Face-to-face learning has many benefits which can’t be offered online

Online education can’t offer all the benefits of the face-to-face learning experience.

The COVID-19 emergency has undoubtedly hit Australian universities hard. According to Universities Australia, the sector will lose $3 billion to $4.6bn dollars in revenue this year. Universities are likely to continue to face a shortfall of revenue in years to come, particularly if international students fail to return in the same numbers.

Social distancing requirements have necessitated a complete shift to online learning, which, by-and-large, the universities have managed well, despite how quickly these changes needed to be implemented. This has been possible because of the move towards online learning that has been occurring for years, and raises the question: how much online instruction will remain in the longer term?

Online teaching offers a way to save money. Rather than running multiple streams of large classes, requiring more lecturers, an online lecture can be recorded once and posted online for everyone. Similarly, student numbers in virtual tutorials can increase, not bounded by the physical size of study rooms. This format will have flow on effects throughout the institution: fewer teachers means fewer offices are required and, in turn, less buildings. And if lecturers are largely working remotely, why not adopt the cost-saving ‘hot desk’ model? Just like in the business world, a shift to an online model will allow the universities to save on bricks-and-mortar infrastructure.

Yet universities should be very cautious about any long-term move to online education. Firstly, face-to-face interaction helps students learn. A recent study I undertook with colleagues at Kyoto University and Monash University, published in the journal Games and Economic Behavior, analysed how people in teams work together. While it focused on employees, its insights could equally be applied to students, who often learn just as much from informal interactions with their peers as they do from their lecturers. These discussions and arguments help students explore ideas, be wrong, get informal feedback and change their minds. Notwithstanding the biological imperative to socialise, this is all part of the learning experience, and it is very difficult to imitate online, especially without the foundation of in-person contact.

Learning how to collaborate is another key skill that students should develop from in-person higher education, whether they do it as part of formal assessments, in their own study groups, or from other activities on campus.

My research suggests that these informal interactions and the collaborative relationship they spawn are particularly important for innovative thinking: exactly the type of learning universities should be fostering.

Universities also need to think of their place in the world market for education, and why an international student would pay around $40,000 a year to study at them. If it is for a world-class education, online (or effectively online) instruction does not cut it. If anything, the pressure for value-for-money from international students is likely to increase following the crisis, as will their study options around the world. If students are going to continue to come to Australian universities, the quality of the education on offer needs to continue to improve.

Senior managers are talking the right game. For example, University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence said, “These experiences [during COVID-19] will undoubtedly benefit our teaching and learning in the future, but we also know the value of face-to-face human interaction.”

But what happens in coming years when budgets are tight? The temptation will be to reduce in-person classes and have more and more materials and instruction online. This would serve students poorly and erode the reputation and market for Australian universities. Therefore, each university needs to rethink its strengths, and what will attract students and be valued by employers. The idea should be to teach fewer subjects but do it better, providing a full, immersive campus experience.

Andrew Wait is an associate professor in the School of Economics at the University of Sydney.