Empowered JAPAN Webinar Report

Empowered JAPAN Executive Steering Committee was established in 2018, “To realize a world where everyone canwork and learn, from anywhere, at anytime.” To promote the true value of workstyle innovation including telework, the committee
has been coordinating symposiums in both Tokyo and regional cities. And in collaboration with various local governments,
Microsoft, and partners, the committee has been serving as an advisor to provide telework training for both corporate andindividuals. In response to the spread of infection of corona virus (COVID-19) and the government announcement on February 25,2020, which included the request to citizens to telework, the steering committee made the decision to launch a series of freewebinars starting from March 17, 2020, to provide practical information for individuals and organizations across the nation, totelework and/or practice online education.

Category：Contents for government,
healthcare, and educational

Rebooting school:
Teams accelerates learning and communication

institutions
Date：April, 20, 2020
Speaker：

While students and teachers in every region of the country are enduring the emptiness of being
unable to learn in a physical classroom due to the closure of schools since March, some schools aretrying to adopt new forms of learning using the Microsoft Teams app (hereinafter referred to as Teams).
From one of the schools, Tokyo Gakugei University Koganei Elementary School, Mr. Hideki Suzuki who isa faculty member as well as the Director of the Information Department, and Ms. Makiko Sato who isthe school health professional shared their experience of using Teams at their school.

Hideki Suzuki
Teacher and Information Manager,Tokyo Gakugei University Koganei
Elementary SchoolSince the school is affiliated with a national university, it may give you the impression that thestudents are taught in an advanced environment, however, before the school closure, there were only
45 shared PCs connected by wired LAN, and basic utilization of ICT.
At the beginning of the school closure in March, their emergency measure was just to downsize thescale of the graduation ceremony, and not even homework was issued. However, by mid-March,management and Mr. Suzuki agreed that the school should prepare an environment where the students
and school can connect online in case the school closure continues after April. After they consulted
Tokyo Gakugei University to issue an account to the students and found that there was not enoughtime, they consulted Microsoft. With the help of Microsoft, they were able to issue Teams accounts for
all teachers and students just four days before the new semester was to start. Mr. Suzuki proposed theutilization of Teams at a staff meeting the next day, distributed the user manual for Teams sign-in to theMakiko Sato
Nursing teacher,Tokyo Gakugei University Koganei
Elementary School

students on the first day of school, and held workshops for teachers. "I was so anxious, but thedesperation to restart the school pushed me forward." (Mr. Suzuki)
The school used to use a communication system called "FairCast" before the school closure. However,it was a one-way communication tool from the school to the families via email. Whereas Teams is aninteractive learning support with a completely new challenge. As of April, the school shared thelearning contents using FairCast with the families on the assumption that some of them might not beable to access Teams. "We made sure all the students received the same learning contents. However, it
is natural to have differences in the students’ learning progress and results. Otherwise there is no point
in using Teams. Not using Teams because you do not know how to use, or you cannot do what you
want to do, is not acceptable. I asked all faculty members to prepare themselves and commit to use
Teams. They all agreed to use Teams because we all wanted the students to keep learning." (Mr. Suzuki)

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Empowered JAPAN Webinar Report
Since then, the school has been teaching and providing homework using Teams, which allows the students and teachers to connect and interact.

Based on the analysis of the Teams access, I found that about 600 active users access it daily, mainly by using smartphones. The teachers are also
enjoying connecting with the students and being motivated. "I believe there are a number of factors why Teams was positively accepted despite thesudden introduction," said Mr. Suzuki.
One of the factors is that they started with small steps instead of sudden livestreaming classes. In April, assignments were distributed on text-based,
and the students were instructed to submit them when the school reopens. If the school closure extends to May, more advanced learning forms will
be considered, however, "re-creation of the classroom lessons is not on our mind. We will continue learning how to maximize the use of Teams andprovide education with trials and errors," added Mr. Suzuki
When he became the administrator of the entire Teams in addition to managing his class (team), he found that it was easier to make smalladjustments. In addition, as part of the inclusive education and research program, one tablet was given to each student in a class of six graders, whichMr. Suzuki was in charge of in the previous year. He is convinced that the experience is helping the students greatly during remote learning. "Wewatched educational programs, had discussions, and posted their work on Teams. Especially, when we conducted an online debate, I felt that it broughtout more potential from the students to think and derive answers than when we were in the classroom." (Mr. Suzuki)
Some comments posted by the students expressed how happy they were to connect with their friends through Teams during the school closure,and he is convinced that Teams can support communication between the students.

Ms. Makiko Sato who is the school health professional is trying to take advantage of the interactive characteristic of ICT for the physical and mental
care of students in times of emergency. With the health observation card distributed for long school breaks, she always felt it was insufficient tosupport the students since the entry was inconsistent and it was difficult to grasp the necessary information when needed. To improve the situation,
she conducted a health observation using Microsoft Forms, a simple questionnaire feature. Ms. Sato expressed the benefit of using Forms, whichallows the teachers and the students to connect individually while protecting privacy, and delivering the physical condition of each student daily.
"The prolonged closure of schools is causing the reduction of social space, interaction with people and educational o pportunities, and stress onchildren. I will continue observing the mental aspects of the students on the assumption that some of them may experience difficulties going back toschool after it reopens."
At the time of school closure in March, a survey was taken on the connection
between teachers and classmates using Teams targeting the students who were partof the "one tablet per student" research program, and analyzed by the text mining
techniques. The results were positive, such as feel closer, able to speak, and easy touse. "I would like to consider providing individual consultations using the chatfunction in the future." (Ms. Sato) After she learned that some parents were concerned
about bad posture during remote learning, she created homemade videos to remind
the students of proper posture. Ms. Sato has been creative with her original ideas tokeep the students entertained and healthy.
After about a month of remote learning, Mr. Suzuki imagined that the students study what they want at their space while connecting with everyone
as an ideal concept of learning during the school closure. "Right now, it is a big turning point where the learning initiative is about to shift from school(teachers) to the students. Teachers will be required to have abilities to design classes, process information, and coordinate in the post-COVID-19
pandemic era. I will never stop thinking what should be prioritized in this new environment. When schools resume after the paused period, we must
review the meaning of school and re-define it." (Mr. Suzuki) "The ability to use information correctly is an essential skill to maintain a healthy life. Let
us overcome the crisis that we are all facing, and grow together," said Ms. Sato and concluded with encouragement.