Communication Professor Randy Hirokawa sees online teaching not as a pandemic glitch, but as the future
Even when the university goes back to face-to-face classes, Professor Hirokawa is going to give his students the option of attending class via online platforms because he believes it’s much more convenient for them.
By Kiaria Zoi Nakamura/UH Hilo Stories.
With classes moved to an online format during the pandemic, a communication professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo greatly misses the face-to-face contact with students that helps build relationships and trust.
But Randy Hirokawa, who, in his research, contributed to the development of a theory called the “functional perspective” identified as one of the three most influential theories of small group communication, also sees a lot of benefit to moving classes online.
For one, as the professor of one of the largest classes in the humanities division averaging a total of 60 to 80 students, Hirokawa sees an increase in student attendance.
“Many of my students work and a number have full time jobs,” Hirokawa explains. “With face-to-face classes, they have to arrange to get off work to come to class.” However with Zoom, he says, students just tell their employer that they need some time off to attend class online from their workplace.
Hirokawa goes on to say, “Likewise, many students live off campus, many far out in places like Puna, and they have to arrange for transportation to come to campus to attend face-to-face classes.” With online instruction, he notices, more students can attend class without having to worry about arranging for a ride into town.
And in addressing the stresses of parenthood while attending the university, Hirokawa says, “Many students have children at home. If they had to attend class on campus, they would have to arrange for childcare. But with online classes. they can attend class from home with their children.”
“Honestly,” he says, “even when we go back to face-to-face classes, I am going to give students the option of attending class via Zoom because I know it is so much more convenient for them.”
Many hats
Describing Hirokawa as “experienced” would be a severe understatement; he wears many hats at the university. He arrived at UH Hilo in 2005 to be dean of the UH Hilo College of Arts and Sciences. He then switched over to teaching full time at the Department of Communication in 2016.
When he’s not teaching classes like introduction to theories of communication or small group communication, he can be found working as head of the budget committee at the faculty congress, or as faculty representative at Vulcan Athletics, or as the coordinator of the chancellor’s scholarship program, or as the faculty advisor for the UH Hilo Student Association, or as director of the Health Professions Student Center.
With decades of teaching experience under his belt, along with his background in administrative leadership, it should come as no surprise that Hirokawa is making a smooth transition to distance learning.
“Honestly, it was a seamless, very easy transition for me from face-to-face teaching to online teaching,” he says. “My teaching style fits both settings.”
Seamless transition to online teaching
Hirokawa’s courses have remained the same as pre-pandemic. But now, all his lectures are recorded and posted in advance of classes.
“We first listen to the recorded lecture,” he says of the online class time. “Then I stop the lecture at strategic places to elaborate on concepts that I think require more details, or more examples. This also gives students a chance to ask questions to clarify their understanding of the class content.”
This methodology has not only produced favorable results, but it is also appreciated by students. In an anonymous survey in which students were asked last spring to evaluate their educators’ conversion to online classes, Hirokawa was noted as adeptly using Laulima, the longtime online teaching platform of the UH System, to deliver courses by maximizing the tools of recording his lecture and posting the notes of the lecture each week.
“Because of his baseline use of laulima, Dr. Hirokawa made the transition to online effortless for the students and a great experience!” notes a student in the survey. “He shows dedication to the student by doing this and makes me, as a student, want to work harder because of his effort.”
With so many rapid changes to school throughout the world in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is quite the impressive feat that Hirokawa has been able to keep such consistency between his classes. He explains the reason: “I haven’t made any big changes to my courses since going online. The main difference is that we now meet in a virtual classroom instead of a physical one.”
The communication professor notes there can be glitches with online technology that impact accessibility, for example internet connectivity. “One problem is that not all students have access to a stable internet and a computer,” Hirokawa says. “This can present major problems when they try to log into Zoom, or when they take their exam and get disconnected before they finish.” But now there are built-in contingency plans in case that happens. “I call them ʻcatch-up days’ where we can go over a class if it was interrupted by technology breakdowns,” Hirokawa explains.
Professor of Communication Hirokawa is a prime example of what happens when expertise meets dedication. He believes, “The question is not what students should do to stay motivated, but what should we, as faculty, do to help students stay engaged and motivated?”
To answer this question, Hirokawa says, “We have to adjust our pedagogy, and maybe even our teaching style, to be more engaging. We have to come up with activities and exercises that students can do at home that keep them interested in the course. And most importantly, we have to show them we care for their education and their success. If they know we care, they will care too, and stay motivated.”
Story by Kiaria Zoi Nakamura, who is earning a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in performing arts and a certificate in educational studies at UH Hilo.
