Nakayama The NTT Group is implementing an “Education Square x ICT” project in ten elementary and junior high schools in five municipalities nationwide with the aim of leveraging ICT to develop new learning methods. Japan is said to be a broadband powerhouse, but it lags behind other countries where utilizing broadband is concerned. That's why, when we were looking into how we could contribute as the NTT Group, we decided to propose a new style of education that makes use of ICT. Specific components include electronic blackboards, touch tablets for students, and teachers' PCs, all connected to an education cloud composed of educational materials and applications. By providing each student with a touch tablet that can be used both in the classroom and at home, we hope to make learning fun and motivate students to learn of their own accord. The project is still only for grade 5 math, science, and society, and grade 8 English, but we're working hard with local authorities, school and university teaching staff, and the textbook publishers and education material producers who are providing content to make a success of the project's three-year field trial.

Akahori The great thing about Education Square x ICT is that it's a wonderful way of connecting students, teachers, schools, households, and the whole world. In recent years in particular, ties between schools, households, and communities have weakened, and all sorts of social issues are emerging as a result, so I have high hopes for the project.

Nakayama I've heard that schools in the town of Happo, which is one of the trial sites, have always had very close ties with households and local communities, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of results the trial produces there.

Chiba From 1951 to 1988, Happo awarded scholarships to students from the town wanting to become teachers in its schools, based on the idea that we should first nurture teachers if we wanted to give our children a good education. Our school principals and vice principals also become neighborhood association chiefs, guest teachers at schools, and members of child watch groups after they retire. We've been making such efforts for a long time, and I think that is one of the reasons why strong local community support for schools has become a part of the town's culture, resulting in our earning the top rank in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's National Assessment of Academic Ability

Akahori That culture has a lot in common with this trial, doesn't it?

Chiba Before the trial began, the percentage of people using the Internet in Happo had just about reached around 30%, so many parents and guardians were taken by surprise when they first heard about it, but almost no one opposed the plan. The chairman of Akita Prefecture's Board of Education also encouraged us when we went to explain the trial to him, saying, “This is the future, so you should give the project your all. I hope you'll produce the kind of results that we've all come to expect from Happo.”

Akahori I'm always saying that in the knowledge-based societyTerminology, what counts is not how much you learn, but rather how able you are to communicate new ideas, and so I have high hopes that providing children with an ICT network that enables them to study of their own accord and communicate their ideas will give their thinking and expressive abilities a big boost.

Chiba Putting an electronic blackboard into a classroom does actually bring the teacher's perspective more in line with that of the students, and the faces of the children also really light up. By using video, photos and other materials to add impact to science or society classes, I think you really can develop the thinking powers of children. And we anticipate that using touch tablets to communicate will also help to develop the ability of children to express their ideas well.

Akahori ICT connects you to the world. It enables you to express yourself, and to go out into the world with more confidence. I think that it also helps you to grow and to respect each other's differences, and that's the kind of world that I think we all want.

Nakayama A lot of people in Japan feel awkward in the presence of foreigners, but if they grow up from a young age connected to the world through the Internet, they probably won't think twice about communicating with people from other countries.

Akahori The teaching abilities of Japanese teachers were ranked No.1 worldwide in a research report that compared videos of school classes from different countries. Japanese teachers' skills in managing classes and communicating knowledge were rated particularly highly, but the survey also found that they don't encourage their students to try new things. I'd like to see teachers making even greater use of ICT as a means of setting new challenges for their students.

Nakayama I'm hoping to keep Education Square x ICT going and get it established by building the means for schools to work with people in a community to support the community's children through volunteering, work-sharing, and other means. I'd like to create an ecosystemTerminology — a virtuous circle, if you will — in which people and businesses who participate in nurturing and educating a community's children themselves gain from such experience in terms of personal fulfillment.

See the following website for the detailed dialogue

• http://www.ntt.co.jp/csr/portal/dialog/ (in Japanese only)