I sit on the edge of my seat bent forward in nervous anticipation for my history test. I take out my pencil case and remove my favorite mechanical pencil. Reviewing any piece of information that might help me in the upcoming test, I distractedly listen to my teacher. Suddenly, a single phrase abruptly sharpens the world around me. I look up.

In order to fit in with the school’s push to learn more online, the test is going to be on Schoology.

That day, in addition to taking two classes entirely online, I now have to spend all of History staring at a computer screen. I wonder if this will change my performance on the test.

Even though in moderation, learning through computers is beneficial, the school should not blindly push to have all learning take place online. The administration should reevaluate their motivations to integrate education with technology and be sure to reflect if each step actually improves learning.

Through Schoology, every student has a platform where they can access all their school materials online. Textbooks, documents, and even all of the homework for the next month is only a click away. Because of the internet, everything is easier, faster, and more efficient.

In addition, it connects people from all over the world and can cut off travel expense, and in the case of Edgenuity in our schools, offer resources, like teachers, to areas that do not have access to them.

However, this does not mean that learning online is always effective.

We are always told that in order to really understand a concept, we have to be able to teach it to someone else. In a traditional classroom setting, the opportunities for in person interaction are limitless, but that is not the case online. The online platform cuts students off from face-to-face contact, therefore reducing their social education, according to a North Carolina State University article. Another possible negative aspect of the deprivation of human interaction is that students may feel isolated from teachers and fellow students, according to the ResearchGate website. This could cause people to feel like they cannot seek help if they do not understand classwork. Therefore whole class periods should not be confined to a computer screen. Teachers should ensure that at least part of every class involves in person communication.

Lack of social interaction is not the only way online learning inhibits our education; when we read online we comprehend less, according to The Scientific American. Online learning removes the use of the sense of touch and therefore can make it harder to understand and remember what we learn online. Learning online is only beneficial to certain styles of learning, and can be especially harmful for those who are tactile learners. In a school system that is shifting to majority online textbooks, some students will find it harder to learn than others because of this reason. Some textbooks, like majority of the math textbooks, are only accessible at home online. Therefore in order for each style of learning to be addressed, all students should be given access to both online textbooks and regular textbooks in the classroom and at home.

Another way lack of tactile learning hurts students is note taking. Students who write out their notes actually remember and comprehend information better than if they type them, according to a study by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University and UCLA Los Angeles. However, many teachers require students to take notes online in order to make them easier to be checked. All students should have at least the option to take notes by hand and the possibility of eliminating electronic notes completely should be considered.

The accessibility provided through the internet does not just apply to textbooks. It is much easier for students to cheat using new technologies and websites. Even though the administration is coming up with new ways to prevent cheating, like blocking websites, students continue to discover ways around them.