THE INCONVENIENTLY CONVENIENT ONLINE EDUCATION
THE INCONVENIENTLY CONVENIENT ONLINE EDUCATION

Summary/Abstract: In many ways, 2020 was the year that has made a difference in everybody’s life, although one cannot say that it was all for the better. At the respective time, the very few who could afford to work remotely were corporate employees who had chosen to do so for various (mostly personal) reasons, and who were envied by many other categories of workers. When, under the pressure of the COVID-19 rapidly spreading threat, education made the switch from the classroom to the online, it was hailed as the beginning of a new era, bringing it into the 21st century. As expected, commentators, most of them outside the educational field, claimed that education-by-screen was the future, with the internet offering endless possibilities for knowledge growth, which, in turn, would give rise to a new learner – and to a new type of teacher, as well. However, as it often happens with theories, when they take a reality check, bad news came soon: computers may have brought cutting-edge technology into the classroom, but that was not enough. More and more voices were heard making comments about online learning and its (in)convenient nature, dwelling on the idea that, over the past year, remote learning has painted a different picture, leading to the conclusion that in-person education cannot and should not be replaced. How open and willing are students to embrace this new form of education is a question most teachers have probably asked themselves. The authors of this article have tried to formulate an answer based on a questionnaire administered to first-year engineering students.

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