Virtual or In-person
February 22, 2021
Students are only doing virtual learning because of Covid, right? Or do students prefer virtual learning for other reasons? Perhaps they don’t mind either way; some may even have enjoyed hybrid learning. What do GMC students prefer? Well, we conducted a survey, and here is what students generally think about these different learning methods.
In-Person
It seems that most people prefer in-person to virtual for a few reasons. In-person learning helps many students keep up their grades since they feel more comfortable asking questions, whereas they feel lazy and distracted while on virtual meets. Many people also mentioned that in-person learning is more interactive. Students want to interact with their friends on group projects or at least make jokes with them, they don’t want to be at home all of the time. Students also said that virtual learning feels like they are isolated in their room.
Virtual
However, some people still prefer virtual learning. They feel that learning virtually gives them more freedom on when they can turn in their assignments. They claimed that doing virtual learning builds responsibility and trust. Many people like virtual more because they have more time to sleep in; they were too tired to concentrate in an in-person environment. Some like not having to wear dress code and being able to eat lunch whenever they want. Many people said they like being able to leave class early. Some students like virtual because it gives them more time to do other activities, such as working their jobs to save for college. Lots of people decided that being virtual is better than in-person, but only because of Covid-19. If Covid didn’t exist, they would prefer being in-person.
Should schools offer virtual learning after Covid-19 ends? (Teachers opinions)
The majority of teachers believe that it should be up to the school whether they offer virtual learning after Covid ends. Even though many people like virtual more than in-person learning, quite a few students only like virtual more because they can sleep in and leave class early. Because of these reasons, many teachers I’ve talked to are thinking about requiring a note to stay at home, but overall few of them disliked the idea.
