Technology’s impact during quarantine

Ever since quarantine and distance learning began, technology use has changed drastically for many people. Students and teachers at Independence have shared their perspectives.

In a poll taken by 88 students and conducted by The Prowl, 80.7% of students described themselves as overwhelmed, whereas, only 14.8% said technology use was fairly average. A very small percentage of 4.5% said it was underwhelming. Students and teachers do agree there are some upsides and downsides to this situation. 

“I think the students are…becoming much better at locating and relying on resources. I get far fewer questions from students, treating me like I’m Google, which happened all the time before,” said Mrs. Heather Binkley. She’s appreciative of the change in work ethic that quarantine allowed her students to make. 

Binkley discovered various different ways that she could provide learning resources to her students. She believes that it improved her communication with her students. “I’ve learned about different tools that were available to teachers. Things can be more interactive from a distance.”

Although she doesn’t see her students often now, she is used to seeing their faces. This affects teaching in a negative way, she said “It can be really hard to gauge how a class is understanding if I can’t see them.”

And this is something that the students wish they could change as well. Sophomore Monami Ghosh is disappointed with the lack of interaction there is now between teachers and students. With cameras off and microphones muted, it can seem like talking to a wall.

“I feel like the classes are not very interactive and…in two or three of my classes, no one has their camera on. Honestly, I feel like teachers at this point really wish we were all at school,” Ghosh said.

Ghosh also agrees with Binkley on the matter of being able to focus better on work and stay on task. “There were definitely some classes that I could not focus in at all.” Like many students, Ghosh prefers the silence of her room compared to the noisy classroom setting.

How people perceive technology use during break, especially over the summer, was more positive compared to now, according to students. “Over summer, the technology use was better because that’s when we wanted to go on technology,” said Ghosh, “I get only about one or two hours off of technology nowadays.”

Quarantine was a great change in how people perceive their daily lives. When asking the majority of people what their optimistic perspective on quarantine is, many have said it has taught many things and changed their lifestyle so that they could adapt to staying healthy even while having limited options. In other words, new good habits have also been formed alongside bad habits, and different styles of learning resources have been uncovered as a result.

“I think quarantine has taught me that it is definitely very necessary to go outside,” Ghosh said. “Now I feel like I need to step outside for at least 10 minutes and just breathe the air instead of just staying cooped up at my desk all day long.”

Since staying home for a longer period of time provides people with more time to focus on personal interests, many have found that they’ve had things they’ve been wanting to try or learn. 

Out of the students who took the Student Technology Use During Quarantine poll, 68.2% of them learned something new or rediscovered an old hobby through technology.

Ghosh made use of quarantine and learned something new by taking a creative writing class. She also took up the guitar all on her own during the quarantine period. “Technology really helped me, like YouTube videos and websites.”

For Binkley, she and her family made some major changes. She used to garden when her kids were little, now she’s gardening again and has planted two garden beds. At the beginning of quarantine, she got two baby chicks and decided to own backyard chickens. “We’ve renewed interests that we had in the past,” Binkley said.

With the ups and downs of technology’s impact on everyone during quarantine, there are many opinions on what should be done about it. “I wish that internet and broadband wasn’t treated as an amenity here, but was instead treated like a utility. I believe that every home should have access to reliable broadband and internet the same way that every home should have access to water and electricity,” Binkley said.

There is a general consensus on how technology has impacted many people during quarantine. Most students agree that technology use during quarantine created room for personal growth and allowed people to learn to organize better, but also caused much stress for the excess use of technology. When the pandemic ends, it’s anticipated that people will take the positive growth with them and incorporate it into their normal lives.