As of March 1, school days have been extended to 3:20 due to a large amount of snow days. However, eLearning days could solve the problem of lost school time.

It’s quite obvious that snow days have taken a toll on our school. The extension of days and loss of days that were previously off have been an annoyance to many. However, eLearning days could remedy that problem. They allow for snow days to continue to count as school time. The work that had previously been assigned for that day (or any other work) could be done at home as it would be sent to students via email. The time would count as school time, and would help lower the amount of lost time in school.

eLearning days have been put into action around the United States, Indiana being one of the states with schools doing it. According to the Indiana Department of Education, “The eLearning Day Program provides school districts with an option for continuing an instructional day away from traditional time limits and brick and mortar setting.” Basically, eLearning days would be used on days when school would be normally cancelled, like a snow day. This would allow teachers to maintain their current path and stay on schedule with their class. Along with that, the day could possibly count as time at school, which would eliminate the problem of longer/more school days due to lost days.

How would eLearning days benefit Black River Falls High School? We’ve lost many days due to snow days, which has taken a toll on the amount of time we will now spend in school. However, if instead of snow days we had eLearning days, those days away from the school would not have negatively affected us, and we would not lose days or have extended school days. Since teachers would be able to stay on track with their lessons, less work would have to be crammed into a couple days.

eLearning days may sound like the absolute, perfect solution to resolving the issues snow days present. However, they do come with their flaws. Teachers must have a few lessons that are effective and relevant enough that the eLearning day should count as a school day. The lessons would then be sent to the students (for us, email and Canvas would be our methods) electronically. Not all students have great access to the Internet at their home, which is obviously problematic. Also, teachers must be available for students during eLearning days for at least a few hours during the day for communication purposes.

eLearning days at BRFHS could prove to be a sustainable remedy for all the snow days we’ve had. Although it comes with it’s flaws, they could surely be handled with in various ways. If eLearning days were to ever be implemented, it seems that we could only benefit from it. We would have less snow days, normal schools hours, and less days would have to be taken away.