Modern education is facing a new era in school. It’s 2022, and the time of technology has become. Now it has transformed even the educational system, leaving more online and remote learning options for students worldwide. However, as such a new form of learning is still rather new, many controversies surround it. One of which is that online education makes students lazy.
So far, it’s really too early to tell whether such a form of education does, indeed, provoke laziness or not. Now, we can only analyze the nuances of online classes and explain the downfalls of such learning. So, let’s see why some people assume that online or remote education can make students lazy.
Table of Contents
Lack of motivation
It’s often harder to stay on topic when there’s little to keep you focused. It applies to online classes. Students stay at home for hours trying to engage in their learning routines. Of course, not every day is going to be productive. Yet, the longer such a routine lasts, the harder it can become for young people to maintain their motivation. After all, with remote learning, it’s students’ responsibility to create engaging and exciting classes. It’s also up to them to keep their motivation high by setting clear study goals.
A failed study routine and its poor execution lead to motivation gaps that result in poor performance and low results. That’s also when students think, “I’d rather find someone to do my paper for me than deal with it myself for hours.” Though there is nothing wrong with getting professional help from time to time, it’s better to pay for it when one is truly needed than when you can interest yourself in further studying.
Poor organization skills
Time management is the key to productive and efficient learning. Yet, these are very rare skills among young people. Often, it’s not that young people don’t want to do well in school or choose to skip homework. On the contrary, they try to do their best. Yet, their lack of experience and structure causes students to miscalculate their strategies, set all the wrong priorities, and misread situations. In other words, time takes the best of them.
In the classic learning situation, schools help learners to organize their days by imposing precise schedules, timetables, and deadlines. However, online classes can miss some of those settings. Students often have the freedom to choose when and where they will study. On the one hand, it teaches them about independence. On the other hand, it makes them struggle with organization and leads to overlapping assignments and skipping classes due to time issues.
Procrastination
Often, it’s not that students at home are getting lazier but less focused. A classroom usually offers a perfect working environment for learners. It has minimal distractions while providing learners with everything they need for comfortable studying. So they find it easier to stay productive, concentrated, and motivated.
Online learning is much harder on that behalf. Setting up a perfect study spot in the house takes time, trial, and error. Such a place should have zero distractions while containing everyone one needs for long study sessions.
Overall, the more distractions one has at their home study station, the higher the procrastination level may rise. Things like a game console, TV, bed, or even pets can easily distract one’s process and cause them to change focus. But, of course, procrastination doesn’t always mean someone is lazy. It only means that a learner has a hard time staying on task.
Fewer social interactions
A social environment can have a beneficial influence on one’s motivation and performance. Thus, students in a traditional classroom setting can motivate each other to do better. There is an element of competition that drives learners to outperform one another during classes. In addition, face-to-face classes offer more opportunities for teamwork, cooperation, and discussions. All these forms of classwork enhance the engagement and interaction among students.
In addition, students can enjoy direct communication with their educators. So learners can ask questions once they arise and observe the intonation and body language during lectures as a clue. These verbal and nonverbal signs help learners to receive new information better. These additional cues help them memorize and understand better while also being more engaging and exciting.
Higher responsibility
Studying alone at home means taking more responsibilities upon yourself. Learners become more independent in their study routine, homework, and schedules, etc. Of course, learning to own up for one’s choices is a big part of schooling. Yet, some young people feel intimidated by such sudden and drastic changes. Now students have to take care of their academic workload, create their own study plans, etc. It’s a lot of work and pressure.
The more weight one feels on their shoulders, the less inclined they are to act. At some point, the growing expectations and increasing demand seem too much. So, students freeze and choose to do nothing in fear of failing. Of course, from the outside, such an approach can look like an example of pure laziness. Yet, there are deeper roots here. Such a lack of action can indicate bigger mental health problems like burnout or depression.
Wrapping up
Online education doesn’t necessarily make students lazy. Yet, it imposes more challenges on students. Thus, they need time to adjust and reorganize to keep their motivation and maintain a new schedule. A bit of support and the right strategy will help them do so.
