Japan, HK Tutors Say Virtual Learning No Match For Real Thing

While online classes have become the norm amid the COVID-19 pandemic, academics from Japan and Hong Kong believe that online classes cannot truly be a substitute for face-to-face learning despite the merits of technology in communicating with students, Supriya Singh reported for Kyodo News.

Photo Insert: Academics from Japan and Hong Kong believe that face-to-face classes are still the best way to teach students.

"Learning does not take place in the classroom, it happens outside the classroom, on campus where students can interact," among themselves and with teachers, Oussouby Sacko, president of Kyoto Seika University, said in a recent webinar.

The webinar on the future of education was organized by the Awaji Youth Federation, an educational group in Japan, as the academic world faces the challenges posed by online learning.

Sacko said professors at his university in western Japan have struggled to teach, for example, art-related courses online, and students were also losing their interest in attending classes.

To motivate the students, Sacko, who hails from Mali, has introduced a hybrid system of direct interactive sessions between teachers and students once a week and online classes on other days. Recognizing the challenges teachers face in holding virtual classes, he said there is a need to develop a program for the faculty to train them to become accustomed to the new teaching style.

An online survey by the National Federation of University Co-operative Associations in July has shown that 44.7 percent of students do not find their lives fulfilling amid the pandemic, citing the limitations of online classes as one of the factors.

Daniel Cheung, adjunct assistant professor at Hong Kong University's Faculty of Business and Economics, shared the sentiments of Sacko on the benefits of face-to-face learning, even as he recognized the benefits of speed of information and knowledge sharing via online classes.

"It is difficult to teach without seeing the students' faces and body language, to really know what the other person thinks," Cheung said, adding that while teaching could be "hybrid" in the post-COVID era, "digital cannot replace humans."

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic