REPORT Artmile International Collaborative Learning 2023
Country/Region [ Taiwan ]School [ Lu Jiang International School ] Teacher [ Rita Huang / Ladarcy Wang ] Grade ( 8 ) Member ( 80 )JP School [ Ibaraki Prefectural Junior high school affiliated with Shimotsuma 1st high school ]Teacher [ Takahiro Seta ]# Subjects, Activities and Hours of the lessons
SubjectConception of the lesson✥Introduce self, school, town, and country✥Teach postcard writing✥Record the postcards
English✥Learn English terms about the targeted SDGs, such as renewable energies
and ocean acidification✥Practice oral presentation skills✥Understand the energy crisis and the needs of renewable energy
Local Exploration ✥Analyze the advantages of developing offshore wind energy near our school✥Organize postcard contents through graphic organizers✥Design badges with student names and Taiwanese & Japanese features
Art✥Practice drawing the chosen elements on the mural✥Create videos about self-introduction, focused SDGs, badge design, andculture sharing
ICT✥Display exchange postcards on Padlet website✥Search the Internet for related references✥Edit the forms and PPT slides for school feedback during online meetings

Hours85615# Theme and Message of the mural
We can protect cultural heritages and live in sustainable cities and communities byTheme
improving local road safety and transportation systems.
After researching and studying our topic, both schools found that if we improve
local traffic issues and transportation systems, we can make cities and communities
sustainable and meanwhile protect local cultural heritages.
Here are some examples from the mural that support these ideas. The mural isMessage
divided into the Japanese and Taiwanese local environment. In the middle of the mural,
United thoughts to
we both pictured the local transportation system we would like to improve, namely buses
share with the world
and trains. For the rest of the parts, we focus on the street views and heritages weplanned to protect after applying the improvement. The mural painting symbolizes thatby providing access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transport systems, we can create
sustainable cities and communities for people to live in.

# Effects and Problems
Effects your students have gained
In the process of researching topics related to SDG11,
our students have gained a greater awareness andunderstanding of the urban environment around themand how it affects their lives. Faced with real-world
traffic and street design issues, the students wereable to come up with practical, feasible solutions. This
is in line with recent changes undertaken by the local
government in Lukang to improve road markings andtraffic flow.

Points for further improvement
In comparison with last year’s video conference,
this year’s experience was much improved. Our
students were better prepared and had more timeto interact. However, in the lead-up to the meeting,the earnestness and efficiency of some student
groups left something to be desired.

# How has your impression toward your partner’s country/region and the world changed?
Changes in the students
Changes in the teachers
This year’s exchange gave our students an Our Japanese counterparts have consistently
opportunity to challenge their preconceptions of proven themselves to be hardworking, polite, andJapan and its people. Although Taiwanese people responsive collaborators. Their professionalism
generally are quite fond of Japan and its people, most inspires our teachers and students to strive toward
have only superficial knowledge of the country and greater goals together.
may be prone to stereotypes. This course enriched
our students’ understanding of Japan by examining
the nation’s festivals, traditional crafts, cuisine, andlanguage. Going into the video conference, ourstudents had already gained a significant amount of
cultural knowledge.

# Flow of the Activity
ContentMonthRESEARCH
the theme

SHARE
with thepartner

Jun.
Sep.

Oct.

What you did
1.Introduce the concepts ofSDG11:
The teacher taught theconcepts of sustainable
cities and villages: the link
between public
transportation andsustainable cities.

Your students’ attitude/reflection
At first, the students did not understand
SDG11, but after the teacher teamtaught the concepts and from their
feedback on what they learned today, it
was found that the students had
grasped the core concepts of Goal11.

2.Observe commuting ways
to school:
Afterreviewing
theconcepts of sustainable
cities, the teacher teamstarted linking students'
route-to-school
experiences to discusssustainable transport andstreet connectivity further.

Students used Google Maps to draw out
their commuting ways and then deeply
think about their pros and cons of them.

3.Traffic issues mind map:
My students organized theircommute patterns andobserved six issues whencommuting to school. Basedon these issues, theteachers
sharedsome
possible solutions based onother countries' policies andtheir traveling experiences.

Students in groups further discussed
the feasible solutions for the issue
they were responsible for. The
discussion process boosted theircritical-thinking skills and helped themtry to solve the local problems.

The connection between
SDG11andLukang
scenarios:
Based on Lukang street
scenarios, the teacher teamguided the students to think
the pros and cons of thelocal transportation systemon the community, culturalmonuments,
andlivingenvironment.

Students discussed feasible solutions ingroups and drew solutions on the map.
They also shared their learning reportwith the partners on the forum.

Subject

Local
ExplorationEnglishEnglishICTUNITEthe thoughts

CREATEthe mural

APPRECIATE
the wholelearning

Nov.

Dec.
Jan.
Feb.

Mar.

How to organize the learning
outcomes:
The teacher team provided
the outlet for the slides sothat students can organizeand compile their learningthoughts.

Students made PowerPoints to unitewhat they learned in class and present
their learning outcomes through grouppresentations.

1.Muralpainting
draft
discussion:
Based on the bottom half ofthe mural that was firstcompleted by the Japanese
students, our teachers
consulted
withtheirstudents about ideas on how
to complete the upper half ofthe mural. The students also
used iPad drawing apps topresent their draft.

The process of drawing the mural was
fun and interesting. Our students drew
the local bus system driving to Japan toshow our good friendship. While thestudents painted their part, they learned
that they realized the importance ofcommunicating and working together ifthey wanted to accomplish something.

(↑LJIS mural painting draft)

2.Present the mural designconcepts during the morning
assembly:
Our
teacherteam
recommended that thestudent leaders present theJapanese Mural Project wecompleted with SJHS thisyear during the morning
assembly.

Besides presenting the SDG concepts
through the painting, students reflectedthat conveying their emotions throughthepaintbrushdeepenedtheir
understanding of art and interpersonal
relationships, making it a rich andunforgettable learning experience.

Online Meeting with SJHS:
Before the meeting, ourteachers first guided thestudents to fill out a form toreflect on the whole projectprocess step by step. Then,
teachers organized thestudents’ responses into
PowerPoint slides. At thesame time, students listed
some interesting questions
they could ask their
Japanese friends during
Q&A time.

Through the goal of sustainable cities
and communities, students analyzed
the difficulties and solutions of thelocal transportation environment. At
the same time, they exchanged withJapan to learn about their urbandifficulties and methods ofimprovement. In this interaction, theylearned to appreciate the differencesand diversities of each other's cultures.

EnglishICTArt
EnglishICT

EnglishICT

# Effect and evaluation gained through the collaborative learning
Evaluation: Rank 5 to 1 (5: very effective / 4: effective / 3: so- so / 2: not so effective / 1: not effective at all)

Expected effectEvaluation

Cross-cultural
understanding

4

Active learning

4

Critical thinking

4Collaborating withdifferent people

3

Expressing in words,in shape

4

Scenes and reasons that teachers felt the effects
Through detailed and carefully planned course materials, our students
were able to expand their cultural knowledge. Students delved deeper
below the surface level of Japanese culture, and when the time camefor the video conference they were well-prepared. Our students andteachers also appreciated our Japanese counterparts’ thoughtfulquestions, which helped deepen both parties’ cultural understanding.
Once presented with their tasks, our students took it upon themselvesto conduct further research, working independently. Although there
were hiccups in some groups, the students as a whole showed theircommitment to the project.
Many parts of this project, especially solving traffic problems anddesigning the mural, required students to think critically. In the end,students and their instructors were pleased with the results. Our
students were able to come up with practical solutions to local traffic
issues and create a rich mural that encapsulates our town.
As mentioned above, our students exhibited their critical thinking skills
and creativity throughout this project. In terms of group work, themajority of student groups completed their work in an efficient andtimely manner. There were, however, some places where collaboration
could be improved. For instance, some student groups struggled tocomplete their work on time, and there were also issues with file
management. Although these issues do little to detract from the overall
quality of the work presented, in coming projects our teachers willreiterate best practices in order to avoid such hiccups.
Communicating with foreigners can be challenging, having to overcome
cultural and linguistic barriers. In this year’s Artmile Project, ourstudents managed this task quite well. Our students did their best tocommunicate in English, with some even using their counterparts’native Japanese for greetings and basic communication. Whencommunicating in English, there was a shared understanding thateveryone was speaking a foreign language, which increased mutual
patience and understanding. With regard to visual expression, ourstudents learned the basics of poster and presentation design, resulting
in eye-catching and succinct designs.