English
The classical university today is a campus which houses students who have passed a rigorous selection process and are reading professional disciplines.
Living on campus means not only constant learning, but also upbringing, socialization, and the development of habits and life values.
Due to the pandemic, the concept of a classical education in universities has shifted, because many educational institutions have been closed or migrated to distance learning platforms. According to Stanford professors, no matter how high the quality of online courses is, they still cannot completely replace full-time in person education. After all, only universities create unique career opportunities, teach students how to network, help procure business contacts, and apply the knowledge gained in practice.
Listening to online courses does not even come close to studying an educational program on campus. That is why professors believe that distance learning is not a preferred alternative, but a necessary evil that reduces the risk of coronavirus infection. Primarily, this type of education is suitable for those professions in which people work mainly online (e.g., programmers or game designers).
Online positivity and hybrid learning
After the transition to a distance learning format, the opinions of educators were divided. Many were less than satisfied with the new teaching format, but there were also fans of online classes.
Optimists assume that due to the long drawn out lockdown., both students and educators will become so,"at home with" working remotely that they will be able to see the full benefits of this approach. After all, it is convenient, modern and significantly saves on travel expenses (both money and time). Despite this, however, there is no guarantee that the lockdown will spawn the development of digital platforms and overhaul the education system.
As a compromise and an experiment, universities may introduce a new "year-on-campus, year-off-campus learning" format. To maintain the traditional educational model, universities will have to adapt to changes in any case and build new hybrid teaching models.
One of the most important challenges posed by the quarantine to the contemporary US education system is the need to have a cohesive platform that provides all students with courses from the best professors. Such a platform could well become not a temporary bootstrap to surviving the pandemic, but a stable base and a national asset.
