The Keystone Connection

The Transition to Online School

Thursday, March 08, 2012 By Leanne M.

Transferring from regular school to online school can be a hard transition. It is going from being in a large building, walking from class to class, and having your teachers set your schedule for you to basically the complete opposite. With online school, you most likely stay in your house, sit on your computer, and set your own schedule. It is not easy to go from one to the other, but after awhile it feels like there was never a big transition in the first place. What was the hardest part? The consensus says scheduling. For me, setting my own schedule was the hardest part because although I have always been a self-disciplined student, it was not easy to schedule everything and stay on that schedule to make sure I finish my courses in a timely manner. Trent Nelson, a 2011 Keystone graduate who transferred in ninth grade, had the same problem. He said, “The transition came in phases.” Although he was excited about online schooling, he soon realized that he was no longer being guided, had to follow his own schedule, and there was a huge decrease in social activity. Kristen Zur, a current Keystone student, also said scheduling was the hardest part. She also had a hard time leaving her friends. Felix Jerrar, who is also a current student, said that generally learning online, along with pacing himself, was the hardest part. It is a hard transition, but attending online school has its benefits. Though many students have trouble with scheduling, students generally become more self-disciplined and responsible by handling it on their own. Also, students pay more attention in lessons and find that they learn a lot better in the online setting because it is more personal. Trent found that online schooling helped him become more independent and responsible. Kristen benefitted from online schooling because it gave her a lot of freedom and the time to do school work on her busy schedule. Felix benefitted from online schooling because it gave him a lot more time to focus on his passion, music. Transferring from regular school to online school is a hard transition, but eventually the transition period ends and online schooling feels natural and normal. You learn to follow your schedule the best that you can, meet many new people, and try to stay social. While different, many students find that it is worth it in the end.