D18 knows lots of people prior to the pandemic who were taking classes online. Made no sense to her as their online had no lecture.
As far as HS, we are slated to go back to in person next week and I doubt many kids are happy. We’ve been starting school at 8am and now have to go back to 7:20am. No one wants to go back to that. When I overhear the kids chatting in class they have enjoyed having class from the convenience of their bed. It seems to be the parents who want them back. Unfortunately, the experience once they get back will be less then ideal- and the complaining will begin.
I think it varies by situation. Some students don’t want to pay for room and board if a significant portion of their classes are online, so they try to arrange for all their classes to be online so they can live at home and save money. This may be especially true if life on campus is extremely restricted and clubs are virtual anyway.
Other students prefer in-person as much as possible (as both my college student and my high school students prefer). Online has been, shall we say, a very negative experience for my high schoolers. My college student is willing to tolerate online class from the dorm just to be away from home, though absolutely seeks out in-person class sections, which varies by dept, prof, class size. Naturally, larger classes are online, smaller in person, so it can be a little tougher for freshmen if the classes they want tend to be large intro types.
My kids find in-person much more conducive to learning - paying attention, asking questions, and most importantly getting those questions answered - and that bottom line is hard to argue around, even though turning on the laptop in bed is of lower effort. Just because college students may be lazy by nature doesn’t mean that online is a better product.
S19 went to an online hs, is in the spectrum and prefers the online format. He originally wanted to get a completely online degree but his dad and I convinced him to try in person last year. He wanted to quit several times, but ultimately made it through until the pandemic and it was so good for him. I saw a lot of personal growth. He is ready to go back in person. D21 prefers in person but this year has actually worked out well. She had planned to take a bus to her dual enrollment classes at the state flagship which would have been at least a 2 hour round trip daily. It has saved a lot of time for her to be online and she has connected with ither students virtually. I am hoping the pandemic will create more options for the future. There were few online options at S19s college prior to the pandemic and he wanted to take one or two his first semester but they weren’t available. There might be more options for professors too who might need/want to have the online format temporarily for health or other reasons. Having the option to do a class virtually if a student is sick would be great!
@jeneric My D21 is hybrid and likes the blend. She gets to go into school for 2 days to see her teachers and other students, but also really likes taking classes in bed a few times a week.
My high schooler has realized that it’s much easier to get out of bed and be 2 feet away from his desk and laptop (class) than to spend 20 mins driving to school, look for a spot, and then get to his classes which altogether means he has to leave 45 minutes before school starts. He also has more time in between classes and after to get other stuff done at home. Not to mention now he has to de-ice the car before he can leave and/or shovel snow off of it, so less incentive to want to go in. He has fortunately acclimated well to remote but it would still be nice to have the in person aspect IMO.
As for college students, covid is still out there, so even with a hybrid option, kids may not necessarily want to go in when they have to wear masks, the teacher is wearing a mask, and the teacher is teaching in an ehybrid situation anyway. This is how I work and last semester our school had 80% choose ehybrid, but this semester it’s only 55%. Students are just finding it’s not worth it to come in with only a few students with covid still out there and the teacher teaching kid both remote and in person. Not at all the same experience as before, and similarly to my son, it’s easier to just stay home in front of your computer than take the time to drive and park, and get dressed and ready, etc. Plus mandatory covid testing.
@srparent15 My son is a junior in college who lives off-campus. You described how he feels. He would much rather be completely online to avoid braving the cold to get to campus, find parking, and go to class. In-person classes bring another level of mandatory COVID testing which he would rather not do (my son is more of a homebody, doesn’t mind staying in a bubble and is fairing well with remote learning). He is hoping that his senior year of college will be a more normal experience.
@H0llyw00d Yep. Admittedly, I think I myself am kind of the same way. I am not having any trouble staying in a bubble and not seeing my friends. While I tend to be fairly social in general, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten so busy that I can always find something to do in my house to entertain me, work on or just occupy my time. I don’t want to get covid or get my parents sick, etc. I have to go back to work in person next week but I’m ok with that because I feel safe there, but generally speaking, the whole remote thing as much as it sucks doing it, I get why some people aren’t itching to leave.
I think initially a lot of companies thought the whole WFH thing was going to be a forever thing but I think as this has gone on for so long they’ve realized maybe it’s not going to be ideal in the long run to have employees WFH full-time.
@srparent15 I get it. I’ve been WFH since March 9th and have been pretty isolated since the weather got cold. I do miss socializing a lot, but I’ve found some new things to keep me busy (I’ve become quite creative with chalk paint and have been upcycling some old furniture). I’m not slotted to go back into the office until the second half of the year so I got a puppy to make sure I get out of the house every day.
I’m a professor at a mid-size public university that has a high percentage of first gen kids and kids who were kind of ‘middle of the road’ students in high school. They need structure. Intuitively they know that, and they’ll say that they prefer in person classes, but when given the choice they lapse into zoom attendance instead of walking over to campus. Of course this is to be expected when it’s cold or rainy or they want to get 30 minutes more sleep. What I found out last semester was if I post all lectures online for them to watch whenever they like, students SAY that they love the option of watching them later rather than having to zoom synchronously, but the reality was that a significant percentage of them didn’t do either! And believe me, this impacts grades. So I think a lot of it comes down to the population being taught. For self-starters with lots of self discipline, online courses are probably more convenient (and if the kid is introverted might even be preferred!). But for students who struggle with organization, self-discipline, adhd, executive function, etc., in person classes are just better in general. This coming semester I’m doing a ‘blended’ approach where students are in person part of the time and zooming part of the time, and I will be requiring attendance (with flexibility for them being sick, etc.) and not posting the lectures online anymore. We’ll see how this shapes their behavior and how the grades turn out.
For us, any school which didn’t allow kids to come live in the dorms was out when we went to apply. I’m not interested in my kid learning from home, BTDT for the past 10 months, and not interested. At least if he’s in the dorms, he can make friends and enjoy a slice of college life. It’s better than what he has now, sitting in our basement with little to no social interaction. I can’t imagine the toll it would take on him to do it for another year.
What are your thoughts about impact to development of students’ soft skills? I am thinking about those often dreaded team projects that help students develop skills such as team project planning, communication, and collaboration skills that are vital in many fields post college. How does skill development compare in person vs remote?
Obviously, many people in the workforce work on remote based teams even Pre-COVID (global companies etc), but most built foundational skills for that on in-person teams first.
@GetCollege19 I do think the in-person skills are extremely important, and it seems to me that they would be the foundation for working well in teams remotely. I mean, think about how reluctant our teens are to actually CALL an adult or a business to ask a question!
S21 had his Holy Cross interview last night. It was fairly conversational. First question/request - “Tell us about yourself.” So open ended and tough to answer succinctly, but he handled it well.
Question for all…Should S send a thank you note? It will take some effort. He’ll need to ask the event organizer for the interviewer’s contact info. It was basically a giant Zoom meeting that was split up into dozens of 2-person breakout groups.
My opinion is that a ‘thank you’ note can’t hurt, but isn’t worth a ton of effort in this specific case.
BTW, the interview was optional. but strongly recommended. Holy Cross highly values demonstrated interest.
It was an interview with a second student in the “Zoom” room? Was the interviewer an AO?
I assume your S knows the name of the person who did the interview and, if he’s an AO, then you can look on Holy Cross’s admissions page to find all AOs and their email addresses. And, then, yes I would send a quick email saying thank you for your time and two or three short sentences about why HC is a good fit.
