Are finals necessary even if they are online?

Online finals are not as necessary as finals in class would be. They are causing too much stress and they aren’t teaching the student.

Kelley Sussman

Exec. Opinion Editor

As the first full semester of online school comes to end, finals are right around the corner. Finals are normally a time where students are stressed out and pulling all nighters to study. However, this semester has been very different with the use of online school. It makes cheating that much easier for students, which allows them to slack off with their school work. Although many students are still completing all of their work and studying for tests without cheating, there are still a handful of students who have been cheating all throughout the semester. Online finals are not as necessary as finals in class would be.

With online school, most students haven’t been as diligent as they normally would be if they were in a classroom setting. With online school, the learning process is slowed down, students are only meeting with each class two times a week. Without interactive learning, it is harder for them to fully understand the material through a zoom lesson. Some teachers have just been posting recorded lectures for students to watch and take notes on their own. This takes away the opportunity for students to ask questions. Online school has taught students how to teach themselves if need be. Students haven’t been given the proper instruction for them to be able to score well on their finals.

With finals around the corner, stress is starting to build up for students, they are starting to have to teach themselves everything because they never learned anything in the first place. When students were in school, they were able to see their teachers five times a week, allowing for them to understand the material better. Although most teachers are giving their students finals, it doesn’t mean that the students are learning from them. It is just adding more stress to the students and causing them to teach the entire semester to themselves.

Students are also able to cheat easier due to testing being online. There is really no way for teachers to stop their students from cheating. To try and prevent it, teachers must word their tests in ways so that students can’t just look up the answer. Because of this, the test becomes harder, causing students to do poorly. With finals being online, students are either going to cheat because they haven’t learned anything this semester or they are going to do poorly. Finals don’t seem necessary during this time.

Although many may argue that finals are necessary, there are a couple reasons supporting that statement. Having finals forces the students to reteach themselves the material, which will result in them learning. Although it is not ideal, finals might help some students learn. However, most students are losing motivation in doing their school work. They might not have the energy to teach themselves all of the material. It may be beneficial for some, but finals are definitely not beneficial for all.

With finals being online, they don’t seem like they are helping students for the right reasons. They are causing too much stress and they aren’t teaching the student. Due to COVID-19, there isn’t really anything that the school administration can do, but having finals this semester doesn’t seem necessary.