Photo/Illutration The Waseda University campus in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tokyo’s Waseda University decided to fail around 100 students in its School of Commerce for taking a shortcut in an online course by playing video lectures at home simultaneously instead of one by one.

According to sources with ties to the esteemed institution, “problematic behavior” was identified among students who took an introductory course on business law, a required subject offered by the School of Commerce, in the fall semester of fiscal 2021, which ends in March.

The course was offered online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students were required to watch a series of lecture videos posted on a portal site within an assigned timetable to get course credits.

An instructor checked the history of videos replayed ahead of a fall semester exam, which was scheduled in February, and found that more than 100 students, or about half of those registered in the course, played multiple videos simultaneously, according to the sources.

A male freshman who took the course told The Asahi Shimbun that he played videos at the same time because he suddenly realized a day before the deadline he still had more than 30 to go.

“I wanted to get them out of the way in the shortest possible time,” he explained.

The student accomplished this by opening five internet browsers on a laptop computer and letting the videos play through to the end.

“I watched a video with earnestness in the first class, but then decided it would be more effective for me to read course materials and study on my own,” he said.

The student said that he and his cohorts made no secret of what they did.

“We did it out in the open,” he said. “But now I’ve come to think we were completely wrong and I regret it.”

The School of Commerce said the course instructor notified all of the students taking the course that those who watched multiple videos simultaneously will fail the course.

“In the past, we coped cheating and other issues in a rigorous manner,” the School of Commerce said. “We had sought to promote awareness and implemented measures to prevent such acts from occurring. Clearly, we will have to continue taking similar measures and perhaps further action, if necessary.”

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