Believe it or not, our university now has an active learning classroom!! I am so moved!! Our center had been applying for the budget for this for several years, but our proposals were rejected after hearings where we were met with baffling comments like, “How is this different from a seminar?” and “Isn’t that a bit outdated now?” (I am embarrassed to say that this is still the level of understanding at our university. Our center clearly needs to work harder.)

This classroom was built in the Information Infrastructure Initiative. Unfortunately—or perhaps not—it was not built by our center. It was not created with university-wide consensus (this is the most regrettable part). It was an initiative conceived and launched by the faculty of the media center, with Professor Mori taking the lead. I was also able to contribute a few ideas, however small.
The entire front and side walls are covered from top to bottom in IdeaPaint, turning them into whiteboards. It’s wonderful. I’d love to paint my own lab with it…

Of course, it erases cleanly.

This classroom allows for projector projection onto the floor. It is possible to project onto two surfaces, allowing students to gather around them to listen to the instructor or give presentations.

There are also color-coded chairs and desks that are easy to move and combine. I believe there are a total of eight screens?
It’s interesting. Projecting onto the floor was Professor Mori’s idea. It’s a fascinating concept; wouldn’t it be fun to have lively discussions while chatting around it? I think it would be great to place some slightly higher tables, like a bar counter, around it so people could discuss or brainstorm while looking at the slides on the floor. A laser pointer would be nice, too. Also, Professor Mori and I discussed that it might even be good to allow both instructors and students to sit on the floor around the screens to hold discussions.

Perhaps this kind of human-centric, casual style is what’s important. I recall Professor Yamauchi from the University of Tokyo writing in the “Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science of Learning” that even if an instructor’s view of education and learning changes, the physical space can restrict the classes that follow those views. For learners, too, their ability to engage in projects and the like can be restricted by their environment.
Unfortunately, I cannot use this classroom for my classes this academic year, but since the media faculty members are planning to lead various practical teaching sessions, I am sure a lot of know-how will be accumulated. I highly recommend that faculty members at our university visit it at least once. Please think about what you teach and how you teach it. I am not denying lecture-style classes. Knowledge-transfer classes are also an important element of active learning. Why not incorporate into your classes a form of deep learning where students actively discuss based on that knowledge, interpret information, reconstruct knowledge, and produce output? This is my proposal. I want you to look at this classroom, use your imagination, and think about what you could do and what kind of fun classes you could develop. And if you have an open time slot, I hope you will try holding a class there. If there is any way our center can provide consultation, we would be happy to do so. I would even be open to co-teaching classes.
I am looking forward to the future, and I hope that classes will expand in tandem with these kinds of movements. Our university is so vast that I wish we had two or three of these in each district. The media center is in the Central District, which is between the North District, where the humanities departments are concentrated, and the South District, where the science departments are. I have heard that some professors in the Faculty of Economics are interested in this kind of practical human resource development and have a high level of interest in such classrooms. I hope to talk to those professors in the future and build this up from the grassroots level (this is the sad reality of our university). I would like to hold more study groups on active learning this year, as we only held two last year.