By: Ellie Zhang

It takes work to engage in online classes. Kids may tend not to focus and do other things. It can take more effort to engage online than in person. But if teaching is done right, online learning can be just as engaging as face-to-face learning.

There was only one choice during the pandemic, online learning.

Parents already think that kids won’t learn and focus. Without knowing specifically what they are doing, students can be doing anything on their screens. Parents wanted to know which type of learning engages more students. So that’s why a research group of Biologists at Ruhr University did an experiment to see the similarities and differences between online learning and in-person learning.

Students were split into two groups–online and in-person learning.

The research group viewed the two groups under a microscope and saw that both groups of students showed stress.

The leader Biologist of the research group, Morris Gellisch, noted that stress wasn’t always bad.

“We know that stress strongly affects learning and the memory process, as well as on sustaining attention.” Morris Gellisch says.

Stress is something normal when you are feeling nervous or unprepared.

Stress can sometimes make people work harder. Small doses of stress can keep you on your toes and spur you to perform your tasks more efficiently. That can help kids learn better.

Most feelings were the same with both groups(online and in-person learning). Their stress rate and their grades and results were mostly the same. However, in the in-person learning group, students were focused and ready for when they got called on to answer a question. Their bodies are prepared for the time.

That’s why students might be as focused on online learning as they are on learning in-person.