Virtual classes in Mexico during the pandemic. Advantages and disadvantages

Abstract

The modality of virtual classes given by the health contingency caused by COVID-19, made diagnostic studies necessary to know its effects on the learning-teaching process. This paper compares the advantages and disadvantages of virtual classes, according to the opinion of 350 students and 100 professors from public universities in Mexico who answered a survey made by the authors through Google Forms®. From the results, it can be highlighted that both teachers and students identify more disadvantages than advantages over virtual classes; however, both recognize that due to the pandemic it was necessary to continue classes under this modality. Although there are some differences and coincidences between the responses of teachers and students, it was identified that the experience for teachers has been more positive. The disadvantages that stand out are the lack of personal interaction, the low motivation, the stress that the confinement generated, the lack of equipment and poor internet signal, among others. Some of the most mentioned advantages are that different sources can be accessed easily by using electronic means, economic savings and new computer skills acquisition.