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Covid: Dubai students sleep better due to online classes
Dubai - Remote learning improves wellness quotient among young minds.
Illustrative image: Alamy.com/ae
The Covid-19-induced lockdown restrictions last year appear to have improved the sleep patterns of pupils.
DON'T MISS: Coronavirus: UAE schools reopening rules across country
The ongoing online classes allowed pupils to catch up that additional hour of sleep in the morning, which was earlier spent on travelling from their homes to schools, according to a survey.
A survey of 538 pupils from Year IX to XIII at Dubai College revealed that remote learning has significantly led to improved wellness quotient among young minds.
“They online classes led to three times more positive affect, twice less negative affect and 4.45 times greater hedonic, emotional well-being,” the findings said.
Mark Samways, head of positive education at Dubai College, said: “The well-being quotient increased among pupils since they are attending online classes.”
Dubai College, which teaches a subject called well-being for its Year IX to XIII students, focuses on the need to adopt a healthy lifestyle and how to prevent or cope with health hazards, in collaboration with those involved, including health and social services and school authorities.
“We’ve compared data from the pre-Covid-19 time, during the lockdown and how the contagion Covid-19 has impacted pupils’ wellbeing and mental health. We noticed that parents had concerns about the impact of their wards using gadgets.
"However, we didn’t find screen time was a big issue as far as their wellbeing is concerned. On the contrary, pupils slept better, and they felt refreshed the next day due to improved sleep patterns,” said Samways.
Samways, who led the research, also pointed out that they noticed fatigue among pupils at times while they were attending classes physically.
They increased their daily hours of sleep and experienced greater wellbeing.
“The survey cited that besides improved sleep patterns, the school’s kindness quotient has also improved,” he added.
These findings have also been consistent with other studies that support the idea that the ‘natural experiment’ caused by the shutdown of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic led to a two-hour shift in the sleep among adolescents, longer sleep duration, improved sleep quality, and less daytime drowsiness, as compared to those experienced under the regular school-time schedule.
Pupils echoed the survey’s findings and hailed the advantages of online classes.
“This is my favourite bit about being a digital learner such as having the luxury to sleep longer. When I used to attend face-to-face classes, I’d wake up at 6am daily, and it’d take me an hour to reach my school. Now, I get that additional hour of sleep. This is what I’ll miss the most, when I return to school again,” said Mir Faraz, a Year VI pupil at The Winchester School, Jebel Ali, Dubai,
Aditya Koduri, a Year V pupil, said: “Usually, I wake up a little later these days, as I’m attending online classes. Besides, no time is wasted in getting ready for school or travelling. I feel more recharged and less groggy these days,” he added.
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