Brainly Survey: Most Students Have Anxiety About Going Back to School, Almost Half Want to Continue with Remote/Hybrid Learning

NEW YORK, Aug. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After more than a year and a half of remote, hybrid and socially-distanced learning, many students throughout the United States are returning to classrooms.

However, a survey of 3,000 US middle and high school students conducted by Brainly, the world's largest online learning platform, finds that users are reporting a mixture of emotions regarding the return to school. 66% of students reported that they felt anxious about the upcoming school year, while 63% reported that they felt excited. Most strikingly, nearly 40% reported that they felt they were not prepared for the upcoming school year. In the same survey parents also reported many of the same concerns for their children.

While students and parents embraced a variety of new digital education tools during the shift to remote learning, Brainly's survey found that the majority of students remained enthusiastic about a return to the classroom for the coming school year. When given the option, only 44% of students wanted to go back to full-time, in-person learning. 30% preferred hybrid learning and 16% preferred all remote learning. However, middle school students have a more positive outlook regarding the return to full-time learning than their high school counterparts.

"These findings underscore the reality of a pandemic that has stretched on longer than any of us could have imagined," said Patrick Quinn, Parenting Expert at Brainly. "To some extent, students have begun to normalize virtual learning, which presents a whole new host of challenges now that we're bringing them back into the classroom. The ultimate goal is to provide students with a dynamic and complete educational experience that will let them thrive in the real world."

Students report a variety of reasons for their apprehension about going back to school full time. Nearly a quarter of students cited in-person tests as the reason they are least excited about returning to school. For middle school students, bullying was the second most common cause of concern, and for high school students, the social anxiety caused by being around groups of people was their most common concern.

"During the pandemic we witnessed Brainly become an indispensable resource for over 350M students and parents globally as they worked to balance their changing needs during remote learning," said Michał Borkowski, CEO and co-founder of Brainly. "We know that the best educational outcomes happen when students have access to both in-person and online support, which is why we recently rolled out new products such as Math Solver and Brainly Tutor to provide them with a path to academic success, no matter the learning format."

Brainly is the world's largest online learning platform and is available globally on mobile and desktop devices. Created to supplement middle and high school study, Brainly gives students a platform to learn from each other and build confidence through helping others find the answers they need to succeed in coursework. The survey's full results are available here.

About Brainly:
Brainly is the world's largest online learning platform where students and parents go from questioning to understanding. At brainly.com and its group of websites and apps around the world, students connect their peers and experts to both receive and offer help with homework problems and questions. The unique opportunity to freely ask questions and gain the confidence that comes from helping others inspires students to learn in a collaborative community that receives more than 350 million users each month.

SOURCE Brainly