Japan/OER

Overview

Japan (日本 Nihon or Nippon?, officially 日本国 Nippon-koku?·i or Nihon-koku) is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters which make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin country", which is why Japan is sometimes identified as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan comprises over 3,000 islands making it an archipelago. The largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of Japan's land area. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; for example, Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 128,000,000 people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

A major economic power, Japan has the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP and the third largest in purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations, G8, G4, OECD and APEC, with the world's fifth largest defense budget. It is also the world's fourth largest exporter and sixth largest importer. It is a developed country with high living standards (8th highest HDI) and a world leader in technology, machinery, and robotics.

OER in Japan: Map

Total number of Open Education Initiatives in Japan on Thursday, 16 May 2024 at 10:07 = 22 , of which:

1 are MOOC
21 are OER

Initiatives per million = 0.171875

Loading map...

Details

The English word Japan is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon (にっぽん) and Nihon (にほん). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on Japanese money, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and the most frequently used in contemporary speech.

Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin" and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before Japan had relations with China, it was known as Yamato and Hi no moto, which means "source of the sun".

Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. The Emperor effectively acts as the head of state on diplomatic occasions. Akihito is the current Emperor of Japan. Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, stands as next in line to the throne.

Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a House of Representatives, containing 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved and a House of Councillors of 242 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults over 20 years of age, with a secret ballot for all elective offices.

The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government. The position is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet (the literal translation of his Japanese title is "Prime Minister of the Cabinet") and appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State, a majority of whom must be Diet members.

While there exist eight commonly defined regions of Japan, administratively Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor, legislature and administrative bureaucracy. The former city of Tokyo is further divided into twenty-three special wards, each with the same powers as cities.

The nation is currently undergoing administrative reorganization by merging many of the cities, towns and villages with each other. This process will reduce the number of sub-prefecture administrative regions and is expected to cut administrative costs.

Japan has dozens of major cities, which play an important role in Japan's culture, heritage and economy.

For the most part, Japanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous with small populations of foreign workers, Zainichi Koreans, Zainichi Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese Brazilians and others. The most dominant native ethnic group is the Yamato people; the primary minority groups include the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan, as well as social minority groups like the burakumin.

Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, at 81.25 years of age as of 2006. The Japanese population is rapidly aging, the effect of a post-war baby boom followed by a decrease in births in the latter part of the twentieth century. In 2004, about 19.5% of the population was over the age of 65.

The changes in the demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in the workforce population and increases in the cost of social security benefits such as the public pension plan. Many Japanese youth are increasingly preferring not to marry or have families as adults. Japan's population is expected to drop to 100 million by 2050 and to 64 million by 2100. Demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem. Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population. The highest estimates for the amount of Buddhists and Shintoists in Japan is 84-96%, representing a large number of believers in a syncretism of both religions. However, these estimates are based on people with an association with a temple, rather than the number of people truly following the religion. Professor Robert Kisala (Nanzan University) suggests that only 30 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion.

Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs. Religion in Japan tends to be syncretic in nature, and this results in a variety of practices, such as parents and children celebrating Shinto rituals, students praying before exams, couples holding a wedding at a Christian church and funerals being held at Buddhist temples. A minority (2,595,397, or 2.04%) profess to Christianity.[90] In addition, since the mid-19th century, numerous religious sects (Shinshūkyō) have emerged in Japan, such as Tenrikyo and Aum Shinrikyo (or Aleph).

About 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. It is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary which indicate the relative status of speaker and listener. According to a Japanese dictionary Shinsen-kokugojiten, Chinese-based words comprise 49.1% of the total vocabulary, indigenous words are 33.8% and other loanwords are 8.8%. The writing system uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Chinese characters), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals. The Ryukyuan languages, also part of the Japonic language family to which Japanese belongs, are spoken in Okinawa, but few children learn these languages. The Ainu language is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaidō. Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English.

Further information

For further general information see Wikipedia:Japan.

Education in Japan/OER

For a general description of education in Japan see Education:Japan.

e-learning

For a description more focussed to e-learning see E-learning:Japan.

Traditionally there was not much necessity for distance education since Japan is geographically a small island nation where publicly-funded higher education institutions are placed in prefectures and municipalities across the whole country. Furthermore, recurrent education did not prevail as corporate on-the-job training programs have been well established in the private sector. However, because of changes taking place at every phase of society along with the current of time outside of Japan, the government has initiated e-Japan Strategy since 2001, and promoting e-Learning has become one of the important issues in higher education in Japan. The use of ICT is being promoted in a number of educational institutions; however, the current status of e-Learning in Japanese higher education is not at the same level as that in its Western counterparts. (3)

The most recent as well as comprehensive research report regarding the e-learning and ICT implementation in Japanese higher education is provided by CODE commissioned by MEXT made 2010-2011, covering the total number of 1,202 responded institutions in higher education, including universities, junior colleges, and technical colleges. What is remarkable is that the average of 35.7% higher institutions (national:35.8%; public 35.3%, private: 32.2%) answered that they exercised some sort of internet-based distance learning. Besides, the average of 16.0% (433 divisions) answered that they provide full-online course delivery (national: 20.8%, public: 17.6%, private: 14.2%). (1)

Quality procedures

Internet in Japan

Internet World Stats reports 101,228,736 Internet users as of Dec.31, 2011 (80.0% penetration) (http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia.htm#jp)

Internet in Education

Copyright law in Japan/OER

Copyright law in Education

OER Initiatives in Japan/OER

In its response to the OECD questionnaire, Japan indicated they have projects related to OER (that are being implemented by some institutions), but that there has been no national attempt to promote OER at this time. Japan also commented that when it comes to the global sharing of resources, it may not be able to contribute since most of its resources are in Japanese; conversely, the benefits to Japan would also be limited. (2)

National OER initiatives

In its response to the OECD questionnaire, Japan reported that, regarding learning materials in general, they cannot say to what extent these are directly or indirectly produced or paid for by public expenditures. Private-sector publishers write and compile textbooks. If they are approved by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Japanese government bears the cost of textbooks for all students at national, public, and private compulsory-level schools (ISCED 1 and 2). (2)

Regional OER initiatives

Institutional OER initiatives

Japan Open Courseware Consortium (JOCW) - Established in April 2006, OCW activity having been promoted to several major Japanese universities by MIT in 2004, JOCW aims to assist and disseminate the activity of its members, through open and free publication of formal course materials of higher educational organizations. It also encourages the interchange of know-how and opinions among not only Japanese organizations related to the JOCW, but also foreign organizations by participating the JOCW Consortium as an Affiliate members. Website: http://www.jocw.jp/index.htm

JOCW is a unique organization in that it has been managed by a nation-wide collaboration of the top ranking national and private universities. In the respective member universities the OCW started by a top-down decision, not by individual researchers. In order to gain a membership it has to be authorized by an internal committee and needs to be officially administered. Therefore, sustainability can be expected and the quality of the content is assured to a certain degree. Access in Japan and from abroad has been evaluated with positive outcomes. (3)

Full Members:

- Doshisha University

- Hokkaido University

- Hosei University

- International Christian University

- Kagawa Nutrition University

- Kansai University

- Keio University

- Kumamoto University

- Kwaisei Gakuin University

- Kyoto University

- Kyoto Seika University

- Kyushu University

- Meiji University

- Nagoya University

- The Open University of Japan

- Osaka University

- Ritsumeikan University

- Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

- Sophia University

- Tokyo Institute of Technology

- United Nations University

- University of Tokyo

- University of Tsukuba

- Waseda University

Associate Members(NPOs):

- Advanced Visual Communication Center

- Creative Commons Japan

- Cyber Campus Consortium TIES

- University of Tokushima u-learning Center

Affiliate Members:

- The Asahi Shinbun Company

- Castalia Co. Ltd.

- Cerego Japan Inc.

- CMS Communications Co. Ltd.

- Digital Knowledge Co. Ltd.

- EARNET Co. Ltd

- EARNET Co. Ltd.

- EIZO SYSTEM CO. LTD.

- Global Commons, Inc.

- Japan e-Learning Consortium

- Media Links & CO. LTD.

- MediaSite K.K.

- NTT DOCOMO, INC.

- NTT Resonant Inc.

- SOFTBANK BB Corp.

- Tokyo Denki University Press

- UCHIDA YOKO CO. LTD.

(Sourced from http://www.jocw.jp/Members.htm)

The General Secretariat of the JOCW Consortium is located at Keio University on its Mita campus, Minato-ku, Tokyo. (3)

Each of the JOCW member universities is required to provide teaching materials such as syllabi, lecture notes, streaming lectures from a minimum of 10 courses, but the scope of OCW activity varies from one university to another (3):

- The University of Tokyo OCW is a web site to make UT course materials that are used in the teaching of almost all undergraduate and graduate subjects available on the web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. The UT OCW is offered in principle in Japanese and in English. As of July 2006, a total of 21 courses were available on the UT OCW. The MIMA Search System is a tool within the UT OCW which enables the users to get a panoramic view of its educational resources and also those of numerous other universities that have joined the JOCW. (3)

- Keio Uiversity OCW offers open-ended educational content from the courses taught at Keio University, including syllabi and lecture notes, made available on the internet to support higher education. This content is free of charge to anyone with Internet access. Keio University OCW is intended to transform the knowledge accumulated at Keio University into a form that can be used by the whole of society. In addition, by disseminating to the world material that supports the advanced education traditionally pursued by Keio University, the University also hopes to promote research exchange between educational institutions throughout the world, and to contribute to the development of new, advanced educational programs that will be required in education in the future. The KEIO OCW site has an English version and a Japanese version, and 12 courses from the three faculties of Letters, Economics, and Law are made available. (3)

- Kyoto University OCW (OCW@KU) is a project to make the educational materials used in Kyoto University's lectures available publicly on the internet. This project enables the University to gather intellectual assets common to all people from around the world, and create an environment in which anyone can access and use this information. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the improvement of educational environments not only in Japan but throughout the world. (3)

- Osaka University OCW provides educational materials actually used in the courses taught at the University. (3)

- Waseda University has been promoting the build up of an innovative university management system to lead the kind of education and research required in the new millennium, such as e-Learning, by focusing on what it calls 'On-demand lecture'. On-demand lecture is defined as "an officially accredited course offered by a university and made available via the Internet". Lecture content of the course consists of lecture video and digital study materials transmitted to students via the Learning Management System (LMS). Students are able to access lectures anytime and anywhere, including PC rooms at universities and at home, as long as Internet is accessible. Waseda University has now developed Waseda University's OCW in order to assist in building a basis for the worldwide educational network by OCW. Waseda OCW is linked to its electronic lecture information search system where information on the syllabi for the current courses is available. Course materials have been published by the Waseda faculty members who agree with the concept of OCW through the system. (3)

- Tokyo Institute of Technology OCW is a platform that provides free of charge the outlines of the lectures offered at TIT to make TIT’s science and technology teaching part of the common assets of the world. TIT, the first Japanese university approached by MIT trying to promote OCW in Japan, has been involved in OCW from its earliest stage by dispatching an investigative research team to Boston and implementing a pilot project. Of all the member universities of the JOCW, TIT provides the most course material. As of July, 2006 it made available 145 courses in the fields of Science, Technology and Engineering - 40% of the courses offered at the University. Of these, 24 courses are provided also in English. One characteristic of the TIT’s OCW web site is that it can display the course list according to the order of access-ranking and upload date. It shows that basic general subjects and newly uploaded courses tend to have higher access rates. (3)

At UT OCW the access number over 2005-6 was 6 million, an average of 500,000 per month, most of which was through Podcasts. The number fluctuated, increasing when a new course was provided and then gradually tapering off after that. The smallest number was 3,000 downloads per day. The average access to JOCW courses was 8-12,000 per month in 2005-6. (3)

Certain interviewees of the OECD case study expressed the view that the future direction of JOCW will proceed towards tri-lateral networking between North America, EU and Asia, building a trans-national consortium contributing to the enhancement of education in the developing parts of the world, and contributing to the whole of humankind. (3)

- Content Production -

In Japanese universities there are few experts in educational online content production, which makes it difficult to get support on campuses. There is a center for information technology at each university in Japan, but with very few staff. Their expertise is in computer science but few are experts in educational technology. Therefore, in many cases instructors themselves are engaged in content production with a few technical staff supporting to provide open contents. The main support entails IPR/copyright clearance, English translation of the materials and registration on the server. (3)

AT UT OCW the students play a major role in the production of content because they actually take courses and are familiar with the contents. The student responsible for production makes an appointment with the instructor and receives the materials. Each of the materials provided for OCW goes through a copyright clearance process. The students involved in content production are trained for copyright clearance. The principal policy of UT OCW is not to have its own facility needed for content production due to scarce funding and difficulty in providing high quality sophisticated design. Those parts of production that require images and high technical skills are done by outsourcing. (3)

The content production in the JOCW is done in a more institutionalized form rather than as a grass-roots activity. Many of the JOCW activities are promoted as a two to three year project with internal budgeting at the respective member universities. An issue that the JOCW needs to address in common is working out systems to provide sustainable OCW, for which more collaboration with the private sector or NPO, and building a good business model seem to be required. There seems to be a certain degree of variance within the JOCW between national and private universities in terms of the linkage to be built with the private sector. (3)

Copyright Law in Japan provides no provision to deal with asynchronous education. In other words, it requires an approval on all images and video clips over which the instructors have no copyrights. In processing the copyright clearance, problems are noted such as it taking too much time to specify the author, or that it is much too difficult to get approval from publishing companies. The JOCW needs to address these problems. (3)

There is no reward system in place for those instructors providing their teaching materials for JOCW. The following reasons for instructors providing course materials for JOCW were mentioned by those interviewed for the OECD study (3): - It provides a support for digitizing the teaching materials - It saves time to preparing teaching materials for students in classrooms - It provides an opportunity for getting feedback on the materials - It helps to have the copyright cleared by making them available on the Internet - It increases the possibility of publication - It bridges the difficulty of implementing Open Educational Resources by individual researchers - It provides an opportunity to restructure and systemize lectures - It offers a personal satisfaction to share knowledge with the world

Except for a few member universities, the JOCW makes only highly selective courses openly available. At Waseda University in 2006 against 1,556 courses offered on-campus and 218 courses through e-school, only 12 courses have been provided for OCW at Waseda University. The reason for the small proportion is that they try to explore ways in which to provide only high quality courses that cannot be found at other universities. (3)

In 2006 it was found that in the JOCW no Open Source Software (OSS) had been produced nor used yet. The production and use of OSS had yet to be considered in the JOCW. Some of the member universities had been developing their own software but without making it open. Most of the member universities were more concerned about expanding and supporting their on-campus based e-Learning programs. Kyoto University was, however, considering using “Edu Common”, developed and made available by Utah State University, for its OCW operation. (3)

Detailed information on the JOCW post-2006 is not easy to find, but they have an active facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/JapanOCWConsortium

There is also a document by a number of people at the Distance Learning Center at the Media Network Center at Waseda University entitled 'The Fourth Waseda University JOCW Project: Making use of mobile technologies and Cloud Computing'

In this document it is claimed that Waseda University offered the following numbers of courses in the years 2005-10:

2005 - 8

2006 - 24

2007 - 43

2008 - 64

2009 - 67

2010 - 71

This strongly suggests that JOCW continues to be active.

References

1. ReVica/VISCED page for Japan (http://virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Japan)

Reports

2. Hylén, J. et al. (2012), “Open Educational Resources: Analysis of Responses to the OECD Country Questionnaire”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 76, OECD Publishing. http://oer.unescochair-ou.nl/?wpfb_dl=38

3. OECD Case Study - "Japan Open Course Ware Consortium (JOCW): A Case Study In Open Educational Resources Production And Use In Higher Education" July 2006 (http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/37647892.pdf)

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