The planning and implementation of a lesson concerning the theory and method of education utilizing information and communication technology

Kumamoto university faculty of education has introduced a mandatory one-credit second-year course titled "Education and utilization of ICT" in the academic year 2023. This course was established in response to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's new curriculum that emphasizes the “Theory and method of education utilizing information and communication technology.” This paper provides an overview of the course conducted in 2023, including its content and an evaluation of the course. The distinctive features of this course include: (1)collaborative learning through group discussions and activities, (2)the one-to-one use of tablet use for both individual and group tasks, (3)experiential learning simulating elementary and junior high school classroom practices, and (4)formative assessment through reflective writing. The number of characters written in students' reflective writing was adopted as a quantitative indicator to measure the students' activity levels. The result showed that the number of characters in the final class was approximately double that of the first class, indicating that the students were actively participating in the class. Since the evaluations of the reflection sheets were returned to each student, the students understood the points that the instructor evaluated and were motivated to improve their own evaluations. Furthermore, the students understood the significance of the reflective writing and actively engaged in self-reflection. A post-course survey revealed that over 90% of students expressed satisfaction with the course,s objectives, grading criteria, goal alignment, instructional design, pacing, and teaching materials, providing strong evidence of the course's effectiveness. Moreover, over 90% of students indicated that the course had fostered a broad interest in education, highlighting its suitability as a component of teacher training programs.