Cannon Falls High School offers a wide range of classes for its students. This includes online and in-person classes. One class that students are recommended to take to graduate, is a language class. There are many online class opportunities for languages as it’s a recommended class, including Chinese, French, and American Sign Language (ASL). One of the more famous classes taken online is ASL. ASL is offered through many different schools online, but WolfCreek is recommended by the school. In Cannon Falls High School, only one language class is offered in person: Spanish. Having a class online versus in person can be very different.
In Spanish, there’s a lot more hands-on experience than an online class. Hilari Palodichuk, a sophomore taking Spanish III, highlights what she does daily in Spanish. “We have conversations at the start, then listen to music videos, or have a lesson on something. We also take tests and review a lot.” For ASL, it’s much more different. There are one or two assignments per day to complete, quizzes at the end of the week, and a final every mid-quarter. Students taking ASL often do their work individually and rarely communicate with the teacher unless they have a question. These differences can raise a few opinions from students.
Brekken Erickson, a senior who took Spanish I, II, and III, has a positive opinion about her experience with Spanish. “Profe Crego [the Spanish teacher for Cannon Falls High School] is such an amazing teacher of Spanish and makes learning the language so fun.” Other students who took Spanish said they also enjoyed it. Another student, Noelle Swenson, a sophomore, is taking ASL II instead and has her own opinion about taking ASL II. “I like it because you can do it on your own time and you aren’t limited to a class hour.” If given the opportunity, it’s interesting to know if students would prefer taking their Language class online, or in person.
When asked if she would prefer Spanish online, Hilari Palodichuk responded with this. “No, because online is so much harder for me. If we have questions, it’s harder to communicate with the teacher.” Noelle Swenson however, was divided when asking if she would prefer ASL in person. “Yes and no. No, because of the freedom, and yes because I would learn ASL better and be able to communicate easier if it was in person.” Another student would still have preferred ASL in person.
Online classes are different from in-person classes in a lot of ways. Language classes are a huge example of this. This is because not only do students have a whole culture and language to explore, but also which type of class they want to do, either in person or online. Cannon Falls High School does only offer Spanish as of now, however, the class is loved by students who take it. It’s also beneficial for students because if they prefer having their own time to do their work and learn the language, they can take an online class, which also allows them to have a wider range of options. It all depends on the type of person taking the class.
