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Education

Japanese uni embraces mobile learning

By Kelly Ng | 9 March 2010

Mobile learning has gained popularity among Japanese students at the Keio University. Fumitoshi Kato, Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, explained to FutureGov how social networking and new media tools have enhanced the learning experience.

In the last six years, Kato has organised three-day camps in 11 prefectures. During these camps, students collaborated using social networking tools such as Twitter, and worked with mobile gadgets like cameras, mobile phones, and video cameras.

“Taking them out of the campus creates an environment in which they can reflect on things commonly taken for granted in learning,” said Kato.

Last summer, 20 students spent a weekend at Ieshima, one of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Equipped with the mobile gadgets, students combed the area, interviewing the local community and taking photographs and videos.

“Students had to work in groups of two. During field work, the ten groups were scattered across the island. So they used Twitter as a real-time communication platform to get status or location updates on one another,” he described.

With support from the local government, the field research aimed to highlight the strengths of the community and explore how the local economy could be revitalised.

The data collected was immediately used to create digital media content, such as movie clips, podcasts, posters and postcards. “Students set up an instant gallery in a public space, showcasing the findings of their research,” Kato explained. “Posters would capture a boat repair man who had serviced 1500 boats or a fisherman who had been out at sea for a total of 17,000 days.”

Learning continued after students returned. In Japan, there are social networking sites – much like Facebook – but catered for specific regions. This facilitates the exchange of local information within that regional network.

“After students were informed that they were going to Kanagawa, all of them joined the Kanagawa prefecture social network online. And after the camp, students posted photos, videos and information on the site to share and collaborate,” he elaborated.

While Kato has not done any quantitative study on the impact or effectiveness of camp learning, he observed qualitative improvements in his students. “I had the opportunity to monitor how students perform in activities post-camp. I have seen improvement in confidence and communication skills in their email exchanges, class presentations and interaction with others,” noted Kato.

Camp learning has proven to be popular among the students. As the camp does not fall within the university curriculum, the majority of students would take up vacation jobs to fund themselves for the camp, which on average costs 20,000 yen (US$220).

Kato plans to expand the programme further, targeting to visit all 47 prefectures by 2021. He is also exploring how this learning experience can be further expanded by collaborating with overseas universities.

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