Teenagers in Minnesota are required to complete thirty hours of driver’s education, whether that be in-person or online, in order to take their permit test. While both in-person driver’s education classes and Zoom driver’s education classes are offered, most BSM students have found that doing driver’s education in-person is more beneficial than doing driver’s education over Zoom.
Many BSM students discovered that doing driver’s education in person has numerous benefits. Sophomore Olivia Shiek decided to do her driver’s education in-person, and she found that being in-person forced her to be focused and stay on task. She found that the teacher helped redirect students and kept them accountable for focusing on the material. Shiek thinks that being in-person stopped her from going off-camera and doing whatever she desired. Being in person also provided her with beneficial experiences. “You don’t get experiences. In my driver’s ed, when we were learning about the mechanics of the car, we went outside and saw what a car looks like, and our teacher pointed to things, and you just don’t get that experience if you do it on Zoom,” Shiek said.
However, while doing driver’s education in person can provide many benefits, it is not without drawbacks. Going to a building for driver’s education requires students to find transportation, whether that transportation is driving, walking, biking, or something else, and this often can become difficult for driver’s education students who all lack licenses. Furthermore, going to driver’s education classes in-person requires students to remain in town for the class dates and rearrange their schedules to make going to classes possible. Overall, the option of doing driver’s education classes in-person lacks flexibility. “It kind of restricts. You have to account for driving times and for driving home if you have other things,” sophomore Kiya Rognrud said.
There is another way for students to complete the required thirty hours of driver’s education: Zoom classes. Rognrud decided to do her driver’s education classes online, not on Zoom. However, she found doing Zoom classes and doing it self-paced online share many of the same advantages. Rognrud feels that Zoom provides flexibility for students to learn the required material. “I think it’s really beneficial for people who have busy schedules as well because if they’re driving somewhere, they can do it in the car, and they can do it from anywhere in person,” Rognrud said.
Nevertheless, learning the required material for driver’s education through Zoom has many disadvantages. BSM students found that Zoom classes allow students to do what they want off-camera and don’t keep students accountable for maintaining focus. Freshman Macee Jacobson found that doing driver’s education over Zoom can detract from focus and understanding. “You don’t get a lot done, and you can get distracted and procrastinated,” Jacobson said.
77.3% of BSM students surveyed have found that one of the options for driver’s education provides more benefits: in-person. Despite this, most students believe that doing driver’s education over Zoom should still remain an option as it provides flexibility for students.