The purpose of this research paper is to report the following three research areas: (1) various class formats for online classes and their characteristics, (2) trends in the promotion of the university education DX business concept in Japan, and (3) a case study on online group work exercises.

In Japanese higher education, in addition to general lecture subjects, group work exercises and project-based learning (PBL), active learning (AL), experimental, and practical training subjects have typically been conducted in face-to-face classes. In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19, it become no longer possible to conduct face-to-face classes, and it was necessary to urgently introduce online classes, including on-demand, real, and hybrid types of classes.

As part of the measures for the post-coronavirus era from 2021, leading universities in Japan started working on their own education DX business concept as a trigger for a public offering subsidy under the Digital Utilization Education Advancement Project by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.

As a case study, new educational methods that combined both PBL and AL subjects were developed to accommodate online group work exercises so that they could flexibly respond to the new normal era as a countermeasure against COVID-19 in 2020.