The Challenges of Online Teaching in the Corona Era

Nice to meet you. With words like "with corona" and "post corona" flying around, how have your lifestyles changed in the past six months? With the spread of the new coronavirus, remote work has become widespread at companies, and online classes have spread rapidly in the education field.

I have a child in early elementary school. In response to this new coronavirus, my child switched to home study in March and started online classes using e-learning.

In this article I will.As a parent, I felt that the "pros/cons of online classesI would like to think about it. I hope you will also enjoy this paper.
 

Content

• 1. fatigue from complex e-learning system
• 2. challenges and needs of online classes
• 3. learningBOX is an e-learning program for first-time users.
• 4. summary

 

Fatigue with complex e-learning systems

Due to the effects of the spread of the new coronavirus, it has become very difficult to conduct regular classes. I'm sure that many of you were so busy dealing with the corona that you rushed to introduce e-learning. Parents and guardians may have also experienced a sudden change in their children's learning style from school to home, and their normal daily lives may have taken a dizzying turn.
 

▼ Points of difficulty in taking online classes
1. e-Learning is difficult to set up and use, and it's hard to remember the manual after work.
2. It is expensive to prepare and maintain the devices and internet environment necessary to take online classes.
It took a lot of patience to teach my child how to use it properly from scratch.

 

The Blind Spot of Online Learning as Seen from In-Home Learning

There was a scene where the class did not feel coherent because the PC screen froze or did not move due to students' intensive access.
I often found it difficult to concentrate on my studies because I was paying attention to the words and actions of the characters in the online classes.
There were times when I felt confused and anxious because I could not get the results or feedback after the online class was over.
There was a time lag between the teacher's response and the teacher's response, and there were times when communication was not good.

The online classes were not only tiring for the children, but also for me as a parent who was supporting them.
 

▼ Here are a few surveys related to online classes.

 
What kind of learning functions are you looking for in your home study?

 

▼ To briefly summarize the above two surveys
(1) It is difficult to set up the PC and prepare the tools for online classes.
(2) There are many difficulties in switching to online, such as the structure of the class content and the way it is conducted.
(3) Unlike at school, it is difficult to receive instruction from a professional teacher at home, so many families seek video content such as streaming lessons.

 

Challenges and Needs of Online Classes

▼ Based on the advantages and disadvantages of online classes, we will consider the issues of e-learning that are needed in the future.

Advantages of online classes
You can study at your own pace and at your own time ⇒ You can make effective use of your commuting time
2. Many people can take classes from top-notch instructors ⇒ No difference in instructors
Contributing to school education in remote islands and depopulated areas ⇒ Classes can be continued even in the event of unexpected natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes
 
Cons of online classes
Depending on the Internet environment, audio and video may be interrupted during the class ⇒ Different regions and people use different connections
2. Behavioral classes are difficult to conduct ⇒ Difficult to apply to classes with student participation such as music and physical education
Difficult to set up and operate e-learning ⇒ Many technical terms are used, and it is difficult to understand how to use and set up e-learning.
The price is high ⇒ The hurdle of online classes is high and people hesitate to use them even if they want to.

 

eLearning functions and services needed in the future

1. Easy to operate and designed for anyone to use

In order to implement online classes, an e-learning system that only a few administrators can touch should not be used. As the results of the survey show, if the system is too complicated to use and requires multiple readings of the manual, the motivation of administrators and learners will not continue.

2. Price setting that makes it easy to start e-learning

The Japanese government has been spending a large amount of money to improve the ICT environment in schools. The "GIGA School Initiative" proposed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has also been allocated more than 200 billion yen in the supplementary budget plan for 2020.

The report explains that in addition to hardware and software, it is necessary to accelerate the development of human resources in order to provide ICT-based learning opportunities. pricing that mitigates the image that introducing e-learning requires a large amount of money and expertise is important.
 

learningBOX is an e-learning program for first-time users.

Our e-learning system is designed to meet the above requirements with a focus on ease of use and low cost. Learning contents can be easily created from the creation form, and materials can be distributed according to the learner. You don't need to have any specialized knowledge to create e-learning, and there are plenty of educational materials to support the implementation.
 

Simple design and usage designed from the user's perspective

 

Gamification will motivate your kids!

Stamps that I collected during the radio gymnastics I did every morning during summer vacation when I was a child. The stickers you received for helping out at home. These are called gamification because they are similar to the elements of competing for points in a game, and have recently been attracting attention in the fields of education and human resource development. Seeing the results of your work as compensation for what you've done can motivate you, give you a sense of accomplishment, and bring out your competitive spirit, and learningBOX can do just that.

With learningBOX, you can also grant badges or "certificates" to learners who have passed the passing standard. These badges and certificates are a great way to motivate learners and keep them on track with their goals.

▼ Passing badges are awarded for completing the study material

 
The badge display feature allows you to set badges to be assigned for each teaching material (PDF, quiz, memorization card...etc) or folder. For more details, please see this article.
⇒About the badge setting function
 

▼ A certificate will be granted upon completion of the entire study course.

 
The learningBOX allows you to set constraints on the content you create. By setting this up, learners will not be able to move on until they have completed and passed the content. You can set prerequisites, such as requiring learners to solve the next question after passing a particular question, or granting them a certificate after passing an exam. For more information, please see this article.
⇒Create a course study
 

Lowest price in the industry of 30,000 yen per year even for 100 users

(*The prices shown in the figure are exclusive of tax.

The biggest feature of learningBOX is that it is the lowest price in the industry. The starter plan costs from 30,000 yen per year (plus tax) for 100 users, or 2500 yen per month. We also have a free plan that can be used for an unlimited period.

Starter Plan starting from 30,000 yen

The starter plan is suitable for distributing practice questions, online learning, and preparing for examinations and national examinations. The fee structure of learningBOX is based on a pay-as-you-go system in units of 100 users, and can be used by 100 users from 30,000 yen per year.

The Starter Plan is recommended for the following customers.
I want to reduce the cost of introducing online learning.
I want to use e-learning on a personal level. I want to try it.

Standard Plan for customers who mainly want to use video learning

The Standard Plan is suitable for video education. You can upload up to 500MB per teaching material file, making it the perfect plan for customers who are considering video-based education and training.

The Standard Plan is recommended for the following customers.
With the Standard Plan, I want to use a lot of video materials! We recommend this plan to customers who are mainly considering video learning. When using video materials, the quality of the image and sound of the video will have a large impact on the capacity.

You can learn more about learningBOX's starter/standard plan pricing structure in this article.
⇒About Pricing Plans
 

Summary

Japan's ICT education environment, which was tested during the Corona disaster, has created many challenges. The first point of contention seems to be how to break through the cost and technical barriers to the introduction of e-learning systems.

Despite the fact that learningBOX is the lowest price in the industry at 30,000 yen per year for 100 users, it is packed with a wide variety of features such as 15 types of teaching materials, 13 types of question formats, grade management, and message exchange with students. It's easy to use, even for the computer-challenged, and allows you to manage student progress, grades, and feedback to students. In addition, unlike e-Learning materials that are sold separately, you can easily create your own original materials according to the learning status, which will bring you closer to your students.

The learningBOX is a free plan for up to 10 users, including the administrator, with almost all functions available for free, except for the paid optional functions.

Reference: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology "Towards the Realization of the GIGA School Concept
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Electronic Edition, "How to Improve Self-Management Skills Essential for the New Normal Way of Working