Japan
iEARN-Japan
iEARN-Japan works with Teleclass International in Osaka to involve schools throughout the country in iEARN project work. Japanese schools are interested in working on cross- cultural, environmental and language-based projects. iEARN is also working with the government of Japan to "internationalize" Japanese educational networking. Recently, a special on-line forum has been created to enable iEARN students worldwide to work in Japanese. iEARN-Japan will host the 2003 iEARN International Conference and Youth Summit.
Educational Information Technology Co-ordinators Certification
In 2001, the Japan Association for Promotion of Educational Technology began offering a certification examination for “educational information technology co-ordinators,” who would then be well versed in ICT and provide support for other teachers in its use. The objectives of the certification examination are to establish a new position and to provide ICT training for teachers so they might take the position. To date only a few have received this certification and, since it is still very new, it is not yet widely recognised. Still, providing this kind of support by ICT specialists instead of depending entirely on teachers’ self-study may become increasingly important.
e-Teacher Project
In 2003, an online e-learning training system called the e-Teacher Project was developed. Instead of a conventional classroom-based approach, this project encourages teachers to acquire ICT skills during their free periods by using the courses available through the e-Teacher Project. The course offered is most comprehensive, with units on web ethics and security, as well as how to integrate various ICTs into classroom teaching, multimedia, databases etc.