ICT & Education

last Friday 29th January 2010 I visited with Dr Takahashi Meguro Chuo Junior High school in Tokyo which organized a study day on ICT and its impact on teaching and learning.The school is amazingly beautiful building with all educational facilities,The study day started at 1pm.After reception we start observing classes including mostly all subjects:ICT ,mathematics,social studies ,art,science,English,Japanese,music…In all subjects teachers use ICTs in lessons building, in preparation, during lesson and in evaluation.Document cameras, projectors, personal computers, white boards and flash cards were mostly and effectively used .after class observation there were some speeches on the importance of the event and explanation of the program. After that there were group discussions based on subjects .I joined English group .English teachers explaind through ppt presentations how they prepare their lessons and how ICT helps them making their classes more understandable and attractive.
If you visit Meguro Chuo Junior High School, you will notice that each subject has its own office and corner where same subject teachers can meet to prepare classes and facilitate communication between students and teachers,and that classrooms'walls are white boards on which teachers and students can write.innovative idea,isn't it?

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10 Days Report

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On Monday 18th of January i visited with Dr Takahashi Toyama city educational center and prefectural training center.
Toyama city educational center was previously an elementary school which closed its doors due to limited number of of elementary students because of the dramatic decrease in the child birth rate,and changed into educational center which provides ICT training and support for teachers. kunika sensei is the head of teacher training in the center.One of her major work is to visit schools and open teacher training,consulting ICT education ,e safety,technology morale ..with the help of a system engineer and other staff.
The next destination was city hall education board department,we couldn't have a chance to interview any of the staff as every one was busy and we didn't have an appointment before.The education board is so active, well organized and all staff concentrate on their work.Then we headed toward prefectural training center where Dr Takahashi serves as a visiting professor.This center is well equipped and has a number of rooms for training purposes with high tech equipment.It also provides web sites and mails servers for all toyama schools.
Though Dr takahashi was busy ,he spent all mornining with me ,Thank you Dr Takahashi

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On Monday 21s December,I visited Takefu daisan junior high school with Dr Takahashi.This school is located in Fukui whose schools are known for their high academic achievements all around japan.The school provided enough school data and researches.We met famous Professors there.After a warm welcome from The school Principal and other staff,we observed 3 classes:Mathematics,Japanese and English.In all classes,teachers used Documents cameras to make the lesson more interesting,attractive and understandable.After that there was discussion with teachers on how to improve teaching methods.School lunch in this school is really special:a cantine where both students and teachers can use, they choose what to eat ,healthy cheap food(280￥）,they sit down and eat.Good,isn't it?
On the way back we Visited Kanazawa university,a big beautiful university in mountain area, there was too much snow but we enjoyed it a lot.

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Last day program was visiting UCHIDA Campany which is establishing a strong position as one of Japan's leading companies in the school and educational market.Some of UCHIDA's major products are office furniture and educational equipments.
Mr Shimizu, Mr Yamada And Ms Kato thankfully introduced me to different sections.
Uchida Yoko is involved in a wide range of activities that promote ICT education such as:
-Promotion of new educational environments.
-Promotion of science and language education.
-Developments of new types of schools.
-Digital educational contents.

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Today's morning we visited Yotsuya Elementary school,four members from ELMO company and other university students joined.Yotsuya Elementary school is located in a limited space,but is composed of many floors.The educational environment is so beautiful and the school is well equipped with almost every thing a teacher may need to guarantee a better learning and student motivation.After a warm welcome from Mr principal and other staff,We observed different classes:Music,science,art,social studies and mathematics.teachers used ICT to Make their lesson more dynamic and live.students interacted well and take part in lesson building.In the afternoon Dr Horita lectured about The importance of appropriate use of ICT to improve academic achievement of students.
As for lunch we had a delicious school lunch with 6 graders.I enjoyed it a lot!

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Today i attended Dr Horita's tuesday class at 1:00.Ms Sakurada,director of NHK education, was the guest speaker today.Her speech was divided into 2 parts ,the first part was about How NHK programs can be an effective teaching materials,social studies as an example.The conveyed message was Local production for local consumption.The second part was about how to produce an educational program from the starting point to the final stage.The lecture was for Dr Horita's students.
Ms Sakurada thankfully translated the presentation for me and explained the two parts so that i can catch up with the other students.
After that, i attended Prof Shimizu's class on how to use mobile in media education.Students were preparing for next week presentations.AT 5:20 we quitted the lab together.Dr Horita had another meeting.Ms sakurada thankfully Accompanied me to Maruzen book store,which is a huge one,to buy some books.
The day was so interesting for me and i am highly motivated.Dr Horita is really a motivation trigger.

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Today i visited CHIeru Tokyo head office .Mr Yamamura and Ms Lee thankfully picked me up from the hotel at 8:30.After a warm welcome from the president of CHIeru MR Kawai,Ms lee gave a presentation about CHIeru,the history,corporate facts and structure,oversee's product and selected customers in Japan,the next presentation was about CHIeru products especially Flash card teaching materials,the presentation was given by Ms Miyochi.The flash cards cover parts of elementary education curriculom and they are really just great! .The next destination was Sophia University where i got a full and clear image about Colabo EX which is a CHIeru product that allows language lab instruction in computer classrooms ,computer classroom management and record digital audio-video.Sophia university is so familiar with CALL system and students are interested in it.Prof.Ohtsuki thankfully explained How the system works in Sophia university.After that we had lunch in a Pakistanian Restaurant and we headed towards STEP head office.STEP stands for the society for testing English proficiency.IT is Japan's largest testing body and a leader in international education.After a warm welcome From STEP Members,Mr Hashizume introduced STEP to me ,the second presentation was about Japanese education system and STEP's strategy for English eduction by Mr Tanimoto,the next presentaion was about Jr.STEP test by Mr Nukui.I introduced Morocco education system ,then we started an open discussion regarding English education in Japan and Morocco.The next step was sightseeing,we went to Tokyo tower,we enjoyed night view and went for dinner.
Mr Yamamura and Ms Lee spent all day with me ,I really do thank them a lot and I appreciate their kindness and Interest.Thank you very much CHIeru

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I attended Virtual Horita Seminar(VHS)which is an every 2 months gathering of many teachers from around all Japan,this Seminar is an opportunity for university teachers ,board of education members ,business organizations and teachers who are interested in education topics and research in education to discuss about how to improve education and teaching methods using ICT.There were many presentations,class demonstrations and discussions.I was given an opportunity to talk about education system in Morocco and my opinion regarding elementary education in Japan.I met old Friends and made new ones ,that was perfect!
After we finished VHS we made one group:Yumiko san,Miyawaki san,Yamada san,Makiko san,Sasahara san, watanabe san and Suzuki san, we went to Asakusa which is known for its old-town atmosphere and historic traditional buildings,we enjoyed Sightseeing,talking,taking pictures and having dinner together.
I really appreciate their cheerfulness and kindness..Thank you very much Asakusa Group.

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In the afternoon,Dr Kasai thankfully showed me around Tamagawa University attached schools,we visited first elementary school,it was cleaning time,students were doing hard work to clean their school and,the aim is to teach them how to rely on themselves and take care of their school.Mr Ikeda explained the philosophy that direct Tamagawa University and thankfully answered my questions.After that visited science and art building where students are displaying their amazing work,5th and 6th graders were preparing for an open exhibition next week.The structure of education in tamagwa attached schools is quite different from the ordinary schools in japan.
The things that really attracted me alot is Tamagawa K-12 Multi Media Resources center(MMRC),a space where diverse learning styles coexist:
-Multi media theater
-Study corner
-Audio-visual corner and studios
-Periodicals corner
-Book area
-Picture book corner
-Media labs
-Atelier
As Dr Kasai explained to me,their vision is to inform students and teachers with effective use of media and information and their hope is that systematic use and understanding of media will help in building better information society.

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As usual we started the day early morning ,Mr Shimbo picked us up from hotel and we moved forward to Tonden Minami elementary school.We were warmly welcomed by Ms Principal Iwama and the other staff.I was surprised by the way classes start,some parents who serve as volunteers usually come at starting time and they are allowed 15 mn to do a kind of warming up to students like story retelling and some other simple activities,then we attended 5th grade English class taught by teacher Kambayashi.The aim of the lesson was to have students become familiar with "what's this?,"It's a~".Teacher Kambayashi was creative in the way she taught,many activities and games ,students interacted very well with her.She is professianal in teaching English for Japanese elementary students.After that came my turn, i taught 2nd graders,so lovely and cute students,i felt that they are my students and that i have been teaching them since a long time,then we headed toward Yamanote Minami Elementary school which lately was awarded a prestigious award for its good achievements and quality of education.After a tour around some classes we attended 6 th graders English class using Flash cards and another software Provided by ministry of education,It was so interesting,as there was not enough time we had school lunch together,Mr Shimbo again,always being kind,dropped us off at the station,we took the train to airport and we flew back to Tokyo.
The next activity was a meeting with Ms Sakurada From NHK education and young teachers ,this meeting is usaully held by teachers to ask advice from Dr Horita and disccuss problems they face in classroom.They are very motivated teachers.
We enjoyed dinner,talking to eachother,and exchange opinions and ideas.

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The 2nd day started early morning.We took the plane to Sapporo.After a warm welcome from the principal of Shinko Toni Midoli elementary school,we attended an open class:mathematics and social study.Teacher relied basically on the use of ICT to make lessons more understandable and attractive and it was so.Document camera,projector,PC and interactive white board were used in all stages from the beginning to the end,students interacted well and took part in lesson building.
We had school lunch together with students,it was a well balanced dish,full of nutritive elements:milk,salad ,curry ...
In the afternoon,Dr Horita lectured about ICT use and its effect on education,then we went to one Italian restaurant where we had a super delicious dinner with Mr Shimbo and Mr Nakagawa, principal of Shinko Toni Midoli elementary school,two vice principals and two teachers,there were so many discussions and we enjoyed it a lot.
I really appreciate their interest and kindness.

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The 1st day with Dr Horita started at 10 am .We headed toward Tamagawa University.IT took about one hour to reach there.Dr Horita introduced me to Mr Ochiai,the chief manager of research institute,then we had lunch at the university cantine.I attended Dr Horita's lecture on how to teach using ICT especitially Visuliser and digital content.The lecture was so interesting and informative. We went back to lab,Dr Horita explained the coming days'program ,then we went to the hotel,we checked in and left for ELMO company office,there we met ELMO company managing executive officer and executive assistant and other staff,Mr Hayashi and Ms Rannie guided us around the office and explained about new ELMO product which will be in the market next January.After that we went out for dinner,we discussed a lot about different topics such us:ELMO campany strategy in international market and ICT in Morocco.IT was really a busy day,in one word : I learned a lot.Thank you Dr Horita and Thank you ELMO.

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Gofuku elementary school is a public school located near Toyama university.I visited the school 3 times with Mr Takano,Mr Sugibayashi and Mr Shima to learn about the school organisation and teaching style.Following a request of Mrs principal ,i made a presentation about Morocco to 6 grade students in Japanese language,it was so interesting and funny .Students interacted well and asked so many question.

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Yamamuro tyubu elementary school is a public school known for its distinguished use of ICTs in Toyama prefecture and its active research manager ,also the school organizes many training programs for teachers inviting famous educators and researchers like Dr Hotita and Dr Takahashi to handle and discuss educational issues especially those related to ICTs.I visited the school with Dr Takahashi in different occasions,the last one was on the 13th to attend class demenstrations and panel discussion.

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On October 30-31th,i attended JAET school demonstration ,symposium and ICT expo.
ICT expo displayed the newest technology based teaching materials such as:BLuetooth pens,interactive TVs,visualisers..etc.The academic meeting discussed the better uses of ICTs by famous educators and researchers.Tagizono higashi elementary school hosted class demonstration where teachers use high technology instructional materials.

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On october 16th,i participated in a study visit to Yamanote Minami elementary school and Hokkaido University in Sapporo.This study visit was basically sponsored by Dr Horita and Dr Takahachi after a warm invitation from Mr shimbo,the principal of Yamanote minami elementary school.We visited clock tower and Hokkaido University.
In this study trip i learned a lot about elementary education in japan and the amazing history of Hokkaido University.
All Yamanote Minami teachers thank youuuu very much!

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The 25th annual conference of JSET was held in Tokyo university on 19-20-21 September 2009.I attended the conference with Dr Yamanichi,Prof Kuroda and Lab members.During 3 days there were so many presentations regarding the uses of ICTs in educational contexts and media education ,Many famous researchers and educators gave interesting presentations and approaches on the topic.The day before the conference we visited Tamagawa University attached elementary school.Dr Horita showed us around
the very well equipped private school.

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japan Tent is an annual homestay program sponsored by Japanese gov,300 international students gathered in Kanazawa to explore japanese culture closely.we spent one week the end of August 2009 full of activities and entertainment.we were surprised by how rich and diversified the culture of japan is and the extra kindness of our host families.

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I participated in a workshop on communication animated by Prof Kuroda in Tokyo.The work shop was to increase awarness of the importance of good communication among el teachers.a large number of elementary and junior high school teachers attended the workshop.I took part in the workshop as someone who couldn't understand neither Japanese nor English and the only way to communicate with him is body language.it was funny!!

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New education exp 2009,the biggest annual exposition in Japan organised by UCHIDA in Tokyo During 3 days 4-5-6/6,was an occasion to display the newest ICT related teaching and instructional materials,document cameras ,interactive TV ,interactive whiteboards,classroom equipments and so on,during he stay i visited NHK education section with Dr Takahachi and Ms Sakurada,principal program director who thankfully showed us different sections and studios and provided information regarding educational programs,how they work and the goals they tend to meet.
In one word ,It was really a good instructive study visit.

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