
Associate Professor Keiji Emi of Kyoto College of Graduate Institute of Information (KCGI) and Professor Shinzo Kobayashi, a part-time lecturer at KCGI and CTO of Green Collar Planet, presented their research at the e-Learning Award 2018 Forum.This forum is a nationwide event where educators and researchers who are practicing e-learning gather to present their case studies of applying the ever-evolving ICT to educational projects, and was held from November 14 to 16 at Ochanomizu Sola City Conference Center (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo).
Associate Professor Emi presented the development and operation plan of K-MOOC, an online public course in Korea.In Korea, the government fully backs up education using ICT, and e-learning is popular because students can earn credits upon completion.We also introduced an overview of e-learning education at National Jeju University in Korea, which has an academic exchange partnership with KCGI.Jeju University was the first university in Korea to start e-learning, and it is a leading university in this field, equipped with a studio for creating teaching materials.Associate Professor Emi also mentioned the possibility of active mutual use of contents between the two countries, since the accuracy of automatic translation between Japanese and Korean is relatively high.
Dr. Kobayashi gave a presentation on a new educational method inspired by mandalas, which are visual representations of esoteric teachings and are kept in the Toji Temple in Kyoto, in a joint lecture titled "IMS Track: New Developments in Digital Badges and Credentials in Japan," sponsored by the IMS Association of Japan.A mandala is a graphic image in the shape of a central square surrounded by eight other squares.Dr. Kobayashi is planning to apply this new teaching material to the education to visualize the skills of craftsmen in various fields and to pass them on to the next generation efficiently.Although this research has only just begun, the idea of applying the wisdom of our ancestors to modern learning by combining the traditions of Buddhist culture with cutting-edge ICT was of great interest to the audience.

