I wish I hadn’t taken accel B online. I am failing calculus now because of it. Calculus requires all the skills from algebra and pre-calc and I really didn’t learn anything from the online accel B course.”

Overall, taking online classes can help relieve stress and provide more flexibility in a schedule, but it’s imperative to pick and choose which classes to take online because it can be harder if there is not a teacher present to directly lend help and lead the class.