Connection Problems Causing Undue Stress

Being 14 weeks into distance learning, some common struggles have arisen among students and online school. The true struggle, however, is issues caused by bad WiFi.

Sophomore Lola Mullins said, “There isn’t a single day where my WiFi went smoothly or even a day when Zoom hasn’t glitched out.” The internet issues have caused Mullins additional stress, as she has “some teachers who are really harsh when [her] mic breaks.”

Some students like senior Connie Kim were not aware they had internet issues until online school began. “The calls tend to lag a lot more, so the audio and the video are severely affected when it comes to live Zoom calls,” she said.

Some students are afflicted by constantly being kicked off of Zoom or having their screen freeze, hindering their ability to learn.

“Occasionally I won’t be able to see the video the teacher is screen sharing, or I’ll be kicked out of the meeting and miss something,” said sophomore Ellery Stankus.

Kim said, “It’s difficult to participate in class such as answering [or] asking questions, talking in class discussions because no one can hear me.”

With Zoom repeatedly crashing, extra effort must be made to make up what was missed, causing more stress.

However, Zoom is not the only platform affected by students’ poor internet connection. Canvas, Campolindo’s assignment and grade platform, also causes trouble due to connection issues.

Kim added, “[Internet issues] definitely affects the number of assignments shown as missing, because even though Canvas says submitted, my WiFi actually failed to submit my work successfully. So my grades definitely have their ups and downs depending on those assignments.”

Adapting to distant learning has not been easy, especially for those with consistently poor internet connection. These challenges have not only caused students stress, but are affecting their grades and learning.

Stankus said, “It can be stressful to not know what’s going on in the class and not to be able to tell your teacher about it.”