Going into senior year, I wanted to continue taking a foreign language, but since I had already taken the highest Spanish courses FSHA offered, I decided to enroll in an online course through FSHA’s Online School for Girls (OSG), which partners with OneSchoolhouse.
There, I signed up for AP Spanish Literature, an online course my Spanish teacher encouraged my classmates to take after finishing Spanish V Honors. At the time, the course sounded exciting, but after being enrolled for a full semester, I realize how much I underestimated the challenges that came with online instruction.
For starters, contrary to in-person Spanish courses at school, I realized the advantages of in-person instruction and how much I lean on it. I could not simply find a teacher during study hall or after school to ask them for help, or engage with peers in class discussions, which other OSG enrolled students noted as well.
“[OSG] is still harder than having an in-person teacher who you can ask questions to at the beginning or end of class,” Celeste Chilleri ‘26 said.
Although students are unable to approach teachers after class, they appreciate the intentional effort and attention to online communication from their OSG online instructors.
“The disconnect is a bit stressful sometimes, but at the same time, my teacher is big on communication,” Eliza Hernandez ‘26 said.
Instead of clarifying class material with teachers at school, I needed to adapt to the habit of sending an email to my online instructor. This also meant intentional planning ahead: I had to think about my questions and write detailed emails, and give my online teachers a couple of days to respond.
The most impactful disadvantage of online courses for me is the lack of peer interactions.
While most assignments in OneSchoolhouse are collaborative, talking to someone through a screen is signficantly challenging. The courses are filled with high schoolers from different parts of the US, with the 3 hour time zone difference between Los Angeles and the East Coast causing communication troubles when it comes to planning a collaborative project.
Although OneSchoolhouse assigns collaborative assignments at least twice a week, online courses are predominantly independent and asynchronous. I have found that projects intended to be done in groups end up being more independent work, as each group member decides to divide and conquer.
Logistically, it can be difficult to navigate multiple platforms of learning.
“Sometimes it is even hard having to keep track of my assignments on Tolognet as well as checking the ones on the seperate OSG website,” Chilliri said.
OSG courses consist of the cobbling together different websites and the completion of work at these various resources. While they allow more flexibility than a traditional in-person course, students are required to be highly organized and responsible in submitting work on time. To keep track of my online course deadlines, I typically plan out my week each Saturday, breaking down the week’s assignments into a balanced list to minimize procrastination and stress, which also works for other OSG students.
“The way the system is set up makes it so that every week is organized into two different due dates and every week tends to have the same structure,” Hernandez said. “Being able to predict my coursework for at least one class helps ease my anxiety for the week at least a bit.”
Although online classes may present some challenges and require adjustments, Tologs agree that ultimately, they appreciated the peers they worked alongside and got to know throughout the year.
“I enjoyed getting to hear from other students from all over the US,” Chilleri said.
