June 2018

FD NewsletterVol. 23 No.1
Vol. 23 No.1 June 2018

Contents:
1)

Coming Together For Better Service: CTL's New Offices

2)

Report on FD Activities-3)………………….……… 4

Academic English Support ( Proofreading )……………………………………………………. 6

Report on FD Seminars-

5)

Supporting English Reading Assignment through Group Tutorial

Teaching and Learning Support-

4)…………….…………………………… 1“Leadership Institute on Serving Students with Disabilities in Japan”……………………… 9Good ICT Tools-

An Overview with Examples from ICU Courses

6)

New Teaching Staff

7)

Editor’s Note…………………………………….…...…… 11…………………………………………….…..………….……………..……… 15……………………………..…………………………………………………………… 22

Coming Together For Better Service: CTL's New Offices
In April 2018, the Center for Teaching and
Learning (CTL) moved to the first floor of the
Othmer Library, successfully consolidating thelearning and teaching support functions that werepreviously scattered around the ICU campus onto
one floor. This enables us to provide assistance toboth students and faculty more effectively within
the same space, and we have the added advantage
of being located in the library. CTL Director
Jeremiah Alberg and Associate Director Hiroyuki
Kose share their thoughts on the future possibilitiesof the newly restructured CTL.

Jeremiah Alberg

physically together, to make things easier and more
efficient both for those seeking support as well as
for those delivering it.
In April 2015, when CTL first opened its doors
on the second floor of the ILC Building, it had thestaff for Faculty Development, TES and otherstudent surveys and the Digital Media Services.
The Academic Planning Office and the Special
Needs Student Services were located in otherbuildings. The Writing Support Desk was not partof CTL. This was not ideal, but we managed toform an identity as one unit working to support theeducational mission of the college and the graduate
school.

Director, Center for Teaching and Learning

We’ve moved! The CTL has a new home on thefirst floor of the Othmer Library. One could go so
far as to say, CTL finally has a home. Now in its
fourth year, the CTL has been able to consolidate
all of its operation into one building. This really is
the realization of vision for CTL that goes back to
the Committee, chaired by Pro. Hiroshi Suzuki,
that worked on its establishment in 2014. The
original idea was to have all the support services
for both Faculty and Student Development

CTL’s New Offices

There was one big development during those－1－June 2018

FD Newsletter

first two years and that was the start of the“Madoguchi” in the Honkan. This was an attempt
to bring the CTL to the Students and Faculty
instead of waiting for them to come. The staff really
worked hard at this and overcame their own
nervousness and fear of not being able to answer
the questions to make this service work. I am
grateful to them for their willingness to “go out” tothe people we serve.
The Madoguchi succeeded, but not in the way
we thought it might. There were plenty ofquestions to answer and problems to solve, but
most of them did not concern academic support.
Rather, they consisted of the human problems oflosing things, being too hot or too cold in aclassroom, being disturbed by a noise. None ofthese things were unimportant, but they were not
CTL’s main mission.
Being located in Library, puts CTL in the place
where both faculty and students come to study.
The largest part of the first floor of Othmer Libraryis dedicated to the “Learning Commons.” Most of
the tables and chairs here are light and mobile.
Groups can arrange them in a way that works forthem as they pursue group study. We also have
two study rooms where groups can gather and use
audiovisual equipment. Students can now see us
and the various services that are offered.
In particular the Writing Support Desk (WSD),
which was moved up from the basement floor of
the library and is now a part of CTL, is more visible
to students as they study. We hope that this willencourage more students to take advantage of its
services. Matsuki-san continues to do an excellent
job coordinating the work of our writing tutors. In
addition we continue to offer our Academic
English Support or Proofreading service. This isespecially valuable for students writing graduationtheses in English.

Vol. 23 No.1

The Academic Planning Office moved from the
Dialogue House and, as a part of that, IBS, now
conducts many of its activities here. Again, thehope is both that these offices will attract students
to the Library and that students who use the
Library will avail themselves of services offered.
We also have a small “Event Space,” where
workshops and colloquia can be conducted.
Naturally, we still refer people to other offices asnecessary. We will continue to work closely withour colleagues in the Counseling Center, Academic
Affairs, and Career Counseling to ensure student
success.
The Digital Media Service Center is no longer“next door” as it was in the ILC building. The staff
is together with everyone but still has slightly
separate space for the student workers who helpthem.
It is both encouraging and enlightening to beable to see our co-workers. We learn what eachother is doing and so learn ways to help one
another. Please drop by and see the newarrangements. If you have any suggestions forways in which we can improve, we would love tohear from you.

Hiroyuki Kose
Associate Director, Center for Teaching and Learning

We are delighted to have achieved our goal of
consolidating ICU’s various learning and teachingsupport services at CTL. To integrate these
services, we moved the CTL head office from the
ILC, the Academic Planning Center (APC;
currently Academic Planning Support [APS]) from
Dialogue House, and the Writing Support Desk
(WSD) from the library basement to join the SNSS
on the first floor of the Othmer Library. Since CTL
opened in 2015, we have aimed to establish acomprehensive teaching and learning support
system. Nevertheless, we have found it challenging
to bridge the distance between our center and thestudents/faculty, which we believe was largely due
to the inconvenient location of our offices.
Physically integrating our services is a huge step
forward. Moreover, we hope that relocating to aprime location like the library, which plays anessential role in ICU students' learning experience,
will continue to give rise to more unexpected and－2－June 2018

FD Newsletter

positive outcomes.
Given that the library is one of the first buildingsthat first-year students will visit at ICU, after the
University Hall (Honkan), CTL has certainly
become more visible. In April, the WSD’s tutoring
service saw the number of its users double
compared to the same time last year. Although we
don’t have specific numbers, there are also more
people consulting APS and its peer support branch,
ICU Brothers and Sisters (IBS), which is made up of
students who advise their fellow students on all
aspects of student life. Aside from its counseling on
course registration, IBS was not previously very
well known, with the exception of schoolwide
events and social media, but a training session heldin CTL’s event space the other day appears to havedrawn a great deal of attention from students who
happened to be in the vicinity. This space is also
the activity base of ICU Support × Support(commonly known as “Saposapo”), a separate
student peer support group under the SNSS, whichis engaged in fostering a culture in which“providing and receiving learning support are bothnatural.” The shared space naturally enables thesetwo peer support groups to stay in touch with eachother's activities and efforts on a day-to-day basis.
In addition, the new CTL also has an improved
working environment. Unlike the ILC, where
Digital Media Service Center (DMSC) staff felt
physically segregated from other staff, we are now
able to feel a sense of unity in one workplace, andwe can also provide IT / Moodle support moresmoothly by means of dedicated terminals.
Furthermore, we personally find it significant tohave a view of the learning commons from ouroffice space. We feel like parents who are able towatch over our children doing their homework at
the dining table, while we work in the kitchen. Our
new location enables us to pick up on the students’learning styles and needs, hear their voices, anddetect anything out of the norm, thereby helping us
to provide more targeted and fine-tuned support
services. We already have some professors who areencouraging their students to work on their group
tasks at CTL.
One challenge we face is that it is somewhat
inconvenient for part-time instructors to access ourservices. As they do not have a library card, theyVol. 23 No.1

cannot enter the library without having to call astaff member at the entrance. It is also regrettablethat our location in the library means we cannot
hold discussions with tea and snacks, as we did at
Dialogue House. Therefore, we would like toconsider ways to improve our services based on awide range of opinions and discussions.
If you are yet to visit the new CTL office, pleasefeel free to drop by next time you are in the libraryin search of books and materials. We would be
happy to give you a brief tour of our facilities at
any time. CTL offers advice and support for yourclasses (e.g. IT tools and flipped learning) andvarious student-related issues (e.g. poor grades orinternational students). As we are still in theprocess of building a new support framework, wewould greatly welcome your feedback andopinions.
Your
cooperationissincerely
appreciated. (English translation provided by CTL)

Writing Support Desk (WSD)ICU Support × Support “Saposapo”

ICU Brothers and Sisters (IBS)－3－

June 2018

FD NewsletterVol. 23 No.1

Report on FD Activities

Supporting English Reading Assignment through Group Tutorials
Akiko Fujii
Department of Education and Language Education

I would like to report on an experimental
initiative to offer support for English language
reading assignments in my course, Second Language
Acquisition and Learning, a 200-level course thatassumes fundamental knowledge taught in the 100level course Principles of Language Learning andTeaching. Enrollment for the Autumn 2017 term
was approximately 30 students. The course format
included lectures as well as class discussions basedon reading such as excerpts from academic books
and state-of-the-art academic journal articles.
Students were given 6 assignments during the term
which required them to read an academic article
and apply the content of the article to conduct
fieldwork or other form of analysis. For somestudents, reading the academic article in itself wasa challenge. However, I preferred to use class time
to explain the theoretical background or to discuss
the implications of the article, rather than on
checking comprehension of the article. Yet,
students also needed to develop their ability toread academic journal articles in English as a step
towards writing their senior thesis. I could see thatthe course was an opportunity for them to practicethe skills they learned in the ELA. Therefore, I
decided to try implementing group study sessions
for checking the comprehension of the articles
outside of class.
Luckily, I was also teaching a practicum course
for graduate students, titled Studies in Methods ofEnglish Teaching II Practicum. As part of thepracticum component of the graduate course, thegraduate students took responsibility for the groupstudy sessions, or “tutorials” for the undergraduate
class. I was inspired by my recollection of tutorials
with the graduate student tutor during my study
abroad experience at the University of Edinburgh,when I was an undergraduate. The tutor gave me agreat deal of valuable advice on my writing during
the tutorials.
In the graduate course, we first read articles onteaching academic reading. Then we also readabout cooperative learning and the graduate
students discussed their ideas for the tutorials.
Each graduate student then created a lesson planfor the tutorials. The tutorials were scheduled forthree different time slots during each week thattutorials were offered. Two to three graduate
students were assigned to each time slot (Eachgraduate student participated in two sessions).
They decided amongst themselves whether todivide the undergraduate students into small
groups or to team teach the students collectively as
one whole group. The graduate students were
given full authority over how to run the tutorials.
For each of the weeks that tutorials were offered (5in total), the graduate students wrote reflection
journals and shared their reflections on Moodle.
During the graduate course class time, we
discussed the reflections and how the tutorials
could be improved.
For the undergraduate students, attendance attutorials was required in principle. However, astudent could opt out by independently completingand submitting to me the reading comprehension
worksheet used in the tutorial. Several students
with native or native-like English proficiency didchoose this option and the high quality of theirwork seemed to suggest that English proficiency
may indeed be more important than knowledge ofthe field in being able to read and understand theassigned academic articles.
In general, the undergraduate students seemed
to appreciate the tutorials, as they were helpful forcompleting the assignments. The tutors, aiming todevelop the students’ critical reading skills,
devised graphic organizers and included reading
strategies in their lessons. Through trial and error,
the tutors also attempted to find ways to achieve alearner-centeredlearning
environment,
encouraging their students to feel confident about
participate in discussions about the reading text.
－4－June 2018

FD Newsletter

The effort and time the tutors invested in
preparingforthetutorials
undoubtedly
contributed to student satisfaction.
It is hoped that the students who participatedwill be able to apply what they learned when theywork on their senior thesis or in other courses. I
already know that the tutorial experience wasextremely beneficial for the graduate student
tutors.
The tutorials for this particular course werefeasible because of the pairing with the graduate
course. However, there must be other ways tomake tutorials happen. I hope it will be possible tofind other more sustainable ways of supporting
student learning.

－5－Vol. 23 No.1

June 2018

FD NewsletterVol. 23 No.1

Teaching and Learning Support

Academic English Support (Proofreading)
Kazuko Minami
Center for Teaching and Learning

BackgroundFor students scheduled to graduate in June, we
provided only face-to-face proofreading sessions.

ICU has been working toward increasing thepercentage of students writing their senior theses
in English to 45%. After considering various
measures to achieve this goal, primarily inconsultation with the Top Global University Project
Office, we decided to establish a proofreading
service for senior theses. We expected that thiswould lead to an increase in the number of Englishlanguage senior theses for the following reasons:Outline of the AES (Proofreading) Service
AES is a proofreading service provided byprofessional proofreaders. Two types of services
are offered.
1) Face-to-Face Proofreading:·1 resident proofreader 3 days a week·the student submits up to 5 pages (1500 words) in
the ICU senior thesis format· the proofreader proofreads the document inadvance· the proofreader explains the corrections madeduring a 30-minute face-to-face session.
(The benefit of a face-to-face meeting is thatstudents can ask the proofreader questions about
the corrections and seek clarification on the spot.)

1. Mitigating the burden on ICU faculty:
Professors will no longer need to spend time
pointing out trivial English errors, which will
enable them to concentrate on providing
guidance on the actual content of the senior
thesis and other essential aspects of their role asadvisors.
2. Reducing the psychological hurdle for students:
The students' anxieties about writing in English
will be eased.

2) Proofreading via Email:·the student submits up to 5 pages (1500 words) in
the ICU senior thesis format·the file is submitted in an email attachment·1 of 5 proofreaders proofreads the document
within 2 days
·the proofread document is returned by email*Note that any questions about the proofreader’scomments cannot be answered via this option.
(The benefit of this email service is that students
can send and receive documents in their own time
at home.)We started offering the Academic English
Support (AES) service from November 2016. It was
targeted toward students who were scheduled tograduate in March 2017. At first, we only offeredface-to-face proofreading sessions for students with
our resident proofreader at CTL. However, as thedeadline for submission of the senior thesis
approached in December, the number of applicants
increased rapidly, making it difficult for them toreserve a session. Therefore, from January 11 toJanuary 29, 2017, which we expected to be thebusiest period, we hired five proofreaders andadded a proofreading service via email. Bothservices had high utilization rates and high user
satisfaction levels. As there are usually fewer
students planning to graduate in June 2017, we
assumed that the utilization rate would be low.
Consequently, we decided to offer only face-to-face
proofreading sessions, starting from March 1, 2017.
In AY 2017, the second year of the AES service,
we followed the same structure as in the first year.
We offered two types of services to students whoplanned to graduate in March: face-to-face
proofreading sessions and proofreading via email.

A face-to-face proofreading session at CTL.

Details about the AES service are available via the
URLs below.
－6－June 2018

FD Newsletter

In Japanese:
http://ctl.info.icu.ac.jp/services/learning-support/aes-1#ja-

In English:
http://ctl.info.icu.ac.jp/services/learning-support/aes-1#en

Usage Statistics
For students who graduated in March 2017
Face-to-Face Proofreading
No. of Applicants: 61
Period: November 8, 2016 – January 31, 2017
No. of Proofreaders: 1
Proofreading via EmailNo. of Applicants: 102
Period: January 11, 2017 – January 29, 2017
No. of Proofreaders: 5

-

-

-

For students who graduated in June 2017
Face-to-Face Proofreading
No. of Applicants: 18
Period: March 1, 2017 – May 31, 2017
No. of Proofreaders: 1
For students who graduated in March 2018
Face-to-Face Proofreading
No. of Applicants: 37
Period: November 1, 2017 – January 31, 2018
No. of Proofreaders: 1
Proofreading via EmailNo. of Applicants: 154
Period: December 1, 2017 – January 27, 2018
No. of Proofreaders: 5
For students graduating in June 2018 (as of May
18, 2018)
Face-to-Face Proofreading
No. of Applicants: 4
Period: March 1, 2018 – May 31, 2018
No. of Proofreaders: 1
Current Situation and Issues
As the percentage of English-language seniortheses increased to 35% in 2016, 4% higher than in
the previous year, the AES service appeared tohave achieved some measure of success.
Nevertheless, in the second year we identified anumber of challenges to be addressed. A selectionof feedback from both students and their advisors
is presented below.
Feedback from students who have utilized the
AES service :- “I would like to make use of the proofreading
service for other writing assignments as well,--Vol. 23 No.1

such as class papers.”“I sometimes got confused because theproofreaders differed in the level of detail withwhich they provided advice and in some of
their viewpoints.”“I am satisfied because the document was
returned quickly by email and I found thecorrections and advice helpful when revising
my draft.”“The careful corrections and detailed advice on
English style helped me to improve my draft,and I was able to apply what I had learned laterin writing the rest of my thesis and preparing
presentations.”“As undergraduate students were prioritized
during the busiest period for bookings, I felt
pressured to book a session before my draft was
sufficiently written. I’d like you to improve thesystem by increasing the number of
proofreaders or offering the service earlier sothat master’s students will not be restricted inthis way.”“I found it hard to understand the reservation
system.”“I felt uncomfortable making a reservation
when I had not yet finished writing my draft
properly.”“I would like you to offer face-to-face
proofreading sessions via Skype.”“It would be even better if there were
proofreaders who understood the terminology
used in my field.”

Comments from professors whose advisees have
utilized the AES service
-

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－7－

Some for students who are willing to take on
the challenge of writing in English, it is a usefulservice that will enable them to submit their
thesis with more confidence.
As the proofreaders have taken on some of the
responsibilities that I have had to assume in thepast, advisors like myself can now focus onadvising my students about the actual content
of their thesis.
Please have all students use it. Use Chicagostyle references please.
I think it is a valuable service to offer that helps
to demonstrate support for the student
undertaking the thesis. It's good to know theuniversity cares!
Some students need extra help when writing in
English.
Very important for ICU's bilingual education.

June 2018

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Students greatly improve their writing, and ICU
as a whole looks better with better writtentheses.
There are limitations in how much a non-native
English-speaking professor can check thelanguage, so please continue providing thisservice.
I think there’s only so much proofreaders cando if they don’t have any knowledge of the fieldin question. If possible, please arrange for
proofreaders who have some understanding ofdifferent fields.
The senior thesis should be exposed to as manyeyes as possible, so I think the AES provides avalid service in that regard as well.

The comments from students who have used the
AES service, as well as those from their advisors,offer many useful suggestions for improvements toour system.
Among the many issues to be addressed, we
believe our biggest priority is to secure a stablelineup of proofreaders first. When the submission
deadline for the senior thesis or master’s thesis
approaches, we receive an influx of applicants for
the AES service, and it is difficult to balance supply
and demand. Responding to the needs of potential
applicants will help us to assist students who are
writing their senior thesis in English and lead to an
improvement in the percentage of Englishlanguage senior theses at ICU. Therefore, securing
a stable supply of proofreaders is essential toenable as many students as possible to make use of
our services.
Another idea is to consider providing
proofreading assistance to students at an earlier
stage, before they even start writing their senior
thesis. By utilizing what they have learned in each
new writing assignment, they could continue
improving their English writing skills until theyreach the stage of their senior thesis, which would
be the culmination of their years of academic
writing experience at university.
We aim to continue reviewing and improving
the AES service by collecting and analyzing
feedback from students and faculty.
(English translation provided by CTL)

－8－

Vol. 23 No.1

June 2018

FD NewsletterVol. 23 No.1

Report on FD Seminars

Report on “Leadership Institute on Serving Students with Disabilities inJapan” at the Institute for Community Inclusion,
University of Massachusetts Boston
Hiroya Banzono
Center for Teaching and Learning

Since the first enrollment of visually impaired
students at ICU in the late 1970s, the university has
strived to create a conducive learning environment
for students with disabilities. As a result of these
efforts, the number of students with disabilities at
ICU has increased, especially after Japan’s Law to
Eliminate Discrimination against People with
Disabilities came into effect in 2016. There are two
major areas in which challenges remain: the needfor further systemic improvements to provide a
universal
learning
environment
andtheestablishment of a career/transition support system
to continue assisting students with disabilities after
they graduate.
In order to address these challenges, CTL has
provided opportunities for staff to learn from bestpractices overseas, beginning with visits to the
University of Washington and Seattle Central
College in AY 2016 (see FD Newsletter 2016, vol. 22).
This was followed by the second round of training
from 2017 to 2018, during which my CTL colleague
Ms. Kazuko Minami and I participated in the "Leadership Institute on Serving Students with
Disabilities in Japan " at the Institute forCommunity Inclusion, University of Massachusetts
Boston. CTL will also present a report at the 2018
AHEAD JAPAN conference in June, prepare our
final report in August, and continue to provide
support for the third round of trainees. In thisreport, however, I will focus on aspects of thisyear’s training that may be most useful for the ICU
context.
Training Outline
The program consisted of on-site training in
Boston from October 22 to 27, 2017, as well as preand post-training webinars through which we
formulated action plans to be implemented during
the on-site training, and submitted progress reports
and feedback. There were also participants fromthe University of Toyama and Nagoya University,
which are both institutions that have madeprogressive efforts in supporting students withdisabilities. The opportunity to share our ideas andexperiences with those who are actively engaged in
the same field was one of the highlights of thisprogram.
The training program consisted of the following:
Pre-training Webinars (4 sessions): “Important Laws
and Policies Pertaining to Disability and Higher
Education in the US,” "Career- and EmploymentFocused Disability Services in Higher Education
Institutions in the US," "History and Overview ofStudent Disability Support Services in Higher
Education in the US,” “Investigation of Disability
Complaints in the US: An Introduction,” and“Disability and Career Support Services inJapanese Higher Education Institutions.”
On-Site Training in Boston (5 days): “Self-determination
and Career Planning for College Students,”“Universal Design for Learning in Higher
Education,” “Consideration: The Individual andthe University As a Whole,” “Visit to Tufts
University’s Student Accessibility Services (SAS),”“Visit to Northeastern University’s Disability
Resource Center (DRC) and Lecture on the Co-op
Educational Program,” and “Cooperation with
State Agencies: Lecture by Staff from the
Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.”
Post-Training Webinars (2 sessions): “Progress Report on
Action Plans and Feedback” and “Self Advocacy.”
What I Learned through the Training Program
Student Disability Support Systems as Rights Protection
Infrastructure
What I felt most strongly during the training wasthat at US colleges, student disability support
services are not seen as a special measure but are－9－June 2018

FD Newsletter

established and functioning within each institution
as a form of infrastructure for guaranteeing
students’ rights. In the background to this are antidiscrimination laws that protect the rights ofpeople with disabilities: the Rehabilitation Act of1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) of 1990. These laws prohibit discrimination
by universities and other public institutions, aswell as organizations that receive federal funding.
Subsidies may be terminated and other penalties
imposed for discrimination, such as the failure toprovide reasonable accommodation.
Based on this legal framework, each university
has their own system and staff to support students
with disabilities. Besides the coordinator who is
responsible for providing assistance, there is also
an ADA Coordinator whose responsibility is toreceive complaints from students, and tocoordinate the university’s programs and processes
to ensure compliance with laws and regulations
pertaining to people with disabilities. In Japan, theLaw to Eliminate Discrimination against People
with Disabilities was enacted in 2016, and ICU has
established a support service, but only a small
number of complaints have been lodged to date.
Therefore, we found that there was a great deal tobe learned from the US colleges and the expertiseof their staff. The program also helped us to
identify and clarify issues for future consideration.
Three Approaches to Working with Students with
Disabilities
In addition, students with disabilities in US
colleges make up around 10% of the undergraduate
student population, compared about 1% in Japan.
Therefore, I think that the US college support
systems provide useful precedents from which we
can learn, in view of the increasing demand forsupport services at ICU. US colleges with bestpractices such as Tufts University andNortheastern University, which we visited during
the training program, have three approaches todisability support: “provision of reasonableaccommodation,” “Universal Design for Learning(UDL),” and “fostering students’ self-advocacy
skills.”The provision of reasonable accommodation
includes optimizing the environment to efficiently

Vol. 23 No.1

coordinate administrative processes by, forexample, setting up an online system forsubmitting requests to faculty for consideration. An
example of reasonable accommodation is making
special examination arrangements, such as
extending exam times or allowing students withevidenced concentration or anxiety problems in abusy environment to take the exam in a separate
room. While these measures are now commonly
implemented at Japanese universities, including
ICU, the rising number of students with disabilities
has led to a greater demand for exam supervisors
and additional rooms. Moreover, at ICU, whenexams are held in the University Hall (Honkan), forexample, the extended examination time overlaps
with the other students’ recess, which means thatthe quiet environment we try to provide isinterrupted by voices and other sounds. As
universities differ in size, not every measure is
feasible for a small university like ICU, but we stillfound it useful to learn about the ideas andconsiderations put into the design of testing centers
at US colleges.

A testing room at Northeastern University. An
electronic Magnifying System for students with visualdisability and PC are set up in the room.

UDL refers to a philosophy for designing anaccessible learning environment not only for thosewith disabilities, but for all kinds of diverse
learners who differ in their linguistic backgrounds,
learning experiences, interests, and concerns. I
think this is a valuable perspective for ICU, in viewof our bilingual Japanese and English education
model and our many students who have attended
secondary schools outside Japan. During thetraining program, we attended a lecture onpractical strategies to advance UDL, by Ms. Kirsten
T. Behling, director of the SAS office at Tufts
University. I was particularly struck by her point－ 10 －

June 2018that we should identify the UDL practices on
campus that already exist, and her emphasis on
the “plus one” approach of just adding one
more element to what we are doing now, rather
than aiming to do everything at once. We are
currently working on creating a database of
survey results on student support at ICU,
focusing on reasonable accommodations
provided by our faculty so far, which we hope
will prove useful for enhancing our services.
We are also discussing the possibility of sharing
examples pertaining to UDL.

FD NewsletterVol. 23 No.1

respective institutions. As I mentioned in the
introduction, ICU has seen an increasing numberof enrollments by students with disabilities, manyof whom are now approaching graduation.
Therefore, we set the following three goals as partof our action plan, which we are now in theprocess of implementing: (1) to establish a career
support system for students, (2) to strengthen ourlearning support system for students, and (3) tostrengthen cooperation with faculty and staff
through outreach activities. I will report on theaction plan and its progress/achievements in a
separate article later. For now, I can report that wehave made some progress with our first goal, theestablishment of a career support system forstudents, thanks to the generous cooperation andassistance of the Placement Group.

Workshop by Assistive Technology Specialist at Tufts
University.

Fostering students’ self-advocacy skills is anarea in which ICU still has room to address inthe future. Initiatives in the US that we foundinstructive
includethecreationanddissemination of learning materials withconcrete examples of situations to teachstudents how to express themselves to faculty
to ensure they receive the consideration theyneed. This was used along with individualadvising. It is also important for support staff
and faculty to be good listeners whom students
can trust, as once students are properly heard,
they can build on their experience and further
develop their own self-advocacy skills.
Therefore, in addition to their student-focused
approach, the US colleges place great emphasis
on faculty and staff development (FD and SD);
thus awareness and outreach efforts are a highpriority for the support staff.

Plesentation of Action Plan.

Conclusion
Due to limitations of space, I could not elaborate
on all the things we learned from the training
program. We intend to apply our newly acquired
knowledge and skills as much as possible for the
benefit of the university. Please feel free to contact
us at CTL if you are interested in hearing more
about our training experiences.
(English translation provided by CTL)

Creating and Implementing an Action Plan
As part of this training program, we were
tasked with preparing and implementing anaction plan to resolve challenges faced at our－ 11 －

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FD NewsletterVol. 23 No.1

Good ICT Tools

ICT Tools to Support Teaching and Learning:
An Overview with Examples from ICU Courses
Asuka Asano
Center for Teaching and Learning

Digital teaching materials and ICT tools are increasingly being adopted at our university owing to theworldwide spread of public online courses such as OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Massive Online OpenCourse (MOOC), as well as the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, which has enabled videos to berecorded and viewed easily “anywhere, any time, and by anyone.”
By converting lecture content that was previously taught in the classroom to digital teaching materials
for preliminary learning, it has become possible to use class time more interactively for discussion andgroup work. The use of ICT tools also helps to increase students’ learning time outside the classroom, andthe repeated use of digital teaching materials can reduce the time that instructors spend on lesson
preparation. It is also possible to use a learning management system (LMS) such as Moodle or Google
Classroom, which can be combined with assignments and assessments. This article presents some of theways in which these tools can be used, with specific examples of their application and content creation
methods in ICU courses.
Examples from ICU Courses
 Example 1 [Preliminary Learning] Practice Exercise
ANT212 “Demographic anthropology”(2017 Winter) Prof. MORIKI, Yoshie

Application

Convert the “practice exercise” to an online
video format, and assign it as a preliminary
learning task, as it is difficult to complete
within the set class time.
1) Create content of the “practice exercise”(upload additional explanations to Moodle)
2) Post answers on the Moodle ForumICT Tools

Cloud Campus / Moodle

No. of Course
Participants

61

 Example 2【Online Lecture】
GES027 “New Media and Society in Everyday Life” (2017 Winter) Prof. JUNG, Joo-Young

Application

Create an online lecture1) Record and upload online lecture on
Cloud Campus→share the lecture on Moodle
2) Post an assignment (2 questions pertaining
to the online lecture)

ICT Tools

Cloud Campus / Moodle

No. of Course
Participants

61

 Example 3【Classroom-based Task】Group Presentation
JPS101 “Introduction to Japan Studies” (2018 Spring) Prof. BONDY, Christopher

Application”Pecha Kucha Video”: Using methods
described in *1), students are divided
randomly into groups choose a theme. They
create a slide and record a video narration inclass, which is then shared on Moodle.

ICT Tools

Cloud Campus / Moodle

No. of Course
Participants

21 (10 pairs）*1 Please see “Good ICT Tools-iJapan: Flipping the Classroom, Interactive Learning and Japan Studies,”
FDNewsletter 21, no 2 ( March 2017)－ 12 －

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Other Applications
Pronunciation review exercises in language courses
Supporting materials for open campus courses in English

Voice of Experience
As the Anthropology Area Major course “Demographic Anthropology” needs to cover content on both
demography and anthropology, the question of when and how to communicate technical concepts
presented a challenge. For example, there is a standard demographic indicator called the total fertility rate
(TFR). In order to understand the causes of the extremely low birth rate in Japan and to consider its
cultural meaning, it is important for students not only to learn the definition but also to calculate birthrates with their own hands. However, it was difficult to secure the time for everything from the calculation
to evaluation of the meaning within the set class time. Therefore, this year, I tried implementing the"flipped classroom" method by posting a video of myself introducing the TFR indicator and explaining the
calculation method and data on Moodle. Students were tasked with watching the video before class,calculating the TFR, and posting their answers on Moodle. By flipping the classroom, I enabled students tocomplete the computation in their own time before class (some students used Excel, whereas others
simply calculated on paper). This also enabled me to allocate sufficient class time to a comprehensive
discussion of the issues from an anthropological perspective. I was rather embarrassed about having torecord myself on video, but I was happy with the outcome for the course, so I plan to continue making useof these tools next year. (English translation provided by CTL)
(Yoshie MORIKI, Department of Society, Culture, and Media)
In the Winter Term of 2018 for my General Education course titled New Media and Society in Everyday
Life, I utilized Cloud Campus to record one of my lectures for flipped learning. The content of the lecture
was about two major perspectives in understanding the relationship between communication technology
and society: technological determinism and social shaping of technology. Students’ understanding of thetwo perspectives was crucial for my course and I wanted to spend sufficient time discussing theperspectives and applying them to everyday life examples. Considering the limited class time, I decided to
employ the flipped classroom for this unit. I recorded a 40-minute lecture in my office with PowerPoint
slides showing on the side. I received detailed instructions from the Center for Teaching and Learning
office on how to record a lecture and link it to Moodle. The process was smooth. Students were instructed
to watch my lecture before a regular class and upload their comments or questions about the online
lecture on Moodle. In the class after the online lecture, I shared several comments and questions from thestudents and also raised several discussion questions, which led to a productive class discussion. I
recommend the flipped classroom to those who wish to maximize the class time for questions & answers
and discussion. Particularly when you have to teach relatively abstract theories or concepts, it would be
worthwhile to have students watch your lecture in advance and use the class time to give students anopportunity to apply the theories/concepts to actual cases or examples.
(Joo-Young, JUNG, Department of Society, Culture, and Media)－ 13 －

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Content Creation Methods
1)

Web Applications
You can create an online video anywhere as long you have a PC with a webcam (internal or external), as
well as an Internet connection. Your video can be shared and viewed on Moodle. At ICU, we use the
Cloud Campus Web application as a platform to create learning materials and enable recordings with
PDFs, video, and audio.
Please see “’Flipping’ a Classroom,” FD Newsletter 21, no. 2 (March 2017).

2)

Screen Capture Software + Video / Audio Recordings
Video and audio recordings can also be made using QuickTime on Macs or the screen capture software
installed on the PCs (Windows) that are available for loan from the help desk. As the recorded videos
can be saved (in different formats) on your computer, they can be used in versatile ways, such as sharing
through Google Drive or on a website. It is also possible to convert PowerPoint text to audio using thebuilt-in Speak text-to-speech feature (in Japanese or English) and record it.

3)

iPad Screen Capture + Audio Recordings
The standard screen capture feature on iPads can also be used for content
creation. While viewing a document on the screen,] you can easily convert
the text to audio, and share it through Google Drive.

Further Information
Online video technology continues to develop at a rapid pace, with the release of all kinds of new userfriendly and functional tools. At CTL, we introduce optimum tools to suit different learning contexts,
purposes, and methods. We can also provide access to a collection of “copyright-free” material that can beused for content creation. Please feel free to consult us at CTL for further information. We are located on thefirst floor of the Othmer Library.
[CTL-Web] copyright-free material (links):
https://sites.google.com/a/info.icu.ac.jp/ctl/services/edu-support/policies-and/copyright/free-materials(English translation provided by CTL)

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Editor’s Note
We are pleased to present the 2018 Spring/Summer issue of the FD Newsletter. By the time you
receive this newsletter, the spring term will be coming to a close.
The lead article features the relocation of CTL to the Othmer Library. For both the CTL andlibrary staff involved, the spring term was chaotic. Change sometimes leads to confusion, but as oneof the staff members myself, I was keenly aware that a dramatic change of tack was needed to throw
open the doors to a new future. Moving to the library has enabled us at CTL to directly observe
students and professors in their learning and research endeavors. I believe I am not alone among thestaff in sensing that it has improved our ability to discern and identify problems and made it easierfor us to provide appropriate support and solutions.
Now that we’ve set up all the hardware, our next step is to focus on collaboration andcooperation. To help us embark on a new stage for CTL, we’d welcome your candid thoughts andadvice on the kinds of support you need, and what we can do to deliver that support mosteffectively. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Finally, I would like to say thank you to all those who have contributed to this issue of the FD
Newsletter. If you have any thoughts or comments about the articles in this newsletter or about CTL,
please do not hesitate to email ctl@icu.ac.jp. Of course, contributions to the FD Newsletter are always
welcome.
Kazuko Minami
Center for Teaching and Learning

Published by Center for Teaching and Learning
International Christian University
Othmer Library 1F 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8585 Japan
Phone: (0422) 33-3365 Email: ctl@icu.ac.jp－ 22 －