Special Research I Session12: Study Case in IM Field (2)

As I had worked as a consultant, my research or planning had been conducted according to the orders of clients. Therefore, there was no specific area of expertise in my activity in the past. However, naturally I have a specialty of my own. It is the development of business based on IT or the Internet. However, unfortunately most of research cannot be published as it consists of projects commissioned by certain private enterprises. Therefore study cases of projects that are commissioned from public institutions and closely related to e-Learning are to be introduced here.

Research on peripheral systems that support teachers in the classroom

I was engaged in this research from the time I worked for Fujitsu Research Institute (FRI) through to when I started working at Kumamoto University cooperating with members of FRI, and it was commissioned by the Center of Educational Computing (CEC). The mission was research and planning on the need for instructional design and a support system for it in the classroom of primary and secondary education. As it is intended to support teachers in the classroom, it is work-process oriented, such as the collecting and editing of contents from the Internet based on textbooks, rather than instructional design. It is also designed in terms of realizing effective and easy use of IT for general group education rather than e-Learning. Especially, the system drew upon is the Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner (OCUP) that is operated in Ontario, Canada, a PC-based system which teachers can use freely.

It is a project motivated by the expectations of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is one of the higher level agencies of CEC, and from the viewpoint that standardization is essential in order to promote the utilization of IT in education. Ahead of this research, challenges in education were chosen from six areas (standardization candidate areas), and research was conducted continuously on the areas that were assumed to be the most significant. The other challenges undertaken are (1) standardization of the IT environment in schools, (2) creation of maintenance guidelines for hardware/software, (3) creation of a standard model of operation and maintenance control, (4) creation of guidelines for user interface of contents, (5) preparation of a development environment for self-created contents.

Following are the link to the summary of them that is now publicized [1] and the OCUP website [2].

Research on marketing of related products (distribution)

This is research on equipment that supports learning, especially focused on the distribution of accessibility equipment for the use of IT by disabled people, which was commissioned from Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA). The mission was to recognize the reality that the distribution of accessibility equipment in Japan was not as active as that in the United States or the United Kingdom, to analyze the factors surrounding this, and then improve the situation in Japan by utilizing measures of marketing. As a sample product for the research, input switches (Big Buddy by Tash and Joggle Switch by Traxsys) and screen reader, talking software (Window-eyes by GW Micro and Hal by Dolphin Computer Access) were used.

In the United States, there is a strong sense that people should participate in society (pay their taxes) even if disabled, and such people can receive sufficient support such as the Individual Education Plan for students, created by the cooperation of occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and assistive technology specialists (AT specialists). It would be difficult to apply such a system that is established based on social and cultural background in Japan promptly. On the other hand, there are some factors that can be controlled, such as a mechanism of distribution. For instance, there are “intermediate entities (supporters)” that support the purchase of the equipment by disabled people, who are the users of the equipment. However, in Japan we rely on volunteers to provide such services. The challenges we found from a viewpoint of marketing were that distributors that have the know-how of merchandising and supporting were not established, and intermediate entities did not function, as their positions were not clarified in the distribution system, as well as lack of a distribution model or concrete policies that compensate systematic faults. As a result of the research, the following points were proposed as measures to help resolve the challenges: (1) cooperated marketing for integrated, cross-enterprise brands, (2) utilization of distribution channels in other industries such as the nursing industry, (3) creation of a website for B2B community and distribution, which is effective in promoting new entries, and (4) the promotion of a reuse project for PCs cooperating with intermediate entities.

The following are the link to the executive summary [1], the sites of enterprises that were subject to research [2][3][4][5], and reference documents on accessibility equipment.

［1］http://it.jeita.or.jp/nichijishin/2004/pdf/accessibility.pdf (Japanese only) (broken link)
1.Section 1 “Research survey report on the creation of accessibility business” (part)
［2］http://www.tashinc.com/ (broken link)
［3］http://assistive.traxsys.com/ (broken link)
［4］http://www.gwmicro.com/ (broken link)
［5］http://www.yourdolphin.com/

Originally, marketing starts by taking the viewpoint of the users. The viewpoint of a one-way provider is called the “selling” and is distinguished from marketing. Unfortunately, education at the present time seems to be just a seller, controlled by the logic of a one-sided provider. In addition to this, considering the reality that most users implement e-Learning just focusing on cost efficiency, words such as “simulation” and “blended” just sound like just trendy promotional jargon.

As I also teach in the Faculty of Letters at Kumamoto University as well as this course, I am involved in research and education in a field that is significantly different from that described here. In the undergraduate school, I am mainly involved in the field of media studies and cultural studies, which analyze culture and society after the advent of the Internet, and the field of business marketing.

Session 12: Study Case in IM Field (2) (Lecturer: Yoshihiro Ekawa)

[Study Case]

Research on peripheral systems that support teachers in the classroom

Research on marketing of related products (distribution)