What is an online class? Well, an online class is an alternative class that students can take through a program on their computers. Online classes allow students to take any course that isn’t based in a classroom. With online classes, one has the flexibility to work on their class without having to be in school. There are many students here at Forest Hills Eastern that have chosen to take an online class this year. Students can either choose to dual enroll in a class or learn through programs such as Michigan Virtual or Apex Learning.
Why would someone choose to take an online course? There are many reasons, the first being that a person didn’t have space in their schedule to take the class that they wanted. An online class can easily fix this dilemma. Although Eastern offers in-person AP Psychology, senior Livvy Hunting was forced to take this course online because she couldn’t fit the in-person version in her schedule. Hunting passionately states that depite the people in her first-hour online class being simply the best people on the face of the Earth, she absolutely despises everything about this online class because it requires a lot of effort. Hunting advises future online scholars to not take an AP online class unless they are fully dedicated to it.
Believe it or not, it is very recurring for students to not have space in their schedule for a certain class. Elena LeCompte (‘25) explains how in her junior year, she decided to take AP Chem as her science course instead of the required Environmental Science course. This resulted in her being forced to take this class her senior year. Instead of being stuck with juniors the whole year taking this class, she came up with a brilliant idea to take it online with her senior friends! Although the class is very boring, she is glad that she made that choice because she gets to complete everything at her own pace.
Another reason why someone may have to take an online class is because the school doesn’t offer the course. Although this is truly heartbreaking, there are many courses including Astronomy, AP Chemistry, and Latin that are simply not offered at this school. Unfortunately, senior Lily Gleason had to face the hard truth of AP Chemistry not being in-person. This resulted in her taking online AP Chem during first hour with her peer, Hunting. Gleason states how she loves her class because it allows her to have fun with her friends bright and early in the morning! She also shared that her first hour classmates always bring in food to share in the morning so it’s always a blast. Although these factors make her time very enjoyable, there are also some cons that come with taking this online class. Gleason strongly dislikes all the at-home labs she has to complete in order to get a good grade in the class because they can get super repetitive.
One of the most difficult parts of taking an online class would be that it is very easy to fall behind in the assignments, due to them being self-paced. If they don’t designate a little time everyday to your class, students risk falling behind and then having to cram everything right before your class is due. Although they have some cons, online classes can be very helpful for students trying to gain extra knowledge in something that may not necessarily be offered at Eastern or if desired classes don’t fit into open schedule spaces.
