TopicsTeacher Interview
Expectations for CONNECT
Masao Kitano, Executive Vice-President for Education, Kyoto University
Now that CONNECT is open, we interviewed Professor Masao Kitano, executive vice-president for education at Kyoto University (hereafter, "KU"), and talked about the significance of this website and his expectations for it as well as his thoughts on education that makes use of information and communication technology (ICT). We gathered from our interview that Professor Kitano hopes that CONNECT will link KU's various projects and programs and become a "shared space" for coming into contact with KU's many different educational opportunities.
A Website That Serves As a Shared Space for Linking All The Elements
Previously, when we showed you the prototype of CONNECT, you said you thought that having such a website was a good idea. We felt you have certain expectations.
We currently have a lot of projects and programs, including OpenCourseWare (OCW) and the Learning Management System (LMS), which is called PandA. However, these elements are all over the place and unorganized, and there was a problem -- it was hard to tell where to start and what was linked to what. I think it's great that CONNECT is serving as a portal for faculty members, a sort of entrance into these systems.
So do you have an image of CONNECT as something that ranges across the elements?
Yes. As a faculty member, I think it's best to have a kind of shared space where people gather, saying "There are a lot of interesting things here" or "I find an idea that is exactly what I need."
The image I like is that faculty members can be linked to projects throughout the university when they visit CONNECT.
A Place That Shows the Unexpected Variety and High Quality of Education at KU
We would like to post interviews and other things on CONNECT, highlighting faculty members who are involved in unique educational practices. So we would like to ask how you feel about education at KU in your role as executive vice-president for education?
What I feel as I work in my various roles is that the faculty members at KU are unexpectedly diverse and of a high caliber, not only in their research, but also in their teaching. Even if CONNECT just shows this aspect of KU, it's a good thing.
In the Graduate School of Engineering (Professor Kitano's home department), they hold a symposium once a year. The students are surveyed to evaluate their education staff members, and the ones with high ratings are asked to present reports. They talk about what kinds of things they are teaching in their classes, and it is interesting just to listen to them.
In the past, I heard a talk by faculty members from the Graduate School of Engineering, and I was very impressed by the way they made meticulous use of data in their classes.
There are many faculty members who are doing their jobs in various ways. When I hear about what they are doing, there are some things I find very interesting as a person involved in the same field. I think it would be meaningful for their activities to be made accessible through CONNECT to people outside the classes.
So you want to take teaching practices that are private and make them visible. Do faculty members talk among themselves and know about these efforts?
No, I don't think they know much about them. They know less about them than you might expect. Some universities have tried offering classes that are open to the public, but for one thing, that doesn't fit well with KU's campus culture. On that point, CONNECT will offer the faculty members at KU an opportunity to know more about each other's teaching practices.
In addition, when there is this kind of website, people outside the university will be able to see that KU is not only a research university but is also educating students in interesting ways. It doesn't spoon-feed the students, and there are faculty members who employ exciting teaching techniques.
Moving Forward with Education That Employ ICT
How do you see things from the viewpoint of education using ICT? KU seems to be in the vanguard here, in the sense that it offers massive open online courses (MOOCs), OCW, and other forms of open content.
In this day and age, young people in particular take in information by these means. Of course, this is an aspect we cannot ignore. Anyone who searches a bit can easily find videos called "Introduction to Such-and-Such," which can be used in place of manuals. The generation that uses these methods for studying has entered the university.
It feels as if there has been an increase in the content and tools available, doesn't it?
It does. For that very reason, it will be important to use them proficiently.
We have to make sure each tool functions very well and that each bit of content is a bit higher level. I hope CONNECT will lead to that outcome.
We'd like to work towards making this happen, too. Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule.
Questions asked by Mana Taguchi
Article composition: Takeo Suzuki
Interview date: February 17, 2017
Published online: May 17, 2017 (Original article)
July 2, 2018 (English article)
