Wataru Kobayashi, Director of Chiba University of Commerce Research Center for Economics

Aim of the special feature "CUC View & Vision No. 50"

In many universities, including ours, classes have been taught face-to-face with students in the physical space of a university classroom. Although the development of personal computers and the Internet has increased the opportunities to use them, they have only been used as tools to improve the convenience of classroom classes and facilitate smooth learning outside of class hours.

However, the 2020 academic year began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the university itself, including classrooms, had to be closed, with new tools being used to create spaces for classes. This special feature looks back at the online classes held at our university in the spring semester, summarizing, through individual case studies, what kinds of classes were actually held, what efforts were made under various restrictions, and what lessons were learned.

The first video introduces the contents of the "Curriculum Theory" and "Introduction to the Teaching Profession" courses, which were conducted from the perspective of "Universal Design for Learning" in the context of the need to consider the diversity of students' communication environments. In doing so, the video reviews all 13 classes divided into three periods (classes 1-3, 4-10, and 11-13), linking each practice in the class with the three principles of UDL and the 31 checkpoints in the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. The video also analyzes and considers the effectiveness and challenges of the courses based on the degree of accurate knowledge and understanding of the learning content of each class, the achievement level of questions that measure thinking, judgment, and expression based on the knowledge and understanding gained in each class, and a survey of the students' attitudes. As a result, the video shows that adding the option of remote classes, such as real-time classes using Microsoft Teams, has promoted the lowering of barriers to accurate knowledge and understanding of the learning content, thinking, judgment, and expression, and has eliminated students' concerns about progressing with remote classes.

The second article introduces the efforts of online classes in bookkeeping subjects ("Beginner's Bookkeeping" and "Intermediate's Bookkeeping"), and also includes some analysis of the surveys given to students in each class. As a result, while quantitatively high scores were seen in both classes, in the qualitative descriptive survey, first-year students had negative comments about online classes, while second-year students had positive comments.

The third article focuses on group work in English classes. It was confirmed that group conversations via video conferencing can be a useful learning activity if mechanisms for encouraging participation are incorporated. Furthermore, while group conversation practice via video conferencing is "usable," there is much room for improvement in the selection of tools and activity design, including grouping, and the article is aware that it is far from being "normalized," and aims to design better lessons.

The fourth report is about design subjects ("Basics of Image Expression" and "Design Basics"). Design education at educational institutions these days has tended to focus on acquiring digital application skills, with physical techniques becoming less important. However, design work, in other words, visualizing information, is fundamentally about thinking with your own head and using your hands. For that reason, the move to online classes this time around has provided an opportunity to reexamine the state of analog and digital in design education. Furthermore, the report looks at the results of students' work as a result of classes implemented based on the results of this reexamination, and considers the future of design education.

The fifth video focuses on how to use cameras when using video conferencing in online classes. Many students turn off their cameras when attending classes unless asked by the instructor, but this does not allow students to feel a sense of connection with other students and does not allow them to fully enjoy the benefits of online classes. Therefore, in this class, students are required to turn on their cameras and are also encouraged to dress appropriately. This is said to be useful for improving students' skills as job hunting becomes more and more online.

The sixth report was on sociology courses (Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Cities and Regions, and Sociology of Information and Media). In lecture courses with more than 100 students, there is the issue of how to ensure that students participate in class, but in these courses, since 2019, comment papers have been converted to ICT using Chiba University of Commerce University of Commerce's learning support system, the CUC Portal. As a result, the transition to online classes this time was relatively smooth. In addition, the need for the use of ICT in the field of education has been discussed for some time, and after considering these discussions, the paper examines this case study and considers the necessity and possibility of online classes in the future.

The seventh article reports on two educational case studies: a debate practice using a three-tiered meeting structure on Teams, and a pair programming practice using screen sharing. It presents the specific steps for managing classes, including pre- and post-class assignments, ways of evaluating students, and examples of comments from actual students, and discusses the significance of educational organizations that conduct online classes using video conferencing systems for collaborative learning.

The eighth article examines the methods and challenges of distance learning from two perspectives: technology and emotion, focusing on examples from our university. The distance learning support tools used in our university's classes may seem difficult to use for students and faculty who are not familiar with them, but they are based on existing technology established more than 20 years ago and can be used with the principle of "practice makes perfect." In fact, student evaluations of classes and faculty grades are almost the same as in traditional classes. This situation is due to the increased efforts of those involved, but there are also many results from sharing know-how through nationwide information sharing via the Internet. Even in distance classes, it is possible to feel empathy and emotion between teachers and students. It is said that such experiences with distance classes will force major changes in the future of universities.