For children living in the Society 5.0 era, effective utilization of advanced technologies, with ICT as the platform, is required in education. On the other hand, the current development in the ICT environment of schools is significantly lagging behind that of society, and there is a big gap among local governments. An information gap leads to an economic gap, which consequently gives rise to a gap in academic ability, which causes an information gap. This vicious circle must be corrected. In addition, the closure of schools as a measure against the novel coronavirus infection has increased the need to connect families with schools for learning. For children across Japan to have equal access to education, uniform development in the ICT environment throughout Japan has become an urgent need for the standard vision of schools in the Reiwa Era.
To this end, MEXT is promoting initiatives to sustainably achieve fair and personalized optimal learning at schools throughout Japan without leaving behind any of the diverse children through development of online learning environment at homes for times of emergency, promotion of cloud utilization, construction of a system for maintenance and procurement of ICT equipment, dissemination of good practices in the use of ICT, and enhancement of the PDCA cycle for the use of ICT, in addition to the integrated provision of 1 device for 1 student and high-speed, large-capacity communication network, in parallel.
In this Special Feature, Section 1 is about the current situation surrounding ICT utilization for education, including the current state of the ICT environment of schools and the government policies on ICT utilization for education, followed by Section 2, which introduces policies on the ICT utilization for education, and Section 3, which introduces future direction and examples of initiatives by local governments.

Section I Current Situation Surrounding the ICT Utilization for Education

With the advent of the Society 5.0 era, society is undergoing a major change. It is no longer unusual for children who are the bearers of this new era to use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in their daily lives. ICT has become the standard for the new era. As we enter such a society, it is indispensable to promote ICT utilization for education as soon as possible so that each student can fully utilize ICT for learning.

1 Current state of the ICT environment and its utilization in schools

(1) Current state of ICT environment of schools

Local governments were given regional finance support worth 180.5 billion yen in a single fiscal year for the ICT environment in schools, following the “Five-Year Plan for the Environmental Improvement for ICT Utilization for Education (FY 2018-FY 2022)”. MEXT has been implementing initiatives toward active utilization of the regional finance support given to local governments, such as introducing examples of local governments progressively working on the ICT utilization in schools and representing the development status by municipality graphically on maps in an easy-to-understand manner.
However, according to the “Survey on the Actual Condition of the ICT Utilization for Education in 2018” conducted by MEXT, the national average for the number of computers provided to learners was 1 device per 5.4 students as of March 2019 (1 device per 5.6 students in the previous fiscal year), as against the target of 1 device per 3 students set forth in the Third Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education. Also, there is a wide variation in the initiatives taken by local governments, leading to differences in the environment of schools that children commute to, e.g., in prefectures, the number of computers provided ranges from the highest of 1 device per 1.9 students to the lowest of 1 device per 7.5 students, with the difference becoming even larger for municipalities.

(2) Current state of ICT utilization in education

Under the “Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)” conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in FY2018, a student survey on ICT utilization was also conducted in the participating countries. The survey results showed that the percentage of students who frequently use the Internet outside of school for chatting and gaming exceeded the OECD average, while the frequency of using computers to do homework was the lowest among the OECD member countries.
Similarly, according to the results of the “Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)” conducted by OECD in 2018 focusing on teachers, not even 20% of teachers in Japanese schools make students use ICT in their tasks and class activities, which is at the lowest level among 48 countries who participated in the TALIS.
From these results, it is evident that the awareness about ICT utilization for learning is extremely low among students and schools in Japan, in other words, in society as a whole. Consequently, the utilization of ICT, especially in schools, has fallen significantly behind the rest of the world.






 

2 Trends in ICT utilization for education in schools

(1) Act on the Promotion of the ICT Utilization for School Education

This significant delay in the ICT utilization in Japanese schools was recognized as a major issue even by the Diet, which established the Diet Members Caucus for the promotion of the ICT utilization in education and in the 198th ordinary session of the Diet, the “Act on the Promotion of the ICT Utilization for School Education” was unanimously approved and enacted.
The Act states that the national and local governments are responsible for formulating and implementing the promotion plan for the ICT utilization for education, including ensuring equal access to ICT education to all students irrespective of their family’s economic status, their region, or disability, and streamlining administrative work to reduce the workload of teachers and other personnel. In addition, the Act provides for integrated and effective ICT utilization for education by establishing a “Council for the Promotion of the ICT Utilization for School Education” by the relevant ministries such as MEXT, MIC, and METI.

(2) Government policy

The government has developed policies in succession to improve this significantly delayed ICT environmental development of schools radically.
The “Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2019” approved by the Cabinet on June 21, 2019, states that, “in elementary and secondary education, to effectively and efficiently realize the personalized optimal education for students, the government will promote ICT utilization for education such as presenting the utilization model of SINET to enable all elementary, junior high, and high schools to utilize remote education if they wish to. Because of disparities in the ICT environmental development in schools among local governments, the government must strive to correct the disparities and promote digitalization and standardization of educational data after giving due consideration to handling personal information”.
The policy also states that in the follow-up to the growth strategy approved by the Cabinet on the same day, “the government will take comprehensive measures to ensure that digital technology is utilized in all elementary, junior high, and high schools within five years, at the earliest possible time, and its effects are maximized. Ultimately, for the necessary ICT environment at elementary, junior high, and high schools, the government will set targets and formulate a roadmap within FY2019 to realize an environment where each student has a device that they can fully utilize”.

 

Section II Measures regarding ICT utilization for education

1 Measures to promote the utilization of advanced technologies

(1) Publication of “Measures to Promote the Utilization of Advanced Technologies to Support Learning in the New Era (Final Summary)”

Amid these developments, MEXT published the “Measures to Promote the Utilization of Advanced Technologies to Support Learning in the New Era (Final Summary)” in June 2019. This report summarizes the ideal state of education required in the new era, the significance and challenges of utilizing advanced technologies and big data in education based on ICT environments in educational settings, and future initiatives to be implemented in anticipation of the Society 5.0 era. The main overview is as follows.

(2) Ideal state of education required in the new era

The Society 5.0 era brought about by technological innovations such as IoT and AI will require abilities that will drive a new society, including discovering and creating remarkable knowledge and basic academic abilities such as reading comprehension and mathematical thinking as the prerequisites for such abilities. It is becoming increasingly important to face the diversification of children head-on due to the increase in the number of children who have difficulty learning with other children or children who need guidance to learn Japanese.
Therefore, it is important to maintain and develop the strengths of Japanese school education, which cultivates solid academic ability, richness in mind and a healthy body in an integrated manner, while realizing “fair and personalized optimal learning” that leaves no child behind and allows learning that best suits the individuality and circumstances of each child.

 (3) Significance and challenges of utilizing advanced technologies and big data in education

There is great potential for using advanced technologies and education-related big data based on ICT environments to realize fair and personalized optimal learning. The specific results that can be expected to include (1) Elimination of time, distance, and other constraints in learning (ex: remote education improves opportunities for children to be exposed to diverse ideas and secures learning opportunities for children in various circumstances), (2) Optimal and effective personalized learning and support (ex: effective learning through teaching materials that are appropriate to the learning situation, early detection and resolution of problems by understanding and analyzing various information on a child), (3) Sharing of knowledge learnt and creation of unprecedented knowledge (ex: visualization and formulation of each teacher’s practical and tacit knowledge through accumulation and analysis of educational data, identification of effective learning methods for individual children, etc.), and (4) Promotion of efficiency in school work (ex: more efficient class preparation, efficient and effective paperwork and meetings, teacher training and various meetings using remote technologies).
 
On the other hand, when it comes to the utilization of advanced technologies, it is still unclear what kind of equipment is effective in what scenarios, as few empirical reviews are available. There are also issues when utilizing big data in education, such as conflicting data items and terms used, ineffective implementation of data linkage and analysis, and slow progress in utilizing and applying data.
 

(4) Future initiatives to be implemented

Technology constantly evolves, and various products are being developed to support children’s learning and teachers. The Final Summary discusses the functions, effectiveness, and points to note regarding remote education and digital textbooks and teaching materials. It organizes the basic approach for effectively utilizing advanced technologies. Furthermore, the developmental stage of children must be properly considered when it comes to the situations and frequency of utilization of advanced technologies in schools.
MEXT will formulate the “Guidelines for the Utilization of Advanced Technologies in Schools” by the end of FY2020, referring to the results of demonstration projects regarding the utilization of advanced technologies.
Big data in education has various possibilities, such as lesson design for teachers, personalized instruction, and school evaluations. Since it is essential to align the meaning of the data to be collected to utilize big data in education effectively, consideration is being given to the standardization of education data and its utilization (learning history (study logs), etc.).
MEXT will consider the standardization of education data in partnership with private companies and experts and conclude by the end of FY2020 to promote the utilization of big data.

2 Realization of the GIGA School Program

(1) GIGA School Program

1 “Comprehensive Economic Measures to Create a Future with Safety and Security” and FY2019 supplementary budget
With the enactment of the Act on the Promotion of the ICT Utilization for School Education, the Cabinet decision on the “Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2019,” and the release of the “Measures to Promote the Utilization of Advanced Technologies to Support Learning in the New Era (Final Summary)” by MEXT taking place in quick succession, the government is discussing the need for urgent development of ICT environments in schools on a national level, rather than just promoting development through regional finance support.
The “Comprehensive Economic Measures to Create a Future with Security and Growth,” which was approved by the Cabinet on December 5, 2019, states that, “To quickly develop an environment in elementary and secondary education which is suitable for the education of human resources who will lead the new Society 5.0 era, and for personalized optimal learning that ensures no child is left behind, including children with special needs, the Government aims to realize an educational environment where every student of all grades, especially at the compulsory education stage, has his/her computer and is able to utilize it fully by FY2023, in addition to advancing the development of a high-speed and large-capacity network environment in each school (in-school LAN), and will continuously secure fiscal resources and provide necessary support to local governments which undertake such projects.” Based on this, 231.8 billion yen was allocated in the FY2019 supplementary budget toward “realization of the GIGA School Program.”



This program has two pillars: developing an in-school communication network and “1 device for 1 student”.
To set up in-school LANs at all national, public, and private elementary schools, junior high schools, schools for special needs education, and high schools that wish to utilize the network, MEXT will subsidize a portion of the expenses for the development of the school network for school providers. Although the subsidy ratio is set at 1/2, MEXT will work on uniform nationwide development to reduce the burden on local governments by allocating a portion of the tax revenue allocated to local governments.



Under the banner of establishing “1 device for 1 student,” the government will provide support for the cost of two-thirds of the PC terminals used by students at national, public, and private elementary schools, junior high schools, and schools for special needs education that are not covered under regional finance support, with a maximum fixed amount subsidy of 45,000 yen.
These budgetary measures are contingent on local government compiling various development and utilization plans. Based on these plans, the national government and local governments will implement the PDCA cycle to ensure the continuous development of ICT environments and ICT utilization at schools.

2 GIGA School Package
MEXT has worked out a package of various measures to realize the GIGA School program.
As part of the measures to shift from developing conventional on-premises type environments to developing ICT environments based on the use of cloud computing, which is essential for the realization of the GIGA School Program, the “Guidelines for Educational Information Security Policy” (formulated in 2017), which are used as a reference when boards of education and schools create or review their information security policies, have been revised. The new guidelines have reorganized the main text and added items that cloud service providers should keep in mind to avoid rigidity in developing ICT environments based on the government-wide cloud-by-default principle.
In addition, MEXT published the “Guidelines on ICT Utilization for Education,” which provides teachers, schools, and boards of education with various information that can be used as a reference when implementing information education, instruction utilizing ICT, ICT environment development, etc. The Guidelines present examples of learning activities that effectively utilize ICT in all types of schools and subjects to further advance ICT utilization for education under the new National Curriculum Standards.

3 School ICT Utilization Forum
Starting January 15, 2020, MEXT held the “School ICT Utilization Forum” for three days in Kyoto and Tokyo. The forum included an administrative briefing by MEXT, visits to four schools each in the Kanto and Kansai regions, and lectures by leading local governments on their initiatives toward realizing the GIGA School Program.

4 Initiatives to develop inexpensive ICT environments
To make the large-scale installation of computer terminals more efficient and inexpensive, MEXT has prescribed standard specifications for each of the three OS, from conventional on-premises terminals to what is known as browser-based terminals that utilize cloud computing. In addition, specifications for developing a communication environment in line with the new measures have also been prescribed.
Support from business operators is essential for this kind of environment development across Japan. On February 14, 2020, a meeting was held to exchange opinions with all parties concerned, including PC terminal and OS vendors. Minister Hagiuda from MEXT also participated in the meeting, discussing each other’s issues and requests.
Manufacturers will supply inexpensive models following this policy. The “GIGA School Local Government Pitch,” organized by the Information Technology Strategy Planning Office of the Cabinet Secretariat in cooperation with MEXT, was held for three days in March 2020 to help local governments procure equipment by allowing local government officials to view presentations and inquire about specific models from vendors.

(2) Guarantee learning through acceleration of the GIGA School Program

Just as local governments were about to begin preparations for implementing the GIGA School Program based on the FY2019 supplementary budget, all schools had to be temporarily closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This period saw initiatives that effectively utilized ICT in each region and strongly recognized the need to improve the existing ICT environments in schools and develop an ICT environment that connects the home and school.
MEXT will accelerate its efforts toward realizing the GIGA School Program to ensure learning for all children through ICT, even in future emergencies such as the temporary closure of schools due to disasters or outbreaks of infectious diseases.

1. Utilization of ICT during the temporary closure of schools

When schools throughout Japan were temporarily closed in March 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, there were reports that some regions were utilizing ICT, such as remote learning, so that children could continue their studies. However, many regions could not respond because they did not have the necessary environment, making the gap in initiatives among local governments even more apparent.

2. New economic measures and FY2020 supplementary budget

In light of this situation, the Cabinet approved the “Emergency Economic Measures to Cope with COVID-19” on April 20, 2020, which states that “the government aims to accelerate the schedule for providing 1 device for 1 student by FY2023, support the deployment of ICT engineers to schools, develop a communication environment necessary for home and online learning, and realize a platform that enables learning and evaluation through exercise problems using PCs and other devices at home”. The FY2020 supplementary budget allocates 229.2 billion yen for expenses necessary to guarantee learning through acceleration of the GIGA School Program.
In addition to providing devices for all students in the compulsory education stage, from first-grade elementary school to the third year of junior high school, projects based on this supplementary budget will also help develop environments for online learning at home in the event of an emergency, provide input-output support equipment for students with disabilities, and provide support for the deployment of GIGA School Supporters.

 

Section III Future prospects

MEXT will accelerate its support to local governments that utilize these subsidy projects from the supplementary budget to implement the “GIGA School Program” so that they can quickly create an environment that guarantees learning for all children through the utilization of ICT, not only at schools but also at home during emergencies.
While promoting the use of ICT, it is important to foster children’s ability to utilize information, including teaching children the basic operations of information tools so that they can utilize ICT appropriately and effectively, and foster information literacy, including programming thinking and information morality. In addition to developing a 1 device for 1 student environment, accelerating the introduction and utilization of ICT, including integrated school management support systems, will help reduce the burden of preparing for classes and processing grades and will lead to work style reform of schools.
MEXT will strive for educational reforms integrating hardware development, such as providing 1 device for 1 student and establishing a high-speed, large-capacity communication network with software and guidance systems.
Regarding software enhancement, MEXT will gradually promote high-quality digital content, such as digital textbooks and teaching materials, starting in FY2020. In December 2019, the “Guidelines on ICT Utilization for Education (December 2019)” were published, which presents specific examples of guidance that utilizes ICT at each school level and subject. MEXT will continue to collect and understand case studies and promote their dissemination. Demonstrations using cutting-edge technology will be enhanced, and the “Advanced Technology Utilization Guidelines” will be formulated by the end of FY2020. Through these initiatives, MEXT will strive to enhance learning that can only be achieved through digital technologies.
To improve the guidance system, MEXT will establish a system that enables the utilization of ICT daily by conducting teacher training in each region, using ICT utilization education advisors to accelerate the development of the ICT environment and further promote its effective use, and promoting the use of ICT support personnel to support teachers in utilizing ICT in schools.
In light of the current situation and issues surrounding elementary and secondary education amid rapid social changes such as the advent of the Society 5.0 era, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology requested the Central Council for Education to deliberate on the “Modality of Elementary and Secondary Education in a New Era” in April 2019. In December 2019, the Subdivision on Elementary and Secondary Education of the Central Council for Education summarized the issues based on deliberations made to date. This summary of issues presents the direction for the effective utilization of ICT and cutting-edge technologies to support future learning and the modality of the subject-based teacher assignment system with an eye on nine years of compulsory education aimed at developing an environment for the realization of personalized optimal learning that leaves no diverse child behind and the implementation of high-quality educational activities in schools throughout Japan, as well as issues that must be considered in the future.
In addition to quickly advancing efforts of the national government by integrating hardware and software, due consideration will be given to the role of teachers and the role they should play, the nature of the guidance system, measures to improve teaching skills by using ICT, the number of class hours per year and standard class hours considering the use of advanced technologies, learning that transcends grade levels, and the future of digital textbooks concerning the utilization of ICT and advanced technologies. With continuing discussions at the Central Council for Education, MEXT will implement the necessary measures based on these considerations.
The integrated development of a 1 device for 1 student environment and a high-speed, large-capacity communication network will greatly transform school education in Japan. In the Heisei era, ICT terminals were considered “a nice thing to have in schools.” In the Reiwa era, however, they are a “must-have” and a “basic standard” for building society as quickly as possible.

Column No.1

Initiatives by Local Governments
Initiatives taken by the Tsukuba City Board of Education, Ibaraki Prefecture

 
Tsukuba City is installing wireless LAN, providing tablets, large display devices, and digital textbooks, and implementing 1 PC for 1 student for school work throughout the city. ICT education in Tsukuba City began 40 years ago, and a study support system that led to the development of the current AI drills called “Challenging Study” was launched in 2004. In addition, Tsukuba City was among the first to introduce a video conferencing system, realizing a learning format that connects schools, universities and specialized institutions online. The city also effectively utilizes cutting-edge technologies in providing education, including a unique educational program called “7 C Learning” that fosters 21st-century skills, letting programming take precedence, making it a compulsory subject, and improving its study support website.
The Tsukuba Municipal Midorino Gakuen Compulsory Education School was opened in April 2018 as a public compulsory education integrated elementary and junior high school, offering programming education for each developmental stage in all grades of elementary school. In addition, efforts are underway to develop 21st-century skills needed in the 2040s by having all teachers implement ICT, STEAM education, English from the first grade, and SDGs. On January 16, 2020, Mr. Hagiuda, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, visited the school, where he observed children learning independently and using ICT effectively. Their activities included foreign language activities with the use of robots. These classes combined the Japanese language, arts and crafts with programming, classes utilizing digital textbooks, and classes where a large display device was connected to a microscope to conduct science observations.
 
Initiatives taken by the Minoh City Board of Education, Osaka Prefecture
Minoh City in Osaka Prefecture has been distributing one tablet to each student from 4th to 6th grade at all elementary schools in the city since September of FY2018. Through a constant Skype connection with elementary schools in Hutt City, New Zealand, which is the sister city of Minoh City, an environment has been created where children can use the tablets freely, not only during classes but also during their free time, with no particular restrictions on usage time. As a result, the children actively and naturally use the tablets to present their opinions via PowerPoint presentations.
On January 15, 2020, officials from various boards of education visited Minoh Elementary School as one of the advanced schools for inspection during the “School ICT Utilization Forum.”

 


 

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