Wow- just lost my whole response- ugh!
I wanted to say that while I understand your point, I think you are really not fully acknowledging the differences that exist in online courses. True, there may be many classes that are wholly online and therefore scalable to large populations- these existed pre-COVID and there are probably more options now. But the typical college class that is now held virtually via zoom does not necessarily fit into that category.
I can only speak from the experiences of my two kids, a college junior and freshman. The junior had all her work online for the fall term, and the freshman had 2 virtual and 2 that were mainly in person, with a lab that was mostly in person. But the largest class size either had was a microbiology class with 20 students- all of their virtual (and live) classes were small and very time/labor intensive, both for the students but also for the faculty. They often had small breakout groups/sessions, sometimes for every class, which the professor attended. There was significant interaction, with the expectation of discussion and direct involvement from everyone. Even the assessments were intensive- out of concerns about cheating, almost all their assessments involved projects, papers, and/or presentations (and this includes science, math, and computational science classes). The kids were able to form relationships with other students and with the professors- my junior actually said she found it easier to “arrive early or stay late” to zoom class to chat with the professor and ask some questions. And they both felt pretty good about the overall experience in the end- not the same as in person, and clearly not as good, but they did have deep, rich learning experiences.
And bonus, my kids definitely have a awareness and gratitude for the challenges that were involved in teaching this past term. Hopefully that extends to most of their fellow students and helps them follow the guidelines and do the right thing, at least for those fortunate enough to be on campus.
