1. Background

Since 1998 the informatization of schools has been regarded as one of the most important policies of the government of Japan and a lot of related projects and activities have been implemented.
The E square(e²) Project, which was carried out under the achievement of the 100-School Networking Projects(Phase�T&�U), conducted researches and surveys on how to use the Internet in the educational scene through
the projects, looking towards 2002.
The E square(e²) Project achieved a lot of results, such as rapidly spread use of the Internet at schools which were planning projects work to use advanced technology and methods on the network.
But aiming at the realization of the target- in 2005 every classroom has PCs and projectors connected with the high-speed Internet - which was set by the government, the problems as follows still remain.
(1)　Encouraging much more schools and teachers to use IT
(2)　Studying further on the requirements and methods of the use of IT
(3)　Expanding the network of schools, boards of education，etc.
(4)　Evaluating and analyzing educative effects of the use of IT

2. Objectives

The E square Advance(e²a) Project is designed to realize the following three objectives.
(1) Studying further on the advanced methods and requirements of effective IT use in the class,
(2)　Systematizing those above in some categories,
(3)　Presenting the results above to many teachers, schools, boards of education, related industries, etc. as possible (http://www.cec.or.jp/e2a/)

3. Project Outline

The E square Advance(e²a) Project consists of the following two projects.

• IT-use Education Promotion Project
  Studying on the advanced methods of using IT and those requirements of the hardwares and softwares to be used in the class.
  1) Presenting approximately 900 cases using IT in the class, classified into kinds of schools, subjects, etc. ,on the Web.
  2) Holding the symposium in Tokyo and the other places to announce the results of the studies every year.
• School- Industry Partnership Project
  Promoting the model class to facilitate the exchange among Industrial circles, local communities, teachers and schools.
  1) Producing digital contents and materials focused on the information about industries for the class.
  2) Supporting the people of industrial circles to give class as teachers.

4. Activites in FY2004

Overview of the Projects implemented in FY 2004

• Project for using Advanced IT (9 Themes)
  In classrooms, surveys and studies are carried out on the requirements and utilization approaches in order to verify effectiveness of IT utilization and formulate the standard for IT devices, etc.. The extracted requirements and approaches will be expected to be widely provided as reference.
• Plans for Schools (34 Themes)
  Practicing new ideas and measures or improving the approaches and contents that have been worked out so far , etc. are carried out in order that the results of those activities could be spread widely among other teacher and schools.
• Project for Classes of "Information" by School-Industry Partnership (Tokyo: 3 Themes, Osaka: 4 Themes)
  In classes of "Information“ , opportunities for accessing effectively the state-of-the-art in information technologies are provided to the students. Furthermore, practical schemes to promote partnership between the classes and the industries, etc. are disseminated.
• Surveys and Demonstration Experiment, etc.
  ・"Survey on Requirements for School Office Work Computerization Model" in which surveys and verification are carried out for the effectiveness, etc. by computerization of the school office work.
  ・Surveys on the requirements and verification of utilization methods for “e-Blackboard”and “e- Textbook”. 　etc.
• Dissemination
  Symposia are held aiming at disseminating the results of various activities, providing the opportunities for information exchange among teachers and people in business entities and discovering excellent examples and human resources.
  ・Presentations of results are held on Fri. 4th and Sat. 5th of March.
  ・Regional symposiums are held in Okayama Pref. on Fri. Oct. 22 and in Gifu Pref. on Sat. Dec. 4

Project of using advanced IT (9 Themes adopted from 81 applicants)

Implementation of Public Invitation of Applications

Objectives

(1)Survey on requirements for advanced IT devices for education.

(2)Verification of approaches for effective utilization of IT devices,　 etc.

Those who are eligible

Consortiums organized by business entities and Educational institutions, such as schools and boards of education.

Name of Theme	Applicant (Name of Business Entities or Group)
Making anticrime Maps by using Digital TV Internet	Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Tablet PC for handicapped children in reading writing	Hyogo University of Teacher Education
Development of Interface of BBS using video clips	OKAYAMA Prefectural Information Education Center
Collab ?Learning using GPS & Information recordable GIS	Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo
Making digital Maps using IC-tags(RFID) & PDA	NPO, "Broadband School Association"
Supporting System for Home-Learning	Council on Promotion of Enrichment of Advanced Information Environment for Education
IT Education using Robots	Fujitsu Oita Software Laboratory Co., Ltd.
Learning System using Cellular Phones as mobile terminals	Special Non-profit Organization, "Study Council on Utilizing Information Network for Education"
Learning System using Network between schools & homes	The Board of Education of Tsukuba City

(For Reference FY2003)： http://www.cec.or.jp/e2a/15cdrom/INDEX.HTM

Study ＆ Survey, Demonstration Experiments, etc. in FY2004(3Projects)

• Surveys on Requirements for Computerization of School Office Work Model
  ・Clarifying the problems of the school office work in the current state and seeking the possibility of support for teachers by utilization of IT.
  ・Surveys and verification on effectiveness, etc. by the computerization of the school office work and on the ideal state of the school office work.
  →What is aimed at is　reduction of the time for teachers to handle the office work, and realization of effective school management.
• Research Committee on e-Blackboard(Interactive Whiteboard)
  ・Discussing the way of utilization for a multi-purpose teaching tool, "Interactive White Board" and a most basic teaching material, "Digital Textbooks".
  ・Studying standardization, and formulation of guidelines, aiming at the realization of daily utilization of IT in classrooms.
  →What is aimed at is　facilitation of further computerization In classrooms.
• Standard System for Supporting the Designing and Implementing of Class Work
  ・Developing the "Electronic Instruction Note Creation Tool" to retrieve and collect the "contents" related to the textbooks and instruction books on the Internet and intranets, and to create plans for the entire class work
  →What is aimed at is　to reduce the load on teachers and to facilitate the utilization of IT in classes.

Plans for Schools in FY 2004 − 34 Small Projects for utilizing IT

• Objective
  The aim of these plans is to support elementary, junior-high and high schools, schools for specially supported education, or education-related institutions in practicing classes or solving educational tasks by using IT and to provide the teachers all over the country with the results of the practice as “practical examples of education utilizing IT".
• Examples of Themes (Contents of the Plans)
  The themes are those that are related to utilize or improve the results obtained by CEC so far or use new idea and measures and can be used widely by other schools as references.

Theme	Educational institutions
Information Morals learned by Parents and Children Together	Tomioka Elementary School, Yamagata City, Gifu Pref.
Attempt of Inter-School Exchange utilizing the Internet for the Training of Human Relations	Oguchidai Elementary School, Yokohama City
Experiment of Bilateral Classes using the Web	Shin-Kotoni-Kita Junior-High School, Sapporo City
Easy with Web-Log! Let's Record with Everybody!	The Junior-High School Attached to the Dept. of Education, Okayama University,　Okayama　City
Study on Practicing Joint Leaning and Utilization of Information by Students of Elementary, Junior-High and High Schools	Hagoromo Gakuen High School (private) ,　Osaka Pref.
Active Use of Tablet PCs to Each Leaｒning Session as Tools for Instruction	Miki City Education Center ,　Hyogo Pref.

Classes of “Information” by School-Industry Partnership in FY 2004
(School-Industry Partnership Project　for “Information” (a subject of high school))

Through teaching　by　business　people,　who are directly　engaged in the leading technology, students can deeply understand the role of the information technologies and the information society.

Theme	Company that lecturers belong to
The Universe and the Leading Information Technology −Utilization of GPS−	Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Everything in Daily Life ｉs Connected by Home Information Appliances	Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
What Is Information Security?	Microsoft
The World‘s No. 1 Soccer robot, “ViSion” and Its Control Technology	Vstone Co., Ltd.
Introduction to CG Animation”−Let‘s Make CG Animation!	DooGA Co., Ltd.
Creating My Original Map−Utilization of Information by GIS	GIS General Laboratory
Why Can “Hello!” be Transmitted?−Quest for the Mystery of Cellular Phones!	Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation

Implementation System for Classes of "Information"(Subject)supported by Industry

Symposia held in FY 2004

Three Symposia were held in Okayama Pref., Gifu Pref. and Tokyo ｍetropolitan area. The outline of each symposium is as follows.

• Symposium in OKAYAMA on education utilizing advanced IT
  Theme：　“IT − Be Utilized in Classes from Tomorrow"
  Date & Time：　from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 22, 2004,
  Place：　3rd floor, Mamakari Forum, Okayama Convention Hall
  　　　　　(located in front of Okayama Station)
  Organizer：　Center for Educational Computing (CEC)
  Co-organizers：　Okayama Prefectural Government, Okayama Prefectural Board of Education，Okayama City, Okayama City Board of Education, Kurashiki City and Kurashiki City Board of Education
• Symposium in GIFU on education utilizing advanced IT
  Theme：　“Understandable Classes and Pleasant Classes realized by IT”
  Date & Time：　 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, December 4, 2004
  Place：　Softopia Japan Center Building (located in Ogaki City)
  Organizer：　Center for Educational Computing (CEC)
  Co-organizers：　Gifu Prefectural Government and Gifu Prefectural Board of Education.
• Symposium on utilization of IT for Education and Learning
  （Program of the Presentation Meeting of the results of e-Square Advance in Fiscal 2004）
  Theme：　e-Square − that Supports the utilization of IT in Classrooms: Now and Future
  Date & Time：　from Friday, March 4 to Saturday,March 5 , 2005
  Place：　Tokyo Fashion Town Building (in front of Kokusai-Tenjijo-Seimonmae on Rinkai-Fukutoshin Line)
  Organizer：　Center for Educational Computing (CEC)

5. From now on