Students’ Edgenuity struggles persist through second semester
In February, 71 DPMHS students responded to an online survey about their experience with Edgenuity and the Booster module.
February 23, 2021
While many students have been having difficulties dealing with Edgenuity’s deadlines, tediousness and in some of their opinions, poor instruction, students like sophomore Dashiell Caloroso are trying their best to manage.
“The only thing I’d say I like about (Edgenuity) is that you can get (multiple) tries on the test until you get it right (but) the pacing of it doesn’t even focus on the actual lessons,” Caloroso said. “It just focuses on how quickly you can get this lesson done before time runs out.”
Edgenuity is a virtual learning platform that many schools have been using during distance learning to replace on-campus learning. The platform presents its work through lessons that primarily consist of the instruction videos, the assignment(s) and the quiz. The quiz gives the student two attempts to take it but the teacher has the ability to give their student more attempts if they see fit. Despite Edgenunity’s flexibility, students have mixed feelings about using that platform to learn.
“I don’t like the way (Edgenuity) instructs things,” junior Nadia Montiel said. “For math, the videos they do are confusing and I would just end up being way more confused than before.”
Edgenuity was not only used for everyday lessons but also for something the Los Angeles Unified District called the “Edgenuity Booster Module.” In this module, students were given the opportunity to raise their final grades in any class they took in the fall semester. Students who did this module were given a pre-test so they could demonstrate what topics they already knew and were then assigned to work on content they received less than an 80% proficiency in.
“Last semester I got a B, so I was super close to an A and Ms. Hatamleh gave us the opportunity to boost our grade up so I took it,” senior physics student Brenda Zaragoza said. “I liked that it gave us a test first, to figure out what we already (knew) so that we (wouldn’t) have to retake stuff that we already (knew). It was like, specialized for us.”
Students at DPMHS often complain that the instruction given by Edgenuity is sub-par at best, usually when referring to math courses and that the instructional videos are often unclear. Other concerns they have are about how tedious Edgenuity videos are and how unnecessarily complicated the questions are sometimes worded on the assignments and tests. Even so, they do appreciate how the platform gives students the flexibility to go at their own pace and the ability to retake tests.
“I don’t really dislike anything,” sophomore Kennedy Fayton Guzman said. “Some of the assignments do take a long time to do but there’s really nothing. I like that it’s kind of self-paced. Obviously, there’s recommended due dates for stuff but I do like how it plans everything out for you.”
Teachers on the other hand have their own likes and dislikes about using Edgenuity. They have concerns that the platform doesn’t give their students the proper interactions they deserve between their peers and teachers. While that is a worry of theirs, they appreciate how flexible they can be with what they assign students and how much the assignments and quizzes contribute to their Edgenuity grade.
“It’s not personal. There is no interaction between the students and each other and the students and the teacher,” social sciences teacher Brenda Helfing said. “It can be useful for when kids need to catch up with a class, like the kids who got to do the Edgenuity booster over winter break but I think it can become monotonous and boring.”
Teachers’ concerns have resulted in a few of them only partially using Edgenuity in some of their classes. Spanish teacher Glenda Hurtado was concerned that using Edgenuity in its full would be too much work for her students, so she instead gives lessons in class while assigning supplemental work on Edgenuity. Teachers who exclusively use Edgenuity usually use class time to assign Edgenuity assignments and grade them solely through that platform.
“The reason why I feel like Edgenuity will be beneficial is because when learning a language you need a lot of repetition that I can’t provide when we only meet twice a week,” Hurtado said. “We’ll be working on whatever I’ll be teaching in those two days and they’ll apply that to what I assign on Edgenuity.”
Students have been trying their best to keep up with Edgenuity assignments despite a lack of motivation and constant confusion. They’ve been asking their peers for help, keeping a consistent work schedule and taking breaks to keep from getting too stressed out.
“I’ve basically been taking breaks while doing Edgenuity and doing something else,” sophomore Kennedy Guzman said. “Whether it’s just working on another assignment, snacking or taking a walk. I just need to do something else so I don’t burn out because of the stress of Edgenuity.”
