Supporting individual students by visualizing their learning status

Release Date :2022.06.13

• High School/Vocational School/School Administration Support

Release Date :2022.06.13

In 1948, we established "Nagaoka Dressmaker Girl's College". Since then, we have been involved in school management, and in the beginning of the Heisei era, we established the current two-school system of "Hokuriku Shokuiku Food College" and "Hokuriku Welfare and Childcare Vocational College". Under the philosophy of "fostering human resources who can meet the needs of the times," we not only provide technical training, but also nurture human resources who can be accepted as members of society. In recent years, we have begun operating nursery schools and small-scale childcare facilities, which are also used as places for students to receive practical training.

A great deal of effort was required to monitor the learning progress of individual students

First of all, could you introduce the schools and other facilities operated by Hokuriku Gakuen?

Mr. Senya:We operate two professional training colleges, Hokuriku Shokuiku Food College and Hokuriku Welfare and Childcare College, as well as three nursery schools and a small nursery school.

The motto of the Senmon Gakko is "to be active in society by acquiring national qualifications.

Hokuriku Shokuiku Food College offers courses to obtain national certifications and licenses for chefs, confectionery technicians, nutritionists, and registered dietitians, while Hokuriku Welfare and Childcare College offers courses to obtain kindergarten teachers, nursery school teachers, elementary school teachers, and school nurse teachers.

What were some of the challenges you faced before implementing learningBOX?

Mr. Senya:At Senshu Gakuin, our curriculum is designed to ensure that all students pass the examinations for national qualifications such as confectionery technicians, registered dietitians, and in the past, nursing care workers. In addition, we prepare students for the national examinations.

In order to review and accumulate this know-how, we need to ask ourselves "How do we overcome differences in proficiency level? How can we overcome differences in proficiency level? We are working on these questions through trial and error.

However, each student's situation has become more diverse over the years due to differences in entrance examination methods and the content of courses taken during the educational stage prior to entering a special training college. The issue was that the effort required for instructors and staff to cover these issues was itself on the increase.

The key factor was a device that allows students to learn without stress and full of curiosity, even with the Corona disaster.

How did you come to know about learningBOX?

Mr. Senya:The major trigger was the coronary disaster. The spread of the disease in Japan was a major trigger. At that time, it was spring vacation, and graduation ceremonies and other events were being held with the introduction of measures to prevent the spread of the disease. However, how to welcome the new school term was an issue.

Although the relevant ministries and agencies had issued a policy allowing the use of online classes, it was difficult to ascertain the PC and online environment of individual students in reality, and at the time of the outbreak, there was skepticism toward online classes themselves, so we were groping in the dark.

At that time, a staff member on campus happened to see the learningBOX website and decided that this would be a good way for students to easily work on their smartphones.

What were the deciding factors in introducing the system?

Our "interest" became "confidence" as we had a series of online meetings with your staff. The very fact that you were able to respond to our pre-Corona issues, and the fact that even with the Corona disaster, there were "innovations to help us engage in learning without stress and with full of curiosity" was a deciding factor for us.

The ability to analyze not only the correctness of questions, but also the response time, etc., made it possible to visualize the amount of time students spent working on the questions, which had not been possible in the past, for example, when studying for assignments. I still remember the excitement I felt when the results of the analysis showed up.

Reduction in printing costs equivalent to 250 A4-size sheets per person per year x number of people

What do you feel are the benefits of the actual operation of the system?

Mr. Senya:We have realized this in a great many ways. Since the department's inception, we have been concerned about the fact that many of our incoming students have difficulty in science subjects and the limitations of our individualized instruction.

After the introduction of the system, by providing educational materials as advance study on learningBOX for students who have been offered admission, the anxiety that students had before entering the school has been reduced and a smoother introduction to classes has been realized after entering the school. By setting up the system so that students can advance to the next step according to their progress in the course materials, instructors and faculty members have evaluated that the differences in individual basic academic skills can be averaged out and the level of understanding in each area has improved when students finally enter the school.

In addition, by creating original questions in the learningBOX, such as multiple-choice and multiple-choice questions, students can concentrate on their weak areas, making it easier to respond individually according to students' weaknesses.

The effect has been felt in areas other than learning, as well, with a significant reduction in the amount of printed materials. The past problems used to be used for each class, but after the introduction of the system, the number of A4 size 250 sheets per person per year x number of students was reduced.

Furthermore, in the Corona Disaster, there are many cases of sudden schedule changes and cancellations of classes.Manage notificationsThe system allows us to send necessary information to only the target students at a time using the "Student Information System (SIS)", which leads to more efficient business operations. Students also feel secure in knowing that they can check necessary information at their own fingertips at any time.

Are you considering any new plans for future utilization?

Mr. Senya:After enrollment, we are considering the use of teaching materials that connect knowledge from input learning to output training, application skills and test-response skills, in order to help students quickly establish a self-study method based on an efficient learning structure.

Both teachers and instructors in charge of the program fully understand its functions, and we would like to increase the effectiveness of collaboration with each class. We would also like to make active use of the system from now on for training within the corporation, the university, and the school.

In particular, opportunities for joint training within the corporation have been drastically reduced due to the Corona disaster, and we would like to back these up to improve our organizational strength as a corporation. In a sense, this is a "trade secret," but we would like to evolve it into a training tool that allows anyone to become an instructor. Please give us another interview when you achieve this goal.

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