[Vol.84] How Did We Take The Non-face-to-face Class?

Although COVID-19 caused tremendous confusion in various areas, humans surprisingly adapted and responded to it. In education, typically two types of classes, such as pre-recorded lectures and real-time video classes, are also applied. So how were the experiment/practical courses going? And is there a way to work properly in non-face-to-face situations? INDIGO interviewed students who took non-face-to-face experiments/practical classes during 2020-1 and professors who gave the lecture. Through this interview, we could think about what kind of education must be prepared for the post-corona era.

Let's listen to the student’s opinion first. To find out the vivid opinions about non-face-to-face learning, INDIGO interviewed two students: undergraduates in KAIST's Department of Life Science and KNUE’s Department of Music Education.

Interview1

Kang Chan Hee, junior | KAIST Life Sciences Department

 Q1. Which experiment class did you take in non-face-to-face?

A1. I took an ‘Experiment of Cell Biology” in the 2020-1 semester. The class was conducted online for six weeks and did face-to-face experiments for two weeks.

Q2. What was the most difficult part?

A2. Learning experiments online was INSUFFICIENT. In online classes, I missed a lot during an experiment. Also, I hardly get tips for sophisticated control in experiments or know-how from assistants. Fortunately, I was able to do some of these things through face-to-face experiments for 2 weeks.

Q2-1. It’s not easy to comprehend the difficulty for those who have never experimented. Can you give us a more specific example?

A2-1. I can show you some tips for a more effective experiment: ‘Before using reagents, apply vortex mixer and pipetting. After mixing the reagent and sample, you need to pipet. Be careful not to get bubbles when pipetting because bubbles can affect the test results.’  While the non-face-to-face class focused on simple protocols and principles of experimentation, I couldn't get tips that were directly related to the experiment like that. In short, interactive-communication through zoom was not possible. Even she/he asks me to ask her/him a question at the end, I just leave the class saying ”I’ll just find out the answer on my own..." It was a delay in zoom-communication that made it hard to communicate promptly. 

Q3. Is there anything you want in a non-face-to-face class? 

A3. I’d like to have a short but in-depth face-to-face class with a smaller number of people. If I take an experiment class online once a week, it's hard to communicate with each other and concentrate on it. So when the end of the semester comes, I forget all the previous experiments. However, if a face-to-face experiment is conducted even for a short period, I can concentrate entirely on it and remember the contents relatively well after class.

Interview2

Park Jung Woo, sophomore |  KNUE Music Education Department

 Q1. Which experiment class did you take in non-face-to-face?

A1. I took a Studio Lesson, Theory of Korean Music Songs, Concert Choir, and Keyboard Harmony in the 2020-1 semester.

Q2. What was the most difficult part?  

A2. In the real-time video lecture, the most uncomfortable thing was that there was a time difference and unstable connection in zoom. For example, the Theory of Korean Music Songs is a lecture that gives diverse information on Korean traditional folk songs. The professor explained the basic theory and background and sang a verse of the folk song, then the students turned on the microphone and sang along. If it was a face-to-face lecture, it would have been an efficient way for all students to follow the class easily. But it was not good in the non-face-to-face lecture. Because all students did not attend the lecture in the same environment, some students couldn't hear the professor's songs exactly. And some students had difficulty understanding the contents of the class due to an unstable connection. Also, it was impossible for a lot of students to sing together at the same time. So each student ended up receiving personal singing lessons.

Q3. Is there anything you want in a non-face-to-face class?

A3. Use pre-recorded video well. Watch the recording lecture, personally practice practical skills. And then film or record and send it to the professor, receive individual feedback. Using this way, if I can’t understand something during a recording class, I can repeat it or stop the video and practice it until I get used to it. The practical skill classes conducted by recording lectures were the most helpful for me to improve my skills. Another way is a 1:1 video call. Unlike the group real-time class, the professor and the student could wait for each other enough in the 1:1 video class. Although the class progressed slower than when it was a face-to-face class, I could experience “몸은 멀리 마음은 가까이”.
 

In the above interview, students cited poor concentration and delay in zoom as the biggest obstacles. Therefore, if professors positively apply to the classes that students have evaluated positively, such as "conducting short but in-depth face-to-face classes with a reduced number of people" or "using a pre-recorded lecture and 1:1 video call," we can expect that the experiment/practice education will be carried out smoothly in the non-face-to-face class situation. Also, network problems should be solved as soon as possible. To confirm the school’s response, INDIGO interviewed Kim Soo-Hyun, an assistant at the Education Information Center of KNUE. “The school tries to minimize the inconvenience of access by analyzing and developing Cheongram Cyber Development Company’s logs by using the connection log API provided by Zoom or renting an external cloud (CDN).” He also advised that Zoom is more stable in cable than wireless because it is based on the cloud rather than traffic. They haven’t known the network's unstable connection has been the biggest inconvenience, so they will check it in more detail through the survey soon.

Then what was the difficulty for the professors? INDIGO interviewed Professor Ko Young Shin, who teaches music at the Korea National University of Education, to hear about the difficulties in teaching subjects that encompass theory and practical skills and what preliminary teachers should prepare for the future.

INTERVIEW

Prof. Ko Young Shin | KNUE Music Education Department

Q1. What classes did you have during the non-face-to-face period?

A1. Music Theory, Practice of Harmony, Theory and Practice of Western Music

Q1-1. Tell me about your experience of trying for a better class.

A1-1. I will answer as an educator who always thinks about how each student can find meaning and create value in understanding theory through the class.

Music Theory | It has been my long-standing goal to break the stereotype that 'music theory subjects are not fun memorizing subjects'. Last semester, I organized the contents of the lecture by considering three things for fun and informative lectures. 1) I utilized music playing video, a piece of music, and learning tools as effectively as possible. 2) Classes were organized by combining with other subjects (mathematics, physics, etc.) and recorded applying theory or demonstrated various teaching activities. 3) I made students develop skills as a preliminary teacher by giving the task that should be applied with the contents of the music textbook.

Practice of Harmony | I improved the satisfaction of the class by combining what we learned in theory with the performance&analysis of actual music. And I provided a practical problem-solving course and individual feedback. To add music into daily life, I also gave the assignment to analyze the harmony of popular songs and organize them into the four-voice part. By inducing them to select songs of music textbooks, I made them strengthen the on-site class capability as a preliminary teacher. Also, I spent a lot of time collecting teaching materials related to the subject and planning the classes. I speeded up my speaking to transfer as much knowledge as possible and tried to avoid monotony in a certain tone by adjusting the height or intensity of the voice. In the beginning, it was awkward to lecture watching the monitor in the lab alone so I used a lot of dry language expressions. But I became more and more familiar with it, I could teach naturally without awkwardness. I felt like I became an actor while making pre-recorded lectures.

Q2. What is the biggest inconvenience in non-face-to-face practical classes? (For the reader's understanding, please compare to face-to-face classes.)

A2. Music classes should consist of definitional, cognitive, and emotional class activities. But due to the limit of video lectures, the lecture was centered on knowledge content delivery. In face-to-face classes, students listen to music, feel it, think, understand it, be touched, love it, and ultimately have little difficulty understanding it. But as I said before, the non-face-to-face class (pre-recorded lecture) is a teacher-centered knowledge transfer class, so there are some inconveniences.

In music education, it is important to empathize and feel touched between professors and learners directly. Therefore, it was difficult to convey the professor's feelings or explain detailed musical expressions with just a monitor, and there was a limit to emotional education without understanding the students' musical reactions or interests. This situation is similar to the situation that when you watch a concert at a professional concert hall, you will feel the expressions, emotions, and passion of the conductor and the performers through the air, but if you watch the concert on TV at home, the intensity of the live concert is less than that of the concert.

Also, to satisfy learners, there are too many things to consider. In the case of music classes, various video contents are often used to help understand the theory. But when producing online lectures by using YouTube videos, it was difficult to use them due to copyright problems. Even if other teaching materials such as literature or papers were used, it took a lot of time to edit them adjusting to the format of the video lecture. The expansion of equipment and materials was also one of the biggest burdens. Because learning can be heavily affected by problems in sound and video quality.

Finally, there are many differences between the factors that affected students’ choice to become a music teacher. I believe customized education can be embodied through approaches based on this, but it was difficult to even grasp it in non-face-to-face classes. Only when I understand the needs of each student for the class, I could arouse their sympathy persuasively. But it was difficult in a non-face-to-face situation. 

Q3. What are the parts that experimenters/practical educators should prepare for in the post-corona era?

A3. If the non-face-to-face situation continues due to COVID-19, as a future music teacher who feels happy through music classes, I think we should find new ways to communicate with students. Face-to-face practical classes are still the best way to teach music classes as an emotional education that enhances musical ability and develops rich emotions, but I think it is necessary to prepare for the next three things if you take classes in non-face-to-face situations. First, improving the classroom environment as similar as possible to the face-to-face class situation. If classes are conducted through the expansion of equipment such as virtual reality (VR), we could make up for the shortcomings of non-face-to-face classes. Also, if we expand sound equipment (microphone, music player, musical instrument, etc.) with good quality, we will be able to implement practical classes in face-to-face situations similarly. Second, we should secure high-quality pre-recorded practical lectures, reconstruct them according to individual students, and use them as teaching materials. If you produce many types of various practical classes and show them to students, you will be able to approach customized classes for each student. Third, establishing an online form that allows checking student’s practical skills at all times is needed. After the professor's practical course guidance, students can compare and observe how their practical skills will be improved by loading and reloading the practical results online. In the case of ensemble classes, it will be important to give students a musical accomplishment with the results of classes.

We could find out the difficulties that professors faced when delivering the knowledge and the problems that teachers have to think about at least once in the changing modern society. Virtual Reality(VR) is most interesting. Rather than feeling threatened by the development of technology, I hope it becomes the starting point for more positive exchanges by applying.

Society changes whether we want or not. It won't be easy to make new changes at this time. But if we think positively and consistently challenge it for a better tomorrow, won't we find ourselves better adapted to the new environment? Progressive educational attempts and complementary discussions between educators and learners are more important than ever. Also, support and research by educational institutions have to go together for improvement. If trust between students and professors is formed based on stable administration, we hope that the true value of education,  which shines in the face of difficulties will be realized.