https://wiki.smu.edu.sg/digitalmediaasia/Digital_Media_in_Japan
For this post, I chose to explore Instructional Design and Technology in Japan. According to the Reiser text, Japanese culture holds teachers in high esteem. The field of education is “very competitive” and teaching “commands great respect” (Reiser 242). Because of my K-12 classroom teacher point of view, I want to explore IDT in Japanese culture, specifically focusing on IDT in schools.
Describe the trend.
In Reiser’s Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, Katsuaki Suzuki and Unsung Jung (authors of the chapter “Instructional Design & Technology in an Aisan context: focusing on Japan and Korea”) state that “IDT is different from the rest of the world because of Japan’s unique way of combining rapid westernization with a long history of Asian culture” (Reiser 239). I found this juxtaposition of tradition and modern developments thought provoking, which is one of the reasons I wanted to learn more about IDT in Japan.
IDT first emerged in Japan around 2000, when the concept of e-learning caught the attention of human resource development in the business sector of Japan. Suzuki and Jung describe the evolution of IDT in e-learning as a transition from simply creating more visually appealing user interfaces for learning materials to “the systematic process for bringing about effective results in education and training” (Reiser 240).
Training in the field of Instructional Design & Technology is growing, but there is still much progress to be made to use the principles of IDT to their full potential (i.e. research based instructional design or project management).
Moving away from the business and industry sector to education, one thing that stood out to me was the Japanese government’s support of IT training for teachers. This is essential if teachers are expected to be utilizing technology that is changing and developing rapidly - it is difficult, if not impossible, to take advantage of the full instructional potential of a technology product or strategy if one does not know how to use the technology or strategy themselves. While the availability of IT training is promising, “because the tradition in each subject area plays such an influential role among Japanese schoolteachers, teaching methods tend to be transmitted from the older to the younger generation,” (Reiser 242) suggesting that new technologies won’t necessarily be explored fully.
Provide two resources that provide more information on this trend and explain why these readings or resources stood out to you.
The first resource I have included is a link to the website of the Japan Society for Educational Technology. On the “Welcome from the President” page, one of the three major research topics listed is “Systematization of educational technology research and practical research.” This reflects a need discussed above for teachers to shift focus from how subjects have traditionally been taught to methods that capitalize on the new technologies and strategies available.
I have included the article “The Top eLearning Statistics and Facts for 2015 You Need to Know” simply to highlight the mention of Japan as a top buyer in mobile learning products and services. This shows Japanese educational markets moving toward a trend that is also popular in US education.
The third resource included is a paper co-authored by one of the chapter authors, Katsuaki Suzuki, titled "Development of an instructional design checklist for e-Learning contents: A Japanese challenge in IT skill training.” The paper’s goal is to “develop a checklist for e-Learning content development based on instructional design features in order to assure quality of IT related skill training in Japan.” My hope is that a follow up paper or system will be released, as the proposed 102 item checklist, while comprehensive, seems overwhelming to put into practice; however, it is promising to see this research promoting the effective application of ID principles in Japanese teaching and e-learning.
References
- Martin, Florence. "EIST6120 Global Trends in IDT." YouTube. YouTube, 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 24 June 2016.
- Reiser, Robert A., and John V. Dempsey. Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. Boston ; Munich: Pearson, 2012. Print.
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