With the Omicron variant of COVID-19 forcing many institutions of
higher education to return to virtual learning, intense debate has again
surfaced about the effectiveness of online teaching and its impact on free speech.
From fears of being unknowingly recorded to concerns that private ideas may be shared
or taken out of context, many have worried about the potential consequences of virtual
schoolrooms on debate and discourse.

Fortunately, data from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)’s survey on the climate of campus speech — which is based on the opinions of over 37,000 students at 159 campuses across the United States — reveal that student speech is not deeply impacted by moving online. Although self-censorship remains a threat to many students and viewpoint diversity is not thriving in collegiate settings whatsoever, moving classes back online while the pandemic spikes does not pose an additional risk.

The news from the FIRE dataset is quite
encouraging when it comes to how difficult students feel it is to express their
views in an online classroom. Only 17 percent of students report that sharing their
views in class is much more difficult online than in person. Meanwhile, almost six
in 10 (57 percent) students state that online class is as just as easy of or an
even easier space in which to share their views.

This good news about online discussion appears to be fairly robust. Digging a bit deeper, there are no meaningful partisan differences, such that neither Republican- nor Democratic-identifying students are more worried about sharing their views online. Just 16 percent of Democratic and 18 percent of Republican students believe that speaking freely is much more difficult online. Over half (56 percent) of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans think that discussion is about the same or even easier online. Partisan bias against conservative students may even be lessened in the case of virtual learning, for the often found fact that Republican students are more likely to self-censor compared to Democratic students is not apparent in online settings. This is certainly good news for viewpoint diversity.

Moreover, looking at types of schools, differences in speech are
minor as well. Students at liberal arts colleges — schools like my own which
are known for their small seminars and focus on classroom discussion — are not
more likely to worry about going online than are their counterparts at large
research universities. Only 18 percent of liberal arts students and 16 percent
of students at large research universities say that going online has made
classroom discussion much more difficult, with majorities of students at both
stating that virtual class discussion is either easier or about the same as
in-person discussion.

Finally, a word about socio-economic status is warranted. Throughout the pandemic, headlines have regularly appeared decrying inequalities and inhibited learning outcomes among students with fewer financial resources. Of students who self-identify as part of the working class, just 8 percent report that online learning has made engagement harder. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority (70 percent) of working class students state that engagement has been the same or easier in the virtual classroom — notably higher than the national average.

In fact, students in the upper middle class — those who
theoretically have the means by which to access a quiet space with reliable
internet — are actually having a harder time in the remote setting. Sixteen
percent of upper-middle-class students believe that moving online has made classroom
discussion more challenging. Still, a majority (61 percent) feel that virtual
discussion is about the same or even easier than in-person discussion. So,
despite many headlines capturing the real difficulties that working-class
students face, students with lower socio-economic status are not any less
likely to talk in the virtual setting; they are, in fact, likely to be more engaged
in virtual classrooms and going virtual may even give students a more level
platform from which to engage in coursework.

Simply put, the negative impact of online education on discussion in our college and university virtual classrooms has been overstated. Although online education was on the rise long before the pandemic, many students would still prefer to return to in-person classes. For many, being in a room with others to think and learn is the hallmark of a collegiate experience. The idea of having to go back online while being isolated from others is no doubt frustrating for both students and schools, and rightfully so. Nonetheless, creative thinking can make Zoom classes truly engaging, and the FIRE data have demonstrated that virtual classrooms are not shutting down or inhibiting dialogue at all. In fact, virtual classrooms have made it easier for some students to speak and question freely — arguably a silver lining in this pandemic.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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