Offline, online or hybrid? Education after corona

The future of education is very uncertain due to the corona crisis. Will everything change, or will everything return to normal? In this theme week, EM looks from all sides at what corona education has meant for students and teachers, how it can be improved and what we need to get rid of as soon as possible.

It seems that the mass lecture will be a thing of the past and students want to stay online and maintain flexibility. But an online university is not what the deans of education are in favour of.

Blended education as the future? Kris Stabel, educational consultant at Risbo and theme leader Education Innovation at the Community for Learning and Innovation, is not keen on this as a goal.

What do students want?

Students are not dying to return to the type of teaching they received before the pandemic. Now that they have been forced to undergo online and hybrid teaching for over a year and a half, they are willing to acknowledge that there are certain advantages to these methods, as EM found after polling almost three hundred students.

Attending classes remotely is a lonely business and requires more discipline, but on the plus side, you don’t have to commute to the campus and you can attend lectures without having to change out of your pyjamas. Students’ opinions on the pros and cons of hybrid teaching vary.

A small but notable group of students doesn’t really care for on-campus classes and wouldn’t mind having all their classes online. So, what is the story of these students?

So for some, studying from home is a hellish experience, while for others it’s a blessing. Even though students are allowed back on campus, a lot is still happening online. EM visited some students to see how they’re getting on.

What do teachers think?

How comfortable and efficient online education may seem sometimes, that old-fashioned lecture hall deserves to be defended. So writes Ana Uribe Sandoval, who won this year’s Education Prize. She swears by offline education, because education is more than just learning.

The lecturers have found it tough keeping everyone focused and giving everyone, including those watching at home, a fair share of attention.

What does rector magnificus think?

Rector Annelien Bredenoord believes that ‘academic education via a monitor is not the only way to teach students.’

Discussion in EM TV

In EM TV, student Timo Zandvliet and Ana Uribe Sandoval faced off against each other about the future of education.