Technology is a Blessing by Trinity

Technology is a Blessing by Trinity - January 2020 Scholarship Essay

Technology has significantly impacted my classroom experience. I attend Crossroads FLEX High School, a digital blended learning environment based heavily in its approach to technology. Crossroads FLEX provides a flexible academic schedule for students pursuing an extra-curricular pursuit. My student pursuit is competitive tennis with the goal to play at the collegiate level. I spend about 3 hours on the court every day and an additional hour of fitness. By dedicating this much time out of my day to my pursuit, attending a traditional school and class hours is very challenging. Crossroads FLEX balances academic requirements through a blend of live and online classes. I attend live class at the Crossroads FLEX site, which allows quality interaction with faculty and peers in a safe environment. My classmates may be pursuing a different sport or passion, but I still receive the interaction vital to teen development. My online courses have electronic due dates and gradebooks that track my progress and performance during the semester and school year. I also have access to my instructor via phone, text, email and video conferencing. Without online school, it would be impossible to compete at the highest levels while also receiving a quality education.

Before Crossroads FLEX High School, I attended a full online school. My freshman and sophomore year of high school, I took my classes completely online in my bedroom. My teachers were across the state and my classmates were too. I may have received the academic aspect I needed, but my social interaction was slowly deteriorating. My freshman year, I genuinely liked online school. I passed my grade with an average 4.0 GPA and I was able to make my practices and gym time throughout the day. The days and nights were fairly easy compared to the rest of the students in public school. In sophomore year, my values began to change. I still wanted to pursue tennis, but I felt isolated behind the screen in my room. Friends over the internet isn’t the same as physical friends you see on a daily basis. I tried to participate in the public atmosphere, but my reactions began to change, and I felt more closed off than open to new personalities. By spring of sophomore year, I realized that the full online environment wasn’t suited for my personality.

Technology has positively changed the way students take tests in school and operate online. More classmates are able to work on the same document because of google drive and finish group projects and PowerPoints working in different areas. Jobs in the workforce now require increasing virtual interaction between employees and the development of communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills are no longer happening in the same room. Full online courses are also created for specific types of personalities that can discipline themselves into completing an assignment. Online school requires full responsibility from the student themselves, if the student does not grow to taking control of this responsibility, they will 100% flunk out of the grade. School is never to rigorous for the academics learned it’s the process of learning the material. If a student has never had any structure in their lives; suddenly forcing a person into adapting their own form of structure will lead to failure. A student who captures the personality of creating their structure has an advantage to excelling in the online classroom, they are able to operate their day to succeed.

I am one of these people, which is why I was successful in the online environment. I was able to understand my English, Math, Biology and History classes by reading PowerPoints over the internet. I was able to study during the times my day allowed instead of being forced to complete school from 7:30 am to 3:00 p.m. My flexibility dramatically increased to conform around my practices and workouts. Currently I take my online courses from 8:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m., finishing practice and gym by 6:00 pm and then going back to studying and finishing any additional assignments between 6:30 p.m. and after. I appreciate the opportunity to become involved and succeed in a technology-based classroom. My discipline and time management skills have improved because of this experience and my academic transcript reflects mastery of content. I have maintained each academic year with a successful 4.0 GPA and ranking in the top 25% of my class. In my perspective adding more technology to the academic day became a blessing to better my future.