Studies of Networks to Assist educaitonal Innovations and Teacher Development

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1. Needs and backgrounds of the members of the local networks of Japanese language teaching in Hirosima were surveyed and analyzed. A similar survey was done in British Columbia which focused on Japanese language teachers. These surveys suggest that, while some needs are shared by all, there are needs specific to each category, namely the professional teachers in Canada, the professional teachers in Hirosima, and the volunteer teachers in Hirosima. In order to meet these particular needs they have established local human networks and computer networks with local public institutions as their server stations.2. Some of the ways to utilize computer networks in learning Kanji were proposed. In order to assist the learners with non-Kanji background (whose native languages do not use Chinese characters) learn Kanji, a computer program called "Kanji-learning Information Database" (KID) was developed. Various informations about Kanji were analyzed and re-organized into this database. This program records the learning processes of the users (learners) and makes this information available to other users. In this way, it helps the users to find efficient ways to look for the target Kanji, to memorize them, to relate one Kanji to the other, and so forth.3. A package of software for international computer networks to communicate smoothly in Japanese was developed. This package intends to make exchanges of e-mails in Japanese language smooth and trouble free. Through this package the Japanese majors at Tohoku University and the learners of Japanese language at Melbourne University exchanged e-mails on a regular basis on the topics specified in the curriculum at Melbourne university. In these exchanges, the learners in Melbourne developed writing and reading skills and communication skills.