The seasons are shifting as summer comes to an end, but the leaves are not the only things changing. Due to COVID-19, the virus that started an epidemic in March of 2020, school is looking different than ever before. “Now that everything has changed, I’m not sure what to expect,” virtual student Lucy Evans says. Evans is not the only one who has felt the drastic effect COVID-19 has had on the education industry.
“Florida’s Virtual Schools enrollment is up 54 percent,” Mark Lieberman writes. “Applications to Connections Academy, a virtual school provider owned by Pearson, are up 61 percent.” There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that COVID has left the world of education untouched. Students have had to adjust their ways of learning as many are used to a physical classroom and teacher.

Evans feels like the biggest difference is “organization because when you go to school and you’re in a classroom everything is in order, but once you turn your bedroom into the classroom, life can become cluttered.”
However, iUniversity student Samantha Ruthven feels as though the biggest difference is that “You don’t have a set schedule, and you have to manage your own time more effectively. You also don’t see many people everyday, so it’s harder to get out and make new friends.”
Nonetheless, each individual has figured out a way to adjust to this unique year. Ruthven was in a traditional brick and mortar school last year, and thought that “this would be a completely normal school year.” But with the changes that have occured, she’s adapted by “Setting up a new school area in my house.” Lucy Evans is following a similar track, and says, “I have gotten my desk clean so it is a good workspace and I have all of my schoolwork in one place.”

Although the 2020-2021 school year has reorganized in a way none of us ever imagined, Evans says that “we are all experiencing something new and exciting at the same time.” The best thing we can all do is stick together, support one another, and stay safe as we explore the changes of this next school year and look forward to all it has to offer.

Sites:

Lieberman, Mark. “COVID-19 Fuels Big Enrollment Increases in Virtual Schools.” Education Week, 16 Sept. 2020, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/09/03/covid-19-fuels-big-enrollment-increases-in-virtual.html.