Getting IT toWork in Japan

by Jeff Maggard and Judy Gallian

At MiyazakiInternational College, a relatively young liberal arts college in SouthernJapan, virtually all courses leading to a Bachelors of Arts degree are taughtin English. Almost all studentstake introductory computer courses during their first year, and computer useincreases over the four years as an essential means to facilitate Englishfluency and content area studies. Furthermore, a significant number of all courses employcomputer-assisted instruction (CAI) methods. Students use computers to do research; to produceword-processed documents; to prepare oral presentation materials; to scan,manipulate and create images; to correspond via email; to design personal websitesand group web projects; and to write senior theses.

Beginnings

From its inaugural year, there is no doubt that incoming facultywere attracted to MIC by the opportunities inherent in a situation thatcombined team taught ESL/content courses, computerized classrooms, and acampus-wide computer network that provided continuous Internet access: asituation that was a rarity in 1994-5. In the intervening years, as the college's student population increased,new faculty were often selected not only for their experience in teachinglanguage and/or content, but also for their expertise in IT or web-integratedcourses. At the outset, newfaculty orientations (held in January and February) generally included 1-2workshops on the basic characteristics of the MIC network and availableapplications; at this time there was little discussion among faculty onclassroom use of technology. Evenso, in this environment, the adoption of innovative methods utilizing IT inESL/content teaching quicklygrew. Many of these innovationsinvolved the production of online documents that, in turn, fostered informaldiscussions and debate between colleagues over the effectiveness of CALL.  Soon after, formal presentations byfaculty during new faculty orientation were instituted.

New Directions

Since 1996,this practice has grown from 1-2 presentations for incoming faculty to anexpanded program of workshops throughout the year on software and hardware andtheir classroom use. A partiallist of workshop offerings for the current year can be seen at http://www.miyazaki-mic.ac.jp/faculty/workshops/index.html .

Over the past four years faculty interested inteaching with technology have provided a number of IT related workshops. For example, during Spring Semester2000, in response to a faculty needs analysis on IT use (see Faculty ComputerQuestionnaire below), workshops on CD Imaging, Photoshop, digitalcameras, Adobe Premiere, Flash, MS Word, PageMill, and Netscape were given.

From the original handful of enthusiastic supportersat MIC, the use of computers in the classroom has grown to the extent that 95%(of faculty respondents) require word-processing; 76% require Internetresearch; and, 67% require email correspondence to satisfy course requirements(data from Faculty Computer Questionnaire included below). Faculty responses also indicated high interest in the use ofweb documents for course preparation and student production. Overall, successful integration of ITin courses at MIC has been achieved through intrinsic motivation, volunteerefforts and the hard work of faculty interested in teaching with technology.

OngoingIssues

This positive growth however, isnot without its drawbacks: the popularity of IT integrated courses amongstudents and the correlative faculty demands for additional computer classroomhours (and training), and the need for after hours student computer access hasled to steadily increasing pressure on all computer facilities. Moreover, as a result of the continuousevolution in technologies, there has been a constant need to upgrade and expandall levels of computer services.

AddressingStudent Needs

To help alleviate the pressure, computer classroomscurrently function as labs during after school hours (and these labs are openseven days a week, six nights until 10 pm). Furthermore, because no staff or faculty members aredesignated to assist students with routine questions/problems, students areemployed part-time as computer lab monitors to cover the evening and weekend lab hours. To help fill the gap during peak labusage, MIC encourages students to bring their own laptops and has equipped thecampus with Ethernet ports and printing stations in less congested areas.  However, there are still concerns overthe heavy lab and network traffic during mid-term and final exam periods.

AddressingFaculty Needs

As the faculty increasingly moves towardintegrating IT into their courses, the issue of faculty training becomesparamount. In July 1999, twoEnglish language faculty members interested in developing MIC faculty’sIT skills developed and administered the Faculty Computer Questionnaire (J. Maggard, J. Reinhardt, 1999).

The primary aim of the questionnaire was toexamine the situational (i.e., pedagogical and personal) needs of MIC facultyin regards to the use of computer technologies. The chief goal was to use the data to design professionaldevelopment workshops for MIC faculty on using computers in the classroom(and/or for personal research). Under the rubric of program evaluation an eclectic (Democratic, Analyticand Diagnostic) philosophy was used in the design of this instrument.  This philosophy was employed with thehope that the questionnaire would provide useful information about thesituational needs of the majority of faculty (and, by extension, MICstudents). For a copy of thisinstrument, contact jmaggard@miyazaki-mic.ac.jp.

The questionnaire had three sections: InPart One, the bulk of the items were designed to provide objective data aboutthe computer use background of MIC faculty. However, the researchers also asked subjective questionsaimed at revealing underlying attitudes towards willingness to attendprofessional development workshops on using computers; thus, the construct ofmotivation was analyzed through the later items.

Part Two was designed to gather data aboutthe faculty's perceived proficiency with the computer software and applicationsMIC students currently use. Data obtained from this section was used to plan a series of workshopssuited to the needs of the faculty.

By using a situational needs framework theresearchers hoped to tease out the underlying construct of motivation.  Therefore, Part Three was designed toreveal information about the faculty's feelings and attitudes towards learningto use computers for instructional and/or professional purposes.

The second type of information gathered inPart Three was related to perceived student needs and desires. Thus, two items were designed to provide data about the beliefs MICfaculty held towards student computer use. A third type of data was related to the faculty'swillingness to maintain and increase MIC students' technological skills.

Thirty-six questionnaires were distributed(during the last week of the Spring Semester 1999) and 21 were returned.  A partial summary of the results fromPart One and Part Three are provided below.

PartialResults from Part One

PART I: Background	YES
Do you use the WWW to prepare for classes?	90%
Do you use the WWW for other professional interests?	95%
Do you require any of your classes to use word processing to complete course work?	95%
Do you require any of your classes to use e-mail to complete course work?	67%
Do you require any of your classes to use the WWW to complete course work?	76%
Have you used computers in your classroom(s) at MIC in the past?	67%
Have you ever pursued professional development on using computers? (e.g. self-directed skills development, professional workshop, computer course, etc.)	60%
Would you attend faculty development workshops to further your knowledge about using computers in the classroom?	57%
Would you attend one-on-one training sessions to further your knowledge about using computers in the classroom?	70%

PartialResults from Part Three

PART III: Feelings about computer use at MIC 5= Strongly Agree; 4= Agree; 3= No Opinion; 2= Disagree; 1= Strongly Disagree	Mean rank
I want to learn more about teaching with computers.	4.38
I already know how to teach with computers and don't want to learn more.	2.0
I want to learn more about conducting research with computers.	4.0
I already know how to conduct research with computers and don't want to learn more.	1.84
I want to learn more about teaching with the WWW.	4.04
I already know how to teach with the WWW and don't want to learn more.	1.85
I want to spend more time using computers with my classes.	3.47
I want to spend less time using computers with my classes.	2.23
I don't have enough time to learn about teaching with computers.	2.76
My students will need to use computers after they graduate from MIC.	4.52
MIC students learn most of the necessary computer skills in their first year.	2.42
Using computers in my classroom(s) more would take up time better spent on subject matter.	2.57
Research and effort being equal, I would accept a student web page project in place of a paper.	4.04
Senior theses would be enhanced by companion websites.	3.85
Students should create electronic portfolios of their class work at MIC.	3.52

After the data were analysed, a specialmeeting was held in October 1999 to discuss the results.  One outcome of this meeting was theinstitution of the Faculty Winter Workshop Program. In addition to these winter workshops faculty interested inpromoting the use of IT have volunteered to work one on one with faculty whorequest training.

In a related effort to develop faculty ITskills, in the fall of 1999 the Committee on Academic Support (COAS) presenteda proposal to MIC faculty to create a new multimedia studio.  The proposal received overwhelmingsupport and COAS was granted funds to purchase software and hardware.  Unfortunately, no money was set asidefor training faculty to use this equipment, nor has any individual been givenrelease time to train faculty. However, at the beginning of Spring 2000, two people were given the status of 'Faculty Computer Coordinators'.  Their responsibilities includeproviding IT workshops to faculty and students, assisting MIC faculty withbasic, everyday computer questions/problems, and helping to ensure that thethree computer labs on campus are operational. The Computer Coordinators' drive to develop faculty ITskills comes from their belief in the effectiveness of teaching and learningwith technology.

Final Thoughts & Recommendations

While a large proportion of MIC facultyhave course websites, a lack of training in state of the art software andcomputer-assisted instructional methods pose real concerns.  Yes, there are a good number of instructors who have created interactive websites which require students to learn IT skills, content matter and language; but there are also a number of websites that are not designed with CALL in mind. It is normally the case, that the instructors who have a background in teaching with technology are the ones who create interactive websites at MIC; these individuals are also the one's who often volunteer their time to train other faculty.  Unfortunately, good CALL websitedevelopment takes an enormous amount of time which, in turn, reduces the amountof time these people can afford to give to other faculty who would like todevelop their IT skills.

The current circumstances at MIC arecertainly not unique. Mostinstitutions of higher education throughout Japan are faced with similarchallenges and a desire to succeed. If pedagogically sound computer-assisted instructional methods are tobecome a routine component of tertiary education in Japan, full-scale ITcurriculum development must become a priority. Teachers who wish to developeffective CALL websites and/or CAI methods must be supported through training,financial incentives, and adjusted teaching schedules to compensate for thetime consumed by their efforts in this critical work.