Asynchronous learning days are designated days for students to catch up on late work and complete new assignments at their own pace.
I think that Niles West should adopt an asynchronous day because it would be a nice break during the week. After a year of doing school at home, students are used to having school in this format, but it has been a rough transition for some to return back to a regular school day.
Asynchronous days have a number of benefits, including giving students and teachers time to work with each other one-on-one. It also gives students more freedom to learn based on their own personal learning style. However, students aren’t the only ones with advantages. Teachers will also be able to work on their own schedules and catch up on grading.
Having an asynchronous day would be beneficial especially for busier students that need to catch up on the homework they incurred over the week. Two days a week I have softball practice after school, which makes it difficult to find the time to do homework.
There is also a possibility that it will help control COVID cases by limiting student interactions. Although some students don’t care about wearing masks properly, we are all aware of the fact that a certain number of COVID cases can shut down the school. Most students didn’t like online learning because it was mentally overwhelming having to do e-learning during a pandemic. To help limit exposure to the virus, and it only being one day a week, I think that students would be appreciative of having this day as a break.
An asynchronous day of school would also promote productive time management skills that would help us prepare for college and future careers.
Some students may feel stressed or unhappy coming to school, so giving them a day off might make them more comfortable. However, the asynchronous learning environment is not flawless. One argument against this idea might be that students will not be productive. With weekends feeling short, students can use this independent day for their leisure instead of doing actual work.
The struggle of being asynchronous is the lack of social interaction with peers, procrastination and distractions. But this wouldn’t be much of a problem considering that we would only be at home one day a week.