On Nov. 11, The Dean of the TKU College of Foreign Languages and Literature, Dr. Sung Mei-hwa, led a group of eight TKU teachers to Japan’s Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, where they took part in a jointly held conference on language distance education. The two universities have been conducting online teaching and exchange in Japanese for over two years. The conference aimed to discuss the addition of extra languages – to also include English, Spanish, French, and Chinese – and to decide on a format for future online classes.

The talks were productive. Starting from next semester, the range of languages offered will expand to include Japanese, English, Spanish, French, and Chinese. The technical aspects of providing online classes were also explored. Four separate tests were performed to ensure that the classrooms interconnected via the internet received information simultaneously, with no lag. Dr. Sung Mei-hwa explained that the areas tested were the classrooms, the camera angles, and seating arrangements. An informal discussion of results was held, in which it was decided that the classes would be conducted using webcam on Skype. As for the class format, after choosing a topic for discussion, students will use webcam to interact, and carry out debates and discussions, with a teacher sitting by to moderate and guide the process of interaction.