Instructor: Professor Osamu Nakamura
How many students took the course?
There were 378 students enrolled, and I believe over 300 attended each session.
What was the class format?
On-demand + live sessions each time.
Student Feedback
"The discussions in the 'Internet' class were very interactive and interesting."
"The style of having the lecture part pre-recorded and the discussion part live."
The combination of on-demand and live streaming, arranged so that the live time was dedicated to student discussions, was highly praised.
As for the format of remote classes, we had initially decided to conduct live classes. However, we thought that students would not be able to concentrate if the entire 90-minute class was live. Therefore, each week, we pre-recorded the class content as a 30- to 45-minute video, uploaded it, and instructed students to watch it before participating in the real-time class. By uploading the class content in advance, students could watch the class on-demand at their convenience. We also set the start time of the live class to 45 minutes after the official class start time, providing time for students to review the video content during that period. In the live class part, assuming that students had already studied by watching the video, we structured the class in a way that we would ask students questions and answer their questions, allowing for a deeper discussion of the class content.
Please tell us about any other creative measures you took when conducting your first online class.
First, instead of a video or live session where I would just drone on, Mr. Sato and I conducted the class as a dialogue. This was to keep the students' concentration from dropping. Next, we created a promotional video to get students excited about the class in advance. Also, as for grading, we decided to evaluate students based on several reports and their active participation in class. Therefore, questions from students became an important component. For interaction with students, we used multi-channel communication methods such as WebEx chat, posts on Twitter (with a class-specific hashtag), and Slack. We also provided the pre-recorded videos in two ways: on the research group's server and on YouTube. I believe these measures, by actively using media that students are accustomed to, helped reduce the frustration students might feel from participating in classes online.