I was surprised - I did a straw poll of my students, asking whether they preferred the online or in-class lessons, expecting that they would overwhelmingly choose in-class. Turns out, most of them wanted to do more online. They found the coursework easier and they had less stress by being able to work (study) from home where they did not have to worry about who they were speaking with or how much distance they were keeping, etc. The one situation they wanted to be in person for was sports and other social clubs. To paraphrase one student, keeping track of ten members of a club felt safer and more manageable than navigating classrooms and buildings with 200 people they didn't know. All of which makes me ask the same question you have been - why are we rushing back? I don't know the answer but I suspect it is, like so many things in education these days, an economic rather than pedagogical decision.
I was surprised - I did a straw poll of my students, asking whether they preferred the online or in-class lessons, expecting that they would overwhelmingly choose in-class. Turns out, most of them wanted to do more online. They found the coursework easier and they had less stress by being able to work (study) from home where they did not have to worry about who they were speaking with or how much distance they were keeping, etc. The one situation they wanted to be in person for was sports and other social clubs. To paraphrase one student, keeping track of ten members of a club felt safer and more manageable than navigating classrooms and buildings with 200 people they didn't know. All of which makes me ask the same question you have been - why are we rushing back? I don't know the answer but I suspect it is, like so many things in education these days, an economic rather than pedagogical decision.