The sudden transition to remote teaching in the past few months due to the COVID-19 crisis pushed educators to piece together solutions to deliver their courses online. In many cases, the result was a disjointed experience that required professors to navigate various tech tools and platforms to bring their courses to life in a new learning environment. As a result, many students developed a poor impression of the educational value they received. More than a quarter are re-evaluating their intentions to return to school in the Fall semester, according to our recent survey.
We polled 3,089 higher education students in North America to more clearly understand how they have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent campus closures. The aim was to learn how they have been affected and how they are feeling about the remote learning experience they received in the past several months.”
Seven (7) out of 10 students feel the emergency online instruction they received this past semester is worse than in-person instruction. The majority found the online class experience unengaging and they miss connecting with faculty and fellow students. Many found it difficult to use online learning tools and access learning materials.
However, despite their recent experience with online learning, most students (75 percent) are planning to return to their current school for the Fall term. And while students miss the in-person interactions of on-campus life, many see value in online instruction due to the flexibility it affords. Institutions must move quickly to ensure they are ready to deliver engaging learning experiences that drive student success in any teaching scenario. Keep reading to learn more about what today’s students had to say.