On April 23^rd, non-face-to-face class for the entire 1^st semester of 2020 at Chung-Ang University was decided. With the decision for online lectures for the first semester confirmed, Chung-Ang University took various measures, including applying absolute evaluation of grades for all classes, autonomy for each class to conduct mid-term exams online, support for non-face-to-face classes for disabled students, and to provide quality non-face-to-face classes to all students. But one problem remains unsolved and still haunts students. It is the absence of communication. With online lectures extended throughout the entire semester, students are not able to face their professors and classmates directly. Most of all, they needed quick means of communication with each other. However, there seems to be no efficient means of communication yet in the unexpected COVID-19 Pandemic situation. Let's look at some difficulties Chung-Ang University students face due to lack of communication and how to solve them.

Difficulties We Face

Communication with Professors

As mentioned earlier, the lack of face-to-face lecture for the first semester has been confirmed, resulting in many changes in academic schedules and evaluation methods. Of course, in the case of the ‘Absolute Grading’, it is clear that all lectures should follow this principle set by the school. However, the rate of grade evaluation and revision of lecture plans are at the discretion of professors. Each classes syllabus includes the lecture schedule and explanation of evaluations. Therefore, if professors do not make a proper announcement or give a word in advance during the lecture, students will face a very confusing situation. Students want to overcome such difficulties through quick and smooth communication with professors, but in fact, this is difficult.

In fact, a syllabus for a major course in Chung-Ang University's College of Humanities says, "This class will replace the midterm exam with five occasional evaluations." According to the section on how to evaluate the subject, five occasional tests account for 30 percent of the total evaluation rate. If you look at the schedule below it, the first test will take place on the fourth week of the course. However, even by the third week, the professor of the subject never mentioned the occasional assessment in the lecture video she uploaded to e-class. A student who took the course was able to get an answer to the question by contacting the professor directly because the professor did not post the notice until the sixth week. It is very different from the past when we could sit face to face in the classroom and exchange questions and answers on the spot.

Communication with Classmates

Communication between classmates is as important as communication with professors. In many cases, classmates often must complete group projects that have not been completed within a set time through online Zoom classes. If they fail to prepare together before the next class, the schedule of the whole lecture will be disrupted in real-time Zoom classes. However, if they don't know each other's contact information, or if they can't reach each other, there's no solution, so students are just at a loss. Especially when taking a course in liberal arts, not in a major subject, contact with classmates in other departments is even more difficult. It is a big challenge to exchange numbers with each other, and often never even have the opportunity to exchange numbers. It is difficult to keep in touch with classmates who have not even seen each other. As a result, the progress rate of tasks that must be carried out together is bound to be low. The efficiency of the work is reduced.

Why Do We Have So Much Difficulties to Communicate?

Do They Reply to Students?

Some professors at Chung-Ang University are not responding to students' questions. Professors who teach at real-time Zoom lectures let students ask questions and hear answers right before the class begins, or right after the class is over. However, for professors who record online lectures and post them on e-class, students cannot ask questions about the details of the lectures on time. In response, students are asked to share their questions and suggestions through their personal cell phone numbers and e-mails. Most professors reply within at least two days. They are trying to understand the inconvenience that students cannot meet the professor in person and solve their questions and help them. On the contrary, some professors do not reply. Saying hello and asking questions to the professor is a big burden to students as well. Therefore, if we don't get a reply, we won't be able to get answers to our questions, and we feel at a loss about how to solve future issues.

We Don’t Use the Prepared Systems on E-Class and We Don’t Always Use the Same Messenger

Chung-Ang University e-class already offers numerous communication spaces. Examples include discussion rooms, inquiry boards, and message functions. Some professors use open bulletin board functions provided by e-class to provide opportunities for students to freely share their opinions. However, there are relatively few professors who use these functions. As a result, students will be contacted via their personal SNS or mobile phones. In the end, different messengers will be used, which will cause more communication problems. ‘Kakao Talk’ is probably the most popular messenger in modern Korean society. However, the idea that everyone has a Kakao Talk account is a big miscalculation. Some students don't even use smartphones and others use messenger apps other than Kakao Talk. In such cases, there is no way for them to contact each other unless they exchange phone numbers. Also, if it becomes difficult to participate in team projects, it is likely to be disadvantageous to students' individual learning performance.

How Can We Communicate Better?

Chung-Ang University uses its school portal ID and password to grant school-specific e-mail addresses to all students. Most professors also use e-mail provided by the school. In fact, many professors put their school e-mail addresses in their contact information and communicate with students through them. However, young students often use popular e-mail forms such as Gmail, Naver, or Daum rather than the e-mail provided by school. In such cases, students will not be able to receive emails on time that contain important information from professors, which could eventually adversely affect the course's performance evaluation. Both professors and students using school e-mail exclusively on matters related to school work will narrow down the communication problems mentioned above. It is simple to use the e-mail provided by the school. If you use a smartphone, you can download an application called ‘Microsoft Outlook’ to receive and send mails from your school e-mail address. If you are using a computer, you can use the Chung-Ang University portal site. If you access the portal site, there is a "major service" compartment and an "E-mail" icon is inside it. Simply click on the icon and it will lead you directly to the email form provided by the school. In addition, if we activate the message function provided by Chung-Ang University e-class, we can look for faster communication between professors and classmates.

In this unexpected situation of the COVID-19 Pandemic, our daily lives had to undergo many changes, almost overnight. Chung-Ang University also has mentioned that it would tighten regulations to solve communication problems, but the actual results do not seem to be good. Since the entire online lecture for the first semester has been confirmed, CAH hopes that both professors and students do their best in their positions to ensure that there is no more inconvenience in communicating.