Low-income students adapt to the lack of resources while attending remote learning. Photo by Pew Nguyen from Pexels
*Names have been altered to protect identities.
The journey to get an education can sometimes seem like some quest in a fantasy novel, filled with twisty roads and high mountain ranges that stand between students and their learning. The real obstacles they face, like tough classes, time management, and personal lives, are already difficult enough to navigate, even for students who have support and resources from family, friends, and school systems. But as COVID-19 sweeps through the United States, it has brought a swell of new issues that students and school system must overcome.
Suddenly, it’s not just the usual difficulties. Teachers, administrators and students must now instead worry about remote learning, access to Wi-Fi, laptops, Zoom meeting fatigue, and the looming threat of catching COVID-19.
Unfortunately, many students, especially those who are considered lower income, are the ones who are most affected by these new issues due to COVID-19.
The biggest issue is a digital one coming from the full move towards virtual learning in the spring. For most schools, students can access Wi-Fi and computers through the school’s computer lab or library so lower-income students could.
The activity levels of Black and Hispanic students versus Asians and white students.
Data by Los Angeles Unified
Last spring many of Vu’s students just disappeared. Since the classes were completely asynchronous, students who usually kept up with their work suddenly stopped turning in their work and went quiet.
This year, Vu’s school has made mandatory class meetings. So Vu is able to work with the students face to face in a virtual capacity for at least 70 minutes, and Vu has noticed the majority of students make it to these meetings.
Since there are many issues with ensuring students are engaged, many teachers want to make it mandatory for cameras to be on while in class. But some students are hesitant to have their cameras on while in lessons.
“Many students don’t want to show their backgrounds, as many of them live in multigenerational homes, so they might have family members in the background,” Vu said. “Other students have issues with internet, so turning on their camera just turns off their whole computer.”
Even if the students attend every class meeting, many teachers and school staffers like Vu and Chowdhury worry about the effects the constant Zoom calls and how the students’ mental health may be fairing with remote learning.
“I feel bad for them,” Vu said. “It’s tough for everyone to be on the screen for so many hours of the day. They’re on from 8 to 2, just on the computer listening to lessons.”
It’s exhausting even for Vu, who stated that most teachers’ workloads have increased due to having to also attend district meetings, do lessons plans, as well as staying on an extra few hours after class time to ensure he can help students if they have trouble with their online work.
It’s a whole new world, and Vu feels as though it’s his first year teaching all over again, since he’s planning so much more and having to redo his whole curriculum to fit the needs for remote learning and engage his students.
Chowdhury also has similar worries. She feels as though engagement through remote learning may be harder for many students, especially ones who are on the shyer side.
“In a classroom, it’s so much easier for a student to call out or raise their hands,” Chowdhury said, explaining how remote learning can present more of a challenge for certain students. “It makes it so much harder for kids who are shy or introverted to put themselves out there.”
Chowdhury especially worries for the younger kids, as she has trouble staying engaged through administration meetings, so she can understand how her 4th graders may find themselves fidgety throughout the day.
Though many schools are trying to adjust to this and are implementing breaks to avoid this fatigue and ensure students can stay focused throughout the school day.
Chowdhury’s school is one of them.
“We try to incorporate SEL breaks, social-emotional learning breaks, [and] we try to include physical activities but there are things we have to take [into] consideration, like apartments in New York are small and old,” Chowdhury said. “Is it possible for students to do 10 jumping jacks or do activities that make a lot of noise?”
Remote learning has been a challenge from the start, as teachers, administrators, and students are learning and trying new things every single day. While it’s important to social distance and keep everyone safe from catching COVID-19, many are worried about the lasting effects it will have on students’ education, especially minority and lower-income students.
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