Students’ Voices in Online Learning During a Pandemic

After the school districts’ decision to close schools and move to online learning environments to complete the 2029-2020 school year, many districts in Florida surveyed stakeholders. The selected school district collected data from parents at the end of the year and during the summer break. The voices of the students, the direct audience, target, and beneficiaries of the education system, were not included in the data collection instrument. Curious about what those voices had to say, the researcher conducted a three-part questionnaire to explore students’ perceptions of their online learning experience. A purposeful sample of convenience for the study consisted of 12 participants; 8 high school students and 4 middle school students who attended five public schools in different areas of a school district in the east of Florida. All three parts of the survey included questions to explore participants’ likes and dislikes, feelings and concerns, wishes regarding online learning, and changes in their lives due to the COVID 19 pandemic and to online education. The third part of the survey included questions that asked participants what they would change regarding their online classes, learning activities, and evaluations. The purpose of this presentation is to share the results of this qualitative study and to open a discussion regarding emerging students’ cognitive and emotional needs during prolonged crises