Abstract:

Most Institutes of Higher Education (HEI) have now returned to partial or full face-to-face learning, as the Covid-19 pandemic has been brought under control in the United Arab Emirates. This means that students and faculty need to readjust to the realities of being back on campus, in some cases after over a year of online teaching and learning (Dhawan, 2020). Online learning was rapidly imposed on students and faculty and the learning curve to adopt this mode was steep (Hodges, Moore, Lockee, Trust, Bond, 2020). The current study reviews students’ attitudes to returning to face-to-face learning in two HEIs. This was done by iteratively analyzing 45 student essays and 80 surveys on the topic of returning to campus. Aspects that arose from the study were the effects on students’ personal life, study skills, personal development, personal issues, technical issues and issues regarding face-to-face teaching vs. online teaching. The purpose of the study is to further understand the new normal arising from the return to classrooms and lecture halls after a long period of online learning and how to utilize the results in teaching and learning.

References:
[1] Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(1), 5-22.
[2] Hodges, C. B., Moore, S., Lockee, B. B., Trust, T., & Bond, M. A. (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning.

Keywords:

Face-to-face learning after Covid-19, online learning, study habits, study skills.