On Monday, October 5, WHBHS teachers began live streaming their classes to students at home. In this new addition to the hybrid learning model, students on their at-home learning days will log on to Google Meets, Zoom or another video service to watch their class lessons, do assignments and interact with the teacher for each class period except lunch and gym. But how do students feel about the switch to live streaming?

The Hurricane Eye recently conducted a virtual survey to get an insight into students’ thoughts on live streaming. Students who took the survey were asked seven questions relating to live streaming, made up of five multiple choice questions and two free response questions. An optional free response section for other thoughts on live streaming was also included. 100 students responded to the survey.

The survey found that only 31% of those surveyed like live streaming classes, with 60% saying they don’t like class live streams. Interestingly, only 47% said they supported getting rid of live streaming, with 34% saying no and 19% having no opinion. Also, 51% said that live streaming is not disruptive to in-person classes.

When the respondents asked what they liked about live streaming, some of the most common answers included being able to interact with teachers and classmates, helping them keep focus and being able to ask questions and get help from teachers. However, another common response to the question was “not much” or “nothing”.

Frequent responses of what students don’t like about live streaming included technical difficulties from video services, getting bored from watching live streams all day, the lack of interaction from teachers and having to stay on streams for the entire class period.

The students were also asked if they liked the format of remote days prior to the switch to live streaming, to which 74% answered yes and only 17% answered no.

Another question asked which video service students liked the best. 62% of respondents said Google Meets, 19% said Zoom and 19% said they disliked both or liked other services. 

In the optional last thoughts section, some students offered ways to improve live streaming. Some of these ways include not having to stay on the stream for the whole period and having a few extra minutes between classes. Other students used the section to criticize live streaming, with numerous students calling it “a waste of time”.

Overall, the survey shows that while live streaming has some benefits for remote days, a majority of students don’t like it and a plurality support getting rid of live streaming. With this data showing the unpopularity of live streaming, changes may need to be made to the current hybrid learning model to satisfy all students and improve their current learning experience. While this data was conducted when live streaming first began, it will be interesting to see if students’ current opinion of live streaming persists over the next few weeks and months.