A student's view: Learning in lockdown

In Finland, in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, schools shut on March 18th 2020 and opened again on May 14th. Students all around Finland managed to have a few weeks of school before the end of term. Our class didn't really study when we went back into school, we were just enjoying hanging out and doing stuff with the whole class after so long apart. During remote education we were studying independently, with our teachers' help of course. We had to adapt quickly to new things, but also got to learn something new - becoming more independent and managing time much better.

Spring and Summer 2020 have been a very difficult time for everyone. Especially having to adapt to something so unusual in a very short period of time. As a student, this time has really changed me as a person and taught me new things about myself and about studying. Teachers have been really supportive, but they have also had their own challenges working with such a large group of students remotely. Using multiple platforms for studying, exams and questionnaires can be hard for students to comprehend. Technical difficulties have been a big challenge, because most of the studying has been online.

I have seen that some fellow students have had lots of problems with mental health and feeling pressure around managing their time. Many are feeling the effects of the switch to remote studying being so quick. It took at least a week to get an idea of what we were supposed to do and where. As a result of teachers having to work things out themselves at speed, and get moving before things were clear to them, students felt some confusion at first, and nobody knew what they were supposed to be doing. This luckily changed quickly when there were clearer rules and instructions for teachers and students so that teaching and studying could be enjoyable.

There were positive things about studying remotely. Doing something so new took time obviously, but getting to do things at your own pace was an amazing feeling. Getting to plan the entire week and times I would be studying was helpful, because then I was able to book meetings and chat with friends. For us the amount of time it took to do school got shorter which helped with other plans. To overcome feelings of isolation, being able to schedule in time for socialising was so positive for all our mental health.

Our teachers have been very supportive and they have helped with anything we had on our minds. Instructions weren't too clear in the beginning, but started getting clearer week by week when we all were more certain of what we were supposed to be doing. Not being able to see friends was hard at first but we also had to learn new ways of keeping in touch with each other. For example, Google Meet was in good use daily. Being able to learn so many new things about myself and the people around was something I will never forget. The quick change from being able to see friends and family to not being able to see anyone made people think about the things most important in our lives. Now knowing that in the future when a friend asks me to go out, my answer won't be that "I'm too tired" or something like that! Knowing that those moments are not going to last forever and we should spend time with people more often. That is something I feel like people needed to learn from somewhere, a global pandemic being the first lesson.

This spring many students were supposed to celebrate the end of school, including myself. Unfortunately we did not get to do that, but one of the greatest things was to be able to go back to school for the last few weeks. We got to see teachers and other students for the last time. There was not too much studying left since the grades had already been given, but we got to spend time together outdoors and in our own classroom. Saying goodbye face-to-face was really remarkable for me!

I found this article in the New York Times interesting regarding how students have been coping with remote learning. It inspired me to think more deeply about my own experience. If I could give a few tips, from my experience, these would be as follows: