KUALA LUMPUR, 7.9.2021 – Japan is embracing the implementation of online classes despite increasing vaccination rates among university students, which signifies their gradual return to campus life.
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Many students were initially hesitant towards the universities’ decision to fully implement online learning as a means to work their way around the coronavirus pandemic. The shift was a new experience to them.
Professor Masaharu Okada, executive director of the Social Business Research Centre at Kyushu University said, “I continue to teach six hours each day, delivering online classes to hundreds of students taking my course. The experience is new for me and them, signaling major changes in the future of higher education in Japan.”
Students and even professors are now eager to proceed with the new teaching model due to various reasons.
A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology showed that over 60% of students were somewhat satisfied about online classes.
With the freedom to study at their own pace, in turn, it also helps them to reduce the pressures of studying.
The shift to online learning is also well-received because students do not need to travel long hours to attend in-person lectures.
Moreover, students get to learn remotely in any location they want, which allows them to study from diverse locations instead of just in a lecture hall.
Despite the slow start, professors and stakeholders are now increasingly supportive of the new methodologies that incorporate effective online tools as they can better deliver complex topics in courses.
“I was accustomed to only lecturing in the classroom, a common practice in Japanese universities that had ignored technology as an effective teaching tool,” Okada added.
Additionally, a policy paper released on 3rd June further promoted remote and online education in Japanese universities.
The paper highlighted the benefits of combining online, in-person, and inter-university collaboration systems in higher education.
Some of the major changes cited are the promotion of data-driven learning as well as on-demand classrooms, which are courses made up of different content items, such as videos, PDF’s, and presentation slides that students can go through at their own pace.
According to the report, “Flexible approaches to higher education study encourage diversity based on the sharing of resources available on the Internet and strengthening the function of vocational education through industrial-academic collaboration.”
Professor Hiroshi Ota, director of the Centre for Global Education at Hitotsubashi University explained that Japan is already overdue in terms of adopting online teaching and learning in universities.
However, increased measures to implement online learning had caused problems to rise in universities, such as loneliness amongst students having difficulties in keeping up due to the lack of communication and socializing with their friends and professors.
Ota also predicted that online classes, which carry both positive and negative impacts, will kickstart a brand-new digitized era in Japan’s higher education industry.
Jocelyn Cheng
Jocelyn Cheng (JC) is an INFP writer seeking to spread inspiration and spark connections through her words. Her dedication to writing has gifted her with an ability to write for multiple platforms (e.g., website, social media, newspaper, magazine, etc) in different fields, namely Education, Travel, and Lifestyle. JC personalizes her works by adding a touch of her own experience into the mix whenever she can to relate to her readers. A self-proclaimed poet and currently a freelance writer, she's working on an untitled poetry book at home while juggling between writing for Eduloco, dancing, and keeping her only plant alive.
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