Ever since the era of Covid, online school has been a pretty major part of our lives. Not only have programs like eCampus become vital parts of education, there have also been websites like FLVS where so many classes from honors to Advanced Placement (AP) can be taken fully online. There is one question many seem to have- is taking an online class actually worth it?

First and foremost, it needs to be taken into account how these classes actually work. In order to sign up for a class, the application needs to be approved by a student’s guidance counselor. The classes themselves are self-paced, but do have instructors that a student can reach out to for help at any time. Courses typically have a few modules with anywhere from five to ten lessons and assignments that correlate with them. Sometimes assignments can be practical applications of the lessons such as a lab for biology, or even using the information from the lessons to analyze and plan real life situations. Other times the assignments can be as simple as a short quiz asking questions that are a basic recap of the information from the lesson.

Some students believe that taking online classes did not really benefit them in any way. One instance of this was when many of the current IB sophomores took biology honors through FLVS to get ahead. Biology is typically taken as a core science class in ninth grade, but these students took it online during eighth grade. Many of these sophomores who took biology online are currently in AP Physics I, Physics I Honors, or AP Biology. For example, IB sophomore, Nitya Duddella, is currently in AP Physics, but “regrets it.” This is because she feels that taking it early did not help her get ahead. She also sees many of her peers currently enjoying chemistry and thinks that “physics is too hard and a waste of time,” and chemistry would have been nice and enjoyable.

Many times, students take online courses in order to get ahead or even make up for missing credits. Getting some extra credits outside of school hours is a great way to boost a student’s grade point average (GPA). Some people feel as if they have the capacity and time to take online classes such as the APs and honors that could potentially benefit their GPA in the future. For example, IB sophomore Riya Malladi is currently enrolled in AP Computer Science Principals through FLVS. She signed up for the course because she “wants an extra AP.” Due to the fact that she is in IB, she does not get the chance to take too many APs, so she took the opportunity of taking another by taking an online class.

Another example of online classes is dual enrollment. Many students take college classes typically through Seminole State College online. This helps them get both a college credit and high school credit at once. A downside to this is that many IB students are unable to take them, especially during their last two years, due to the rigorous schedules they face.

Overall, there are benefits and downsides to taking online classes. Some students believe that they provide a great opportunity to catch up or even get ahead; while others believe that they do not really provide any benefit and are a waste of time. Additionally, every person’s work ethic is different, some people can handle more than the seven classes they take at school while others feel as if they cannot. Whether you take an online course is all up to you and how you work.