A collegue of mine in another department (I'm HCMI faculty) is being asked about their preferences in the fall, should courses be online. That is, while a decision isn't yet made, there is a thought that before the semester starts classes that are online should decide if they will be synchronous (so weekly or more webex discussion sections) or asynchronous (all lectures videotaped, all discussion using online forums or email). Students, what do you prefer? Is your preference the same regardless of the department or type of class?

It isn't for me to do (I don't have tenure, so shouldn't rock the boat in this way), but it wouldn't be a bad idea for students to organize department-level surveys and reach out to their department chairs with student opinions on the matter.

For what it is worth, my preference is strongly for synchronous, the feedback and relationships that I get are important to me. Also, the latest rumor is that at the very least, there will be an online section of every class with multiple sections if not an online section of every class.