The recent annex to the main EC Multimedia Task Force report concluded "Japan does not yet have a real multimedia industry, and this applies to educational multimedia in particular." Yet, Japanese government agencies have placed development of the multimedia industry and the information society among its highest priorities.
In fact, most major Japanese electronic companies do have established separate, heavily funded research and development organisations devoted to multimedia development, resulting in the release of wide-ranging multimedia components from flat screen displays to virtual reality devices. In addition, the games industry has been described by some observers as being 10 years ahead of Europe and the USA.
Further, as of 1997, Japan now ranks second in the world in the number of computers connected to the Internet.
Although it is true that telematics has been slow to penetrate traditional Japanese education and training, schools, universities, prefectures and businesses are experimenting with a wide range of applications.
To put these developments in perspective, the Bridgewater Research Group, lead by Grant Tate, is surveying the most important developments and trends of telematic and multimedia applications for education and training in Japan. The TETJapan project, sponsored by DGXIII of the European Commission, is considering the development of the information highway infrastructure, the proliferation of computer and multimedia technology, and the use of multimedia and virtual reality applications. This project builds upon previous projects, managed by Bridgewater Research Group for the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) and the European Commission that surveyed telematics in the United States, Canada and Australia. See the full reports at: http://ww.tagish.co.uk/ethos/survey/.
TETJapan is using desk research and existing reports, supplemented by on-site observations by associated researchers. The initial focus questions are listed above with some preliminary observations listed to the left. The study is still ongoing and we will report on its final conclusion in a later edition of this newsletter.
For further information contact Grant Tate via email: 72261.526@compuserve.com
Strong top-down pressure (and money) to build infrastructure
Obsession about US NII (Few references to EU)
Most initiatives focus on technology
Little change in pedagogy
Extensive use of two-way TV
Internet experimentation is accelerating in all education and training sectors
Heavy R&D in base technologies for multimedia & telecommunications,consumer applications
University/industry co-operation is expanding
General information on Japan is plentiful but communications with people is a slow process.
There are few repositories of Japanese technology information in Europe. European centres tend to focus on culture, not technology
There are few technology study missions from Europe
Does the culture and education of Japanese people lead to a different approach to the use of technology in education and training?
Are there new applications that we have not observed on other continents?
What education and training applications are attracting the Japanese multimedia and educational technology providers?
How does the telecommunications infrastructure to support education and training compare to those of Europe and North America?
What are the Japanese applications and technologies that we should be exploring for use in Europe?
How does the use of multimedia and telematic technologies in Japanese company training programmes compare with western approaches?
Are there projects in which European players should be partners?