In this study, we aimed to develop learning materials for modeling using everyday subjects for students from upper elementary to junior high school. We used the Model-Driven Development methodology to create a learning environment focused on controlling a familiar household appliance -a washing machine. A trial lesson with 12 junior high school students showed that the materials effectively engaged the learners and achieved the intended educational objectives.

This study aims to contribute to the advancement of STEAM education and foster independent learning experiences for students. The focus is on proposing and developing a hands-on learning tool tailored for the “Nature of Sound” unit in junior high school science classes. The learning material, centered around a thumb-sized microcomputer, facilitates an interactive approach. Students engage by holding and shaking the device, exploring the relationship between wave amplitude and frequency, and the resulting volume and pitch of sound. The tool responds by displaying a waveform and generating corresponding sounds based on the amplitude and frequency of the shake. Through repeated observations of waveforms and sound outputs, students are encouraged to discern the connection between their shaking motion and the resulting sound characteristics. In this paper, we introduced the ViVi, a hands-on learning material utilizing a thumb-sized microcomputer, designed for the “Nature of Sound” unit in junior high school science classes. The ViVi stands out for offering experiential learning, where “the learner becomes the source of sound” by physically shaking the materials. This paper Also outlines the design and implementation of the learning material and presents the evaluation results obtained during its application in a formal class at a Japanese public junior high school.

This study develops educational material focusing on the controlling illumination and message-handling with communication networks using programming in the context of STEAM education. The proposed material provides hands-on learning regarding the configuration of information and communication networks through the creation of interactive digital content using programming and art. The research question of this paper is that “can the learning about configuration of information and communication networks in the context of STEAM education be beneficial for students?” These materials are developed to support learning in junior high school technology and high school information studies using only one learning system, named the PICAPICA-Z. In the proposed educational material, the micro: bit is used as the main control device. By extending the Makecode, which is the programming environment for the micro: bit, we propose a smart learning environment that supports the understanding of interactive programming and information communication network architecture. The PICAPICA-Z is one of extended version of the original PICAPICA-project.

The STEAM approach in education has been gaining increasing popularity over the last decade. This is due to its potential in enhancing students' learning, when teaching arts and scientific disciplines together. This paper introduces the PICA-PICA concept, where we aim to develop a smart customisable environment, combining, in a unique way, teaching programming in conjunction with the engineering of artworks. The PICA-PICA concept was implemented, used and tested in real-life, by upper primary school students in Japan, during a 4-day workshop. Initial results illustrated the quality of the solution proposed by PICA-PICA. We noted that the integration was perceived as smooth, and not contrived: all participants understood how to use the PICA-PICA environment to engineer programmable art objects. Furthermore, the PICA-PICA approach led to high motivation: children did not get bored and were fully engaged. Finally, the quality of their work as a learning outcome was high: by including a programming segment with the other expressive activities in the artwork, the children were able to design the electronics in a more concentrated and meaningful way than their curriculum-structured learning. This study also presents an innovative implementation of the STEAM approach using Micro:bits technology to create exciting artwork whilst using household recyclable items, which also teaches about sustainability. The involvement of parents and their interest in learning is another unique aspect of this study.

This study aims to explore educational methods for conceptual modeling for novices. The subjects of this study are primarily Grade 9 students in secondary school who are enrolled in compulsory education. This study relies heavily on model-driven development (MDD) and a domain-specific language (DSL). Using MDD, learners are not asked to write code, but rather to create a model to evaluate their model by observing the behavior of the target device. Teachers can control the difficulty of the problems assigned to their students by using a DSL. In this study, we describe our research approach using MDD and a DSL and then show our experiment design and results. We also discuss the qualitative and qualitative effectiveness of UML programming in Technology class for Grade 9 students.

This study aims to explore an educational learning environment that supports students to learn conceptual modeling with UML. In this study, we call the describing models “UML programming.” In this paper, we show an educational UML programming environment for STEAM-related subjects (for example, Technology or Engineering) in schools. The features of the proposed learning environment are 1) educational task management function and 2) models, which are created by students, management function.

This paper presents SMart-Learning, which is a set of state machine simulators for developing thinking skills. SMart-Learning handles a variant state machine diagram notation based on UML. The learners of the diagram require various thinking skills such as requirements analysis, concept formation including abstraction for a domain, and modeling conforming to the semantics. Evaluation of their diagrams is crucial in such learning but should not place an unnecessary burden on the learners when they use tools supporting the evaluation. However, usability aspects other than effectiveness of such tools has not received much attention. SMart-Learning provides three simulators to improve learners' skills step by step. Through an evaluation in which five learners use SMart-Learning, the effectiveness, especially usability, is discussed.

The purpose of this study is to explore educational methods for conceptual modeling for novices. In this research, the subjects are mainly freshmen in university. Model driven development (MDD) and a domain specific language (DSL) are key factors in this study. By using MDD, learners are expected to be able to evaluate their own model by observing the target device's behavior. By using a DSL, teachers can control the difficulty of the problems given to their learners. In this paper, we describe our research approach using MDD and a DSL, then, show our experiment design and results. We also discuss the effectiveness of MDD in university freshmen courses with proposed educational methodology.

The purpose of this study is to develop a learning support system for algorithmic thinking for novices. In this paper, we introduce an eassesment functions based on the Student-Problem (SP) score table analysis method. At first, we show an overview of our research and the SP score table analysis. Then, some practical trials with this method are described.

The goal of this study is to develop a learning support system for algorithmic thinking for novices. This paper describes some educational functions of this system. The main features of this system are 1) the teacher can control the usage of control elements for developing algorithms based on his educational philosophy, 2) a simple task-answer management system is included and 3) eAssesment functions based on the Student-Problem table method are implemented.

The purpose of this study is to explore an intelligent learning environment that supports individual learning of singers of a chorus. In previous research, we developed a learning environment to evaluate the adequacy of the pitch and the validity of the volume for each singing tone. In this environment, the acoustic features of a singing voice (pitch and volume) were evaluated based on the expertise of a choral leader in real-time. Moreover, after a learner sang a song with this system, feedback information was provided as instructional guidance. This information was generated using some special instructional words of the choral leader. Now, we add a new evaluation function to the system. It evaluates only part of the song. This function provides a voice assessment and a teaching guide for the learner's singing. In this paper, we consider this new function. We discuss the expertise of the leaders for this new function and overview the effects of this evaluation function for phrase singing.

The purpose of this study is to explore a chorus learning support environment based on the tutoring knowledge of the chorus leader. In general chorus practice, a chorus leader tends to instruct his chorus members based not on score information, but a chorus leader's sense of value and/or his musical philosophy. We try to extract the tutoring knowledge necessary to evaluate/review a singing voice from the chorus leader. The extracted knowledge is expressed in a computational form and implemented in a learning support system. In this paper, a chorus learning support system is proposed. At first, the tutoring knowledge of a chorus leader is described. Next, the architecture and functions of the proposed system are shown. Finally, we evaluate the adequacy of the extracted knowledge and the effectiveness of chorus learning with our system.

The purpose of this study is to explore the architecture for collaborative learning environment, in which individual learning and collaborative learning are smoothly connected. We proposed the composition model of a collaborative workplace, and the management model to the action in collaborative learning space and the state of learning context. Based on the previous proposals, in this paper we describe the mechanism for Contents-Sharable between a private workplace and a collaborative workplace.

The purpose of this study is to support the learning activity in the Internet learning space. In this paper, we examine the GRID technology as the knowledge management for supporting "collaborative learning"/ "collaboration in learning" (CL). We aim at constructing the growing digital portfolio database for learning knowledge management in Internet environment. In addition, we explore the GRID technology of activating human-interactivity for knowledge mining/discovering.

The purpose is to support learning activity in an Internet learning space. We examine knowledge management and knowledge representation of the learning information for collaborative learning (CL) support. RAPSODY-EX (REX) is a distributed learning support environment organized as a learning infrastructure. REX can effectively carry out CL support in asynchronous/synchronous learning mode. At the CL, various information in the educational context is referred and reused as knowledge, which a user can practically utilize. We aim at the construction of an increasingly growing digital portfolio database. In addition, the architecture of the learning environment that includes such a database is researched.

This paper presents a web-based distance education system that contains synchronous (live) video lectures, asynchronous learning materials with video-on-demand (VOD) archive data, and question and answer functions through digital reporting between a lecturer and students. It is intended to provide a collaborative workplace to encourage interactions among a lecturer/learners. As such, this environments enables learners to exchange their knowledge and their way of thinking, furthermore, to refine/build the knowledge acquired via lectures. One of the main purposes in our research is to build a flexible e-Learning environment by embedding self/collaborative support functions for the digitized live lectures in order to reinforce much more meaningful knowledge and skills. Moreover, we propose an innovative educational method of a cooperative link between a university and an industry for the higher education. The knowledge repository means a kind of data-warehouse with the computational mechanism to handle/manage various data occurred in e-Learning process. The knowledge repository may be utilized for any information referencing, diagnosing/evaluating of learners' activities, consulting and so on. We also tackle problems of knowledge sharing, knowledge-retrieval and various types of collaboration in the learning environment. The heart of our project is the exploration of how we can effectively make use of this knowledge repository to support learners who have a range of different needs, though we don't mention its technical details here.

The purpose of the study is to support learning activity in the Internet learning space. The authors examine the knowledge management and knowledge representation of learning information for collaborative learning support. RAPSODY-EX is a remote learning support environment organized as a learning infrastructure. RAPSODY-EX can effectively carry out collaborative learning support in asynchronous/synchronous learning mode. Various information in the educational context is referred and reused as knowledge which oneself and others can practically utilize. We aim at the construction of an increasingly growing digital portfolio database. In addition, the architecture of the learning environment which includes such a database is researched.

The Industry and University cooperation program is a project of the Japanese Ministry of Education (Mombusho). The target objective of this program is the harmonization of university level educational research, society practice and practical business. The University of Electro-Communications has been appointed by Mombusho to fulfill some specific parts of this program. The authors report on their experience with the introduction of this program, its framework, settings, actual implementation and preliminary findings. The problems encountered are discussed, together with a number of solutions to assist good practice in the building of such an applied educational program. Career development, via acquiring of experience and knowledge in the field of information communication technology, is an important subject for the future information communication society. The program's starting courses involve this discipline. The lectures were focused on high information technology, large-scale information system planning and application, and network technology.

The paper reports on considerations and steps towards the standardization (http://lttf.ieee.org) of the collaborative learning environment. This standardization will extend and widen the field of applications possible within the collaborative learning paradigm, and will make possible the usage of the fruits of years of research and individual implementations of the concept of collaborative learning, from our own laboratory and from others.

The large amount of information available in the distributed network environment is an excellent source for remote learning environments. However, to support the decision-making process of both learners and learning mediators in such a huge information space, some prior arrangement and integration of the learning information is necessary. If managed accordingly, various information can be referred and reused in educational contexts. At the Laboratory of AI & Knowledge Computing of the University of Electro-Communications in Japan, we are constructing a digital portfolio database, which is rapidly increasing in size, as well as building a learning infrastructure. The remote learning support environment RAPSODY-EX (Remote and AdaPtive System Of DYnamic communication: Educational environment for Collaborative learning Support) can effectively carry out the collaborative learning support in an asynchronous/synchronous learning mode, based on the following functions: (1) a learning control function for the individual learner and groups, and (2) a learning information management function for mediation.

With the rapid development of information technology, it is widely accepted that computer and information communication literacy has become extremely important, and is the main new ability required from teachers everywhere. Therefore, for enhancing their teaching skills and information literacy about the Internet environment with multimedia, a new teachers' education framework is necessary. The purpose of the study, is to propose and develop a distance educational system, RAPSODY, which is a school-based curriculum development and training system. In this environment, a teacher can learn subject contents, teaching ways, and evaluation methods of the students' learning activities, related to the new subject called "Information", via an Internet based self-training system. The authors describe the structure, function and mechanism of the distance educational system based on the Distance Ecological Model, in order to realize the above-mentioned goal, and then describe the educational meaning of this model in consideration of the new learning ecology, which is based on multi-modality and new learning situations and forms.