Since my discharge from the hospital at the end of March, I have been teaching classes and seminars remotely while doing rehabilitation to get used to life in a wheelchair at home.
A little over 20 years ago, I conducted a robot building workshop connecting children in Singapore and Japan using a videoconferencing system and a telephone line. I still remember the excitement I felt at that time of working together with people far away. I am grateful every day that remote classes and workshops, which would not have been possible without expensive videoconferencing systems and surprising phone charges (especially for international calls), can now be realized with an Internet connection, a computer, and in some cases, a smartphone.
In addition to lecturing on a screen, I am daily rediscovering what I can do online as well, such as having a tablet carried to me during group work, allowing me to participate in discussions together, secretly listening to what is being said, or having an assistant move around with the tablet while I give desk-to-desk instruction. I am rediscovering what I can do online. Of course, none of this would be possible without the assistants who help me in class and the students who actively participate in remote teaching. I am also grateful for the fact that the distribution and collection of materials and assignments can be carried out smoothly online, thanks to the one-to-one information terminals such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, as well as the class support system.
I try to use many objects in class. By using my hands, I hope not only to induce learning through students’ activities and cooperation with others, but also to make the classes themselves, which are conducted remotely, feel closer and more familiar to the students through the use of objects.
But this is still only something that can be done online. We would like to continue to take advantage of this opportunity to challenge ourselves to achieve what is possible because of real-time online classes.