Conference Review

Tech Day Plus 2013 ConferenceOsaka

Shaun D. Iwasawa
Kaisei Gakuen
On September 28 I had the pleasure of attending the Tech Day Plus 2013
Conference held at Otemae University, Osaka campus. The event was cosponsored by the Osaka and Kobe JALT Chapters. The conference was first heldin 2005 and has since been held annually except for a one-year hiatus in 2012.
This may have contributed to the slightly lower than normal attendance this year,
which, according to organizers, is usually 70 to 80 participants.
As the name suggests, the main focus of the conference was workshops
introducing new types of technology and how they can be used in and outsideof the classroom. More traditional workshops and paper presentations werealso available on such topics as classroom management and lesson planning.
Buzzwords such as Moodle, Moodle Reader, Evernote, and Wiki Spaces were thefocus topics for the day. Although I found all of the new technological jargon tobe overwhelming at first, the presenters showed how even the least tech savvy
teacher could use many of the showcased Web-based lessons.
From Inano Station, it was only a two-minute walk to the Otemae
University’s quaint campus where the event was held. Although small, thefacilities were adequate for the conference. Arriving early, I found the organizers
to be exceptionally friendly and punctual. The classrooms used were conveniently
centered on an open courtyard in a two-story horseshoe-shaped building. This
made it easy to find and move from one workshop to the next. The courtyard
also provided a seating area for participants to chat and share ideas before the63Iwasawa

conference started and during the breaks. Furthermore, adjacent to the courtyardwas an Oxford University Press representative who had a variety of textbooks at
his booth and was on hand to answer questions during the breaks.
The lunchtime recess was short, but fortunately there were plenty of eating
establishments nearby. Adjacent to the courtyard was a student shop, whichsold cup ramen, and there was a large shopping center with a grocery store andfood court that was a 10-minute walk away. Following the conference, organizers
arranged a social dinner at a local curry restaurant.
In regards to the facilities, all of the rooms were equipped with projectors
and screens at the front. In addition, all of the tech related workshops I attended
were in computer labs, which meant that participants not only had access to
two computer screens, they could view any PowerPoint slides or “How to” techrelated demonstrations both on the main screen at the front or on their individualmonitors. This made for a smoother learning experience, as it ensured that all
participants could visually follow what was being displayed on the main screen.
In some cases, this also gave participants the opportunity to try out the computer
programs that had been demonstrated.
The conference had a total of 24 workshops, and I attended seven of them;
however, I will only discuss the most prominent four. Dr. Thomas Robb was thekeynote speaker for the day. Dr. Robb is a professor at Kyoto Sangyo University
and past president of JALT. His years of teaching and presenting experience
showed in his easy-going and friendly presentation style. He was well organized,
readily answered our questions, and provided attendees with the opportunity totry out one of two programs.
The first program that he introduced attendees to was Moodle Reader(specifically, MReader), a free online reading program that tracks students’reading progress. Students start by reading a graded reader, then log onto their
MReader account and take a ten-question multiple-choice test. The test bankcontains tests for more than 3,000 commonly used graded readers from various
publishing companies.
Attendees also had the opportunity to test out the program. MReader could
benefit students at the upper middle school to university level. The advantages of64Tech Day Plus 2013 Conference- Osaka, OnCUE Journal, 8(1), pages 63-68

this program are that it is free, there is a large test bank, they can use the programat their own pace and time, and it is user friendly. However, the drawbacks
include access to graded readers, setting up accounts, and computer access.
Second, he explained Skype, which is a free video and voice-calling program.
He has students book time slots, and by using a pre-assigned conversation
framework, they talk with partners all over the globe. This program benefits
students by giving them the opportunity to practice speaking in addition to being
involved in an intercultural exchange. The challenges to the program were theamount of time needed to set it up, financial cost to the students, and ensuringthat students remembered their scheduled times.
The third and fourth period workshops illustrated how personalized Web
pages could be used to encourage students to work outside of the classroom. The
third period presentation was by a college English teacher Ms. Hiroko Sato, who
first spoke on the advantages of Evernote over Moodle and secondly how she had
used Evernote to extend her lessons outside of the classroom. Her presentation
was nicely organized and used well designed PowerPoint slides and charts tooutline the pros and cons of each program, which was effective at showing why
she preferred Evernote to Moodle. Students could upload their homework, viewnotes or lecture notes and take tests on Moodle. In contrast, Evernote is limited
to storing notes, pictures or to tag other links from the Internet. Using Evernote,
Ms. Sato had her students create home pages by assigning individual or group
tasks such as writing self-introductions, poems, and uploading voice recordingsand pictures.
Next, to increase the effectiveness of lesson plans and further student
participation, the speaker demonstrated how she applied Koji Fukuda’s (2011)
games theory to lessons using Evernote. She clearly outlined how Fukuda’s
games theory states that an activity should meet six criteria: 1) free choice ofparticipants, 2) a clear goal, 3) small steps, 4) quick and frequent feedback, 5)visualization, and 6) social interaction.
Overall, the workshop was presented in a smooth and well laid out mannerand sparked my interest enough to download and try Evernote. However, in partdue to time constraints, the presenter did not demonstrate how to use Evernote,65Iwasawa

nor did she give any examples of students’ work and how they had uploaded theinformation as the presenter in the fourth workshop did.
The fourth period, following a short lunch break, was a workshop by Mr.
Harry Carpet of Matsuyama University. Mr. Carpet showed how a student’s
language skills can improve through the use of Wiki Spaces. The speaker noted
the security advantages of Wiki Spaces over Facebook, as Wiki Spaces’ accountscan be set to member-only viewing. After completing similar tasks to Ms. Sato’sstudents, his students did presentations using their Wiki Pages. I found this tobe an informative and useful workshop. Although not revolutionary in nature,
the workshop was to the point, ran smoothly, and clearly outlined the speaker’spoints. The presenter effectively used the large screens at the front of the room
to provide a step-by-step demonstration of how he had students add pictures,
memos, and videos to their individualized web pages. Something the presenter
could have done to solidify his point would have been to showcase some of hisstudents’ work so that attendees could actually see the results of using Wiki Pages
in class.
The final tech-related presenter was Matt Luca, a full-time lecturer at Kansai
University, who focused on teaching TOEFL through Moodle. Mr. Luca did
a great job of explaining the general concept of how he had used Moodle toimprove students’ TOEFL scores. This included a chart with students’ test scores
before and after his course. Furthermore, he also outlined the advantages to theprogram. These included the fact that students worked outside the classroom,
feedback was given instantaneously as students’ work was forwarded to teachers’
smart phones, and progress was tracked. The speaker also noted the success ofthe online testing program built into the Moodle program, which simulates thereal TOEFL electronic test. Since implementing the program, he found thatstudents were better prepared for studying abroad. Although he acknowledged
experiencing difficulties setting up Moodle, these were outweighed by its manyadvantages.
Given the limited amount of time the presenter did a good job of providing
information about how he had implemented Moodle in his class and some ofthe ways it could be effective in improving students’ TOEFL scores. However,66

Tech Day Plus 2013 Conference- Osaka, OnCUE Journal, 8(1), pages 63-68

he did not demonstrate the program or how he had overcome some of the majordifficulties. This left participants with an idea of what the program could do, butlittle idea of what the program actually looked like or how to use it. In the future,
it would be advisable to give a quick demonstration of the program, especially for
those who are viewing it for the first time.
To conclude, Tech Day Plus proved to be a worthwhile event, which I
recommend to teachers looking to improve the impact of their classroom activities.
The presentations introduced an assortment of new and innovative ways to use
technology, both inside and outside of the classroom. My only recommendation,
after my years in Japan, is to hold a short closing ceremony to thank everybody forcoming, thus providing a feeling of closure for the day. Overall, this conference
was a solid event that taught participants new ways to motivate students, while
stimulating teachers to try new things.

References

Fukuda, K. (2011). Sosharu gemu wa naze hamaru no ka: Gemifikeshon gakaeru kokyaku manzoku. [Why are social games addictive? Gamification
will change your customers’ satisfaction.]. Tokyo: Softbank Creative.
Shaun Iwasawa has been teaching English in Japan for thepast eleven years. While on the JET Programme, he attained
his MA in Asia-Pacific Studies through Leeds University.
Although new to JALT, he has been actively publishing and has
contributions in several journals. He is presently working fulltime at Kaisei Gakuen. shauniwasawa@gmail.com
Received: October 10, 2013
Accepted: August 9, 2014
One of the primary aims of the CUE SIG is to support and recognize thedistinctive work of our members through a variety of awards and grants. For
outstanding articles in the OnCUE Journal or excellent conference presentations
67

Iwasawa

we offer the member or attendee nominated Reader’s Choice and Best of CUEAwards. CUE also supports our members’ interests in professional development
through the New Member Conference Grant, Member Support ConferenceGrant, and Member Research Grant, which aim to help members with little or no
institutional funding. To find more information about CUE awards and grants
and learn how to apply, please see our Web site. http://jaltcue.org/content/cuegrants-and-awards-2014
In this issue, we welcome the conference review written by Shaun Iwasawa.
He is a recipient of the New Member Conference Grant and consequently
applied his grant to a conference trip. Here, he shares some of his experiences
attending the event.

68