With a title like this, some might have wondered if I was going somewhere myself, but that is not the case (laughs). Three alumni from my laboratory are moving on to new stages starting today.

First, Ms. Mamiko Eto, a first-generation member of the Yamada Lab and former school nurse in Fukuoka City, has been appointed as a Lecturer at Seinan Jo Gakuin University. Ms. Eto earned her Master’s degree here (receiving the Dean’s Award for Excellence), then returned to the field before obtaining her PhD in Medicine from the Graduate School of Saga University. Around that time, her desire to train school nurses in a way that aligns with the current era grew stronger, and she sought employment at a university. I had written letters of recommendation for her several times, and she reported that she will be joining Seinan Jo Gakuin University. Since the workplace culture there differs from elementary and junior high schools, I imagine it will be a major adjustment, but I hope she does her best.

Additionally, Dr. Chen Li, the first person to earn a PhD from our lab, had been serving as an Assistant Professor under Professor Hiroshi Shimada at our university’s Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering. As of today, she has been appointed as a Lecturer at Osaka Kyoiku University. And it’s a tenure-track position! That is wonderful. There are many professors I know at Osaka Kyoiku University; at the recent JSET National Conference, when I met Dr. Ryota Yamamoto, he asked me, “I’ve been wanting to see you—what kind of person is Dr. Chen?” This made me realize that word is already spreading within Osaka Kyoiku University. As it is a university of education, I expect the culture to be completely different from our institution. Since she originally taught chemistry at a junior high school in China, I have no concerns at all about her teaching skills, but I hope she continues to advance her research in parallel and does her best. Osaka Kyoiku University is also strong in educational technology, so I am sure she will do well. I look forward to her future success. She must now pave her own path as an independent researcher.

Next, Dr. Xuewang Geng, a core member of our project, becomes an Associate Professor starting today, moving up from his position as a Project Assistant Professor (though he remains “Project-based”). He has been working extremely hard. Even considering his age and the number of years since he obtained his PhD, the volume of his research achievements at the timing of becoming an Associate Professor is exceptionally high compared to other researchers in the field of educational technology. Because I want him to continue leading the project and take on significantly heavy responsibilities (and because he has the capability to do so), he was promoted to Project Associate Professor. The DX Promotion Headquarters has a strong coloring of information science and natural sciences, so there were instances where the perspectives on performance evaluation and researcher capability differed from those in educational technology. However, thanks to everyone’s understanding, he was able to move up to the next stage. Thank you very much.

Three people have moved on to new stages all at once. As a supervisor, I am filled with deep emotion. It brings me great joy to see those who grew up under my guidance working hard to elevate educational technology research to new heights. I hope they continue to strive even harder, and I intend to continue researching and providing research guidance vigorously to foster such future leaders.

Furthermore, one new Doctoral student has joined us today: Ms. Sayo Tanaka. She is currently a university faculty member, but this is a new challenge for her as well. Her research theme is already decided, and she is currently preparing for her debut. It looks like it will become an interesting study, so I am looking forward to this as well. Since she is already a university teacher, I am sure she is familiar with university culture, but I hope she follows in the footsteps of Dr. Eto, Dr. Chen, and Dr. Geng to become a researcher who steadily advances educational technology research, and I intend to guide her to that end.

I am waiting for challengers who wish to pass through our gates (laughs).