Keio University's 2020 COVID-19 Response (1): Academic Affairs and Education

2021/06/17

In February 2020, as the COVID-19 infection was spreading across Japan, I recall being driven by a vague anxiety about whether classes for the 2020 academic year could be conducted as usual. This anxiety became a reality, and although information about the infectious disease was scarce, it was decided to take various measures following discussions at the COVID-19 Response Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as the Response Headquarters) established under the Executive Board.

As the first step of the measures, the academic calendar was changed. The start of classes, originally scheduled for April 6, was delayed to April 30. In changing the academic calendar, the primary goal was "not to allow a COVID-19 infection cluster to occur from Keio University" and "not to create an environment where a large number of Keio students and faculty members gather in one place for a long time." Consideration was also given to international students whose entry was restricted as a border control measure, and emphasis was placed on ensuring that learning continued regardless of the situation. Therefore, we also requested the implementation of online classes. However, naturally, online classes had never been implemented in the regular degree programs before, so we proceeded to strengthen the support system, centered on Vice-President Kokuryo, who was in charge of Information Technology (IT).

Just before the new semester in March 2020, a situation suddenly arose where a "state of emergency" was likely to be declared, and the unfamiliar word "lockdown" from media reports became a hot topic. Therefore, as a second step, we decided to "close campus facilities" and took measures to prohibit educational activities within university facilities in principle (the state of emergency was issued for the Tokyo metropolitan area and three neighboring prefectures on April 7). In the history of Keio University, campus closures had not even occurred during the 1960s when student movements were active, so this measure can be said to have had a considerably strong impact. With the campus closure, face-to-face classes on campus could no longer be held at all, all classes were switched to online, and the use of libraries and on-campus PC rooms also became impossible.

Regarding online classes, based on the premise of utilizing existing systems within Keio and the need to consider the network environment of Keio students who would be taking the courses, the "on-demand" format, where pre-recorded videos are distributed, was recommended in principle. In a situation where there was insufficient time to discuss the preparation and methods for online classes within the university and each faculty/graduate school, it is easy to imagine that it became a great burden for the instructors. It was expected that classes previously held face-to-face with Keio students in classrooms would need to be restructured as if they were correspondence education courses. As a result, it was a saving grace that delaying the start of classes provided sufficient time for class preparation.

Once classes actually began, my impression was that instructors and Keio students adapted to online classes faster than expected. Of course, there were some troubles. It was true that some instructors became physically and mentally exhausted from the hardships of on-demand class distribution, and some Keio students suffered from physical and mental health issues due to attending online classes all day and being overwhelmed by assignments. However, I imagine that the passionate desire of the Keio Gijuku Shachu that the place of learning must not be cut off even in the abnormal situation of a campus closure kept the place of learning going.

Following the lifting of the state of emergency for the Tokyo metropolitan area on May 25, it was decided to allow the use of campus facilities in stages starting June 8. Infection prevention measures such as temperature checks upon entering the campus and mandatory mask-wearing were implemented, and the utmost care was taken to prevent clusters from occurring on campus. While classes were in principle conducted online, some face-to-face classes were resumed for science experiments and practical courses. In addition, the use of libraries and PC rooms was resumed on a limited basis. Therefore, the campus continued to be deserted.

In addition, some classes began to be held in a real-time format rather than an on-demand format. Classes using Zoom (at the beginning of the year, only Webex was available; Zoom was introduced university-wide after May) allowed for interactive communication, and discussions in seminar-style classes also began to take place. In the real-time format, if one cannot participate in a class due to network trouble, the place of learning is cut off. However, know-how for dealing with such troubles was gradually accumulated, and the situation was such that learning was somehow being continued. Regarding the spring semester final exams, with some exceptions, face-to-face exams were not held, and they were handled through reports.

Regarding autumn semester classes, the Response Headquarters held repeated discussions from June to July. Considering that it was expected to take time for the infection to completely subside, it was determined that the academic calendar needed to be changed to double the scheduled final exam period. In July, a change was made to end regular classes in December and allocate the month of January to the final exam period. Additionally, it was decided to resume face-to-face classes for some courses. Specifically, after taking sufficient infection prevention measures such as keeping classroom capacity to half or less of the normal capacity, face-to-face classes were permitted for small-scale subjects with relatively few students (50 or fewer), such as languages, seminars, research groups, and experiments/practical courses.

However, for Keio students who could not commute to campus, such as international students who could not enter Japan or those who wanted to avoid commuting due to underlying medical conditions, it was required to provide considerations such as using online classes in combination when conducting face-to-face classes. As mentioned in Vice-President Kokuryo's article, many classes were held in unprecedented formats, such as using web cameras for remote distribution while teaching face-to-face in the classroom, or archiving and distributing classes to account for the time difference for students who could not enter the country.

In the classrooms, one could see students sitting at intervals to avoid crowds and students on the other side of the screen engaging in discussions. Hearing students' voices from the classrooms, I felt that the place of learning had returned to the campus. Furthermore, to ensure that Keio students could continue their learning, we not only relaxed restrictions on the use of libraries and PC rooms but also took measures on some campuses to set up large-scale study rooms for attending online classes with enhanced power supplies and Wi-Fi environments. In the autumn semester, some field work was also seen as part of off-campus educational and research activities. While autumn semester final exams were originally planned to be face-to-face in principle, following the declaration of a second state of emergency for the Tokyo metropolitan area on January 8, 2021, they were almost entirely cancelled and handled through reports, similar to the spring semester final exams.

Looking toward the 2021 academic year, discussions at the Response Headquarters began in October, immediately after the start of the autumn semester. Referring to statistical data such as the implementation status of face-to-face and online classes in the autumn semester and the ratio of face-to-face classes for individual students, we shared with each faculty and graduate school in November 2020 that it was an urgent task to create an environment where a certain number of Keio students who had not been able to commute to the university even once could take face-to-face classes at least once or twice a week.

Classes for the 2021 academic year began in April, and many campuses were seen bustling with students. Currently (as of May 12, 2021), a third state of emergency is in effect, and although many face-to-face classes have switched to online (though the situation varies by campus), the campus is not only a place for taking classes but also a place for interacting with peers.

According to surveys on online classes at universities inside and outside of Keio, from a learning perspective, there are positive opinions such as "time can be used effectively by allocating commuting time to other activities" and "(in the case of on-demand format) one can re-watch difficult parts many times and learn at one's own pace." On the other hand, we also hear opinions such as "motivation and concentration decrease when just looking at a computer screen for a long time" and "I feel a sense of isolation with no contact with peers." It goes without saying that interacting with peers met through face-to-face classes is also an important place of learning. While the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet in sight, I believe we should take this as an opportunity to rethink what a campus should be as a place of learning.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude once again to all those involved, including the faculties and graduate schools, instructors, the Office of Student Services, and other administrative departments, who have worked dedicatedly to plan and implement the various academic measures described in this article.