Set alarm for 7:35 am. Wake up. Rush to the bathroom. Throw on a sweatshirt. Get back in bed. Open laptop. Log in to first period zoom. Doze off. Listen for class to end. What the average morning looks like for high school students suffering from “Zoom burnout.”

As of Dec 7, 2020 Norwin School District has been partaking in synchronized learning. Students who are learning at home are required to log in a Zoom call during each period of classes to be marked as present for that day. Norwin synchronous learning has been a great experience for students to gauge in-class while at home. While what was the perfect plan to keep COVID-19 guidelines in place at school, many students express the extreme burnout they are facing from repetitive Zoom calls at home. 

Besides the burnout, students emphasize the importance and positive effects of Zoom classes.  “Feeling COVID safe and not constantly around other students are definitely the reasons I’m all for Zoom,” said senior Victoria Gasparovic.

“I’m able to get more sleep than when going to in-person classes,” said sophomore Morgan Smith. 

“I can sometimes pay less attention than I would have to in person,” senior Ethan Synder. 

The negative effects of Zoom classes are out weighing for most students though. 37 out of 60 participants responded that their mental health has worsened since Zoom.

 “Zooms leave me with no motivation to do my work and just makes me lazy and tired,” said junior Stehphanie Stanley. 

“I think my mental health has gotten worse,” said senior Megan Barry. “As humans we need interaction with different people on the daily in order to feel “mentally healthy.” I don’t feel that I am getting that personal interaction while in Zoom.”

Unfortunately, Zoom is not going away any time soon. 40 minutes a period may seem easy to focus in on at home. However, averagely, students partake in 6-7 periods a day, totaling 4-5 hours of screen time on Zoom. Norwin requires students to Zoom 4 days a week (unless a senior chose to have in person 4 days). With 4th quarter closely approaching, students have upwards of 160 hours left of “Zooming” this school year. How should Norwin High School students overcome the lack of enthusiasm on Zoom?

Here are a list of tips and tricks how students get through the school day via Zoom:

1. “My best advice is wake up when you normally do for school. Make sure your surrounding area is bright and clean. Make your Zoom area as similar as possible to the real thing.  I get the most out of “Zooming” when I do this,” said junior Addy Schultz.
2. “Make yourself breakfast or coffee, start your day off just as you would in person,” said senior Lauren Hall.
3. “I try to get out of my room after every period just to stretch and move around. Sitting in bed for 6 hours creates drowsiness and keeps your environment boring,” said senior Carly Kubacka.

A recent poll collected 60 students’ thoughts on the impact Zoom burnout brought them academically and mentally. Here is a compiled question and answer list on the impact of Zoom burnout at Norwin High School. 

Do you like when classes are on Zoom? (out of 60 students from various grades)

76% of students answered: No. I do not like when classes are on Zoom. 

24% of students answered: Yes. I like when classes are on Zoom. 

Where do you mostly Zoom at? 

60% of students answered: In my bed 

36% of students answered: My bedroom desk

4% of students answered: Other 

What Zoom classroom setting do you prefer? 

60% of students responded: I turn my camera off and on depending my teachers classroom rules

35% of students responded: I prefer when my camera is turned OFF

5% of students responded: I prefer when my camera is turned ON

Are your Zoom classes effective? (meaning you are learning the same as you would be in person learning)

52% of students responded: It depends on the teacher and class

44% of students responded: No. Zoom classes are not effective

4% of students responded: Yes. Zoom classes are effective

What are the negative effects of Zoom for you?

21 students answered: My grades went down since Zoom

36 students answered: My mental health has been worse since Zoom

19 students answered: I fall asleep during my classes on Zoom 

11 students answered: I am unable to pay attention on Zoom 

Do you have Zoom Burnout? 

48% of students responded: YES

24% of students responded: Somewhat

20% of students responded: Yeah, for the most part

8% of students responded: Not really

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