Feature article: Insights into “Key Points of Economic and Industrial Policies ” (4)

Utilize digital technology and bring innovation to education.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, has been promoting the innovation of elementary and secondary education through “EdTech.” The concepts of innovation are “individually-optimized learning” and a “STEAM-based learning approach.”

The image of “Learning Innovation”

STEAM education refers to an education method integrating humanities and science with the five elements of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. As society becomes ever more complex and more diversified, STEAM education is regarded as the key to the development of human resources who can generate change. STEAM education is considered an essential foundation for tackling many of society’s issues. Issues that at first glance, seem to have no definitive answers.

Furthermore, in an environment where every student has their own terminal, it becomes possible for students to learn proactively at their own pace and towards their own individual goals. This can be achieved without attending traditional classes that are often uniform and passive in nature. Such individually-optimized learning improves the efficiency of learning, and the extra time afforded may be reorganized into STEAM education.

Future development

In order to create innovative case examples for the “Learning Innovation” project, initiatives at schools for introducing EdTech have been promoted in terms of both human resources and expenses, in an integrated fashion with business operators providing education services including EdTech. As a result, as many as 4,300 schools, which accounts for about 12% of elementary and junior high schools throughout Japan, will participate in these initiatives from this school year. In addition, an online library has been established so that STEAM education contents can be used by anyone, anytime, and is currently being prepared for release.

The “GIGA school” concept, which aims to realize “one terminal per student” in the area of education, is making rapid progress in line with countermeasures against the COVID-19 pandemic. Also in combination with such trends, diffusion of EdTech will be further promoted. Innovation of the current education system will also be implemented in the future, covering areas such as standard study time, individual learning plans, and ways to train teachers.

Related information

• “Learning Innovation” project (in Japanese)