Eighty On-Demand lectures are open to Waseda Students!

What is an On-Demand lecture? You can take an On-Demand lecture if your personal computer is connected to the Internet. Compared with the ordinary lectures, On-Demand lectures have the following features. You can take lectures "at any time" and "at any place". You can repeatedly watch the contents of a lecture. You can gain a better understanding of a lecture if you use the Bulletin Board System (BBS).

On-Demand lectures: A new type of education

By means of modern digital telecommunications, students can attend lectures at any place. The University have been engaged in the development of remote education using this technology. Those who live far away from the University, and those who are too busy to attend lectures, can now enjoy a high quality university education. In April 2002, the University established the "Distance Learning Centre". This Centre meets the demands of various categories of students, including part-time students, as well as supporting the Cross-Cultural Distance Learning (CCDL) programme.

Improvement of lectures:

On-Demand lectures use the BBS extensively as a means of facilitating academic interchange between students and the lecturer. The lecturers prepare study materials for On-Demand lectures more carefully than usual. It is certain that On-Demand lectures will contribute to the improvement of university education. By using the BBS, some lecturers organise a sort of homeroom time and a student can discuss his or her work with other students. In some On-Demand lectures, assistants such as "mentors" or "educational coaches" provide active support to students who might feel isolated.

A typical example of On-demand lectures: Distance learning courses operated by the School of Human Sciences

Since April 2003, the School of Human Sciences has started new distance learning courses (the "e-school") in which On-Demand lectures are fully utilised. Today, recurrent education and lifelong learning have a greater importance. Most significantly, people whose opportunities for study have been restricted by time and place can now participate in university study and research. Part-time students are the largest group in the "e-school" and housewives are the second largest. Compared with ordinary educational courses offered by correspondence, the "e-school" has very few dropouts (less than 5 per cent of all the "e-school" matriculates). This fact shows the merit of the On-demand lectures provided by the University. A bright future is predicted for "e-learning".
As a further advantage, the University has co-operated with foreign universities and organised such intercollegiate lectures and seminars as "Peaceful Coexistence of the Asian People".
Why not join a course offered by On-Demand lectures now?

A Comparison between On-Demand Lectures and Ordinary Lectures
(based on the survey of the Student Life at Waseda 2003)

The questionnairing was conducted on 2,337 full-time students who attended On-Demand lectures. 765 students (32.7%) answered.