Abstract
University students go to school several times a week, as voluntary supporters, and help teachers not only conduct lessons, but also create self-made teaching materials with newly developed technologies such as multimedia-enabled dot codes and EPUB 3 eBooks with Read-Aloud. The university students-schoolteachers partnership enables the younger students to learn the required subjects with newly educational technologies. For university students, especially those in the pre-service teacher program, such a collaboration is really effective to not only know the class lessons, but also to encourage them to become teachers. The collaborative research works of the university professor with the ICT business companies are crucial to produce newly creative and gifted software and tools for students with various difficulties. This chapter briefly presents newly developed software and tools used for class lessons, and then it describes fruitful collaboration with schoolteachers in creating self-made teaching materials and conducting activities.
TopBackground
One of the authors, Shigeru Ikuta, has organized many communities using the Internet in his residential area (Tama district, Tokyo) for more than 30 years and had engaged in various activities like “Imaging the Future of the Tama district,” “Learning Support for Children in Tama District,” and “Activating Newly Developed Tama Monorail Connecting Tama District Area”; all the participants had thought the future of the Tama district in which they live. And, he had also organized a community to connect Miyakejima and Tama, when all the Miyakejima islanders had evacuated due to a big volcanic eruption there; he had managed the community as a representative. At the center of these voluntary communities, many schoolteachers were always there with one of the authors, Shigeru Ikuta. They act in the firm belief even now that school and schoolteachers should play a central role in the area around school.
Key Terms in this Chapter
GCV (Gridmark Content Viewer): This software can create content available on iOS devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone. Using G-Pen Blue with Bluetooth functionality, users can replay the multimedia, such as movies, photos, audio files, and web pages, on the screen of an iOS device.
School Activity: School activities can be improved through the use of original and individual self-made teaching materials and aids developed with newly developed technologies, tailored to each individual student. Collaboration with the university students is crucial to realizing 21 st century technological classes in schools.
File Linker: This software can create a standalone application on Windows OS. A maximum of four multimedia-like movies can be linked to each “Post-it-like” sticker icon or dot code overlaid using a GM Authoring Tool. Touching the dot codes with a speaking-pen (G-Speak) or a dot-code reader (G-Pen BT) replays the corresponding multimedia on a screen of a PC.
Partnership: Every year, the university students have volunteered to help younger students with various difficulties learn in the class, and help schoolteachers develop self-made teaching materials, by using the recently developed information communication technologies such as the multimedia-enabled dot codes, EPUB 3 eBooks with media overlays, and Augmented Reality.
Speaking-Pen: The G-Speak and G-Talk speaking-pens reproduce original voices and sounds simply by touching the “Post-it-like” sticker icons or overlaid dot codes printed directly on a paper. These speaking-pens connected to Windows PCs can also replay multimedia, such as movies, using a standalone application created using the File Linker program.
Multimedia-Enabled Dot Code: Invisible dot codes developed by Gridmark Inc. are a novel two-dimensional code technology consisting of extremely small dots. Each “Post-it-like” sticker icon or dot code overlaid with a GM Authoring Tool program can be linked to up to four multimedia, such as movies, in addition to four audios/sounds. A simple touch by a speaking-pen and dot-code reader on the dot codes enables a link between the paper and the digital content.
EPUB 3 eBook: An electronic book (or e-book) is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat panel display of computer or other electronic devices like tablets and smartphones. The users need two types of software: software to create eBooks and software to read the created eBooks.
Sound Linker: A software that can create content for a speaking-pen. A maximum of four audio files can be linked to each “Post-it-like” sticker icon or dot code overlaid using the GM Authoring Tool program; a recently updated one enables users to link a maximum of ten audios/sounds to each dot code. Created content is copied onto an MicroSD card in a speaking-pen. By touching the icon with a speaking-pen, such as G-Speak and G-Talk, a user replays the corresponding audio.
Dot-Code Reader: Multimedia files, such as movies, can be linked to the dot codes overlaid with the GM Authoring Tool and “Post-it-like” sticker icons. The linked multimedia is replayed on the screen of iOS or Windows OS devices by touching the dot codes with a dot-code reader.
GM Authoring Tool: This software can overlap the dot codes on users’ designed document at any place, in any size, and in any number. A maximum of four audio and multimedia files can be linked to each unique set of dot codes.