Abstract:

The latest curriculum guidelines for the elementary education formulated by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology sets forth the following goals: To realize active, dialogical, and deep learning through "learning open to society", "enhancement of science and mathematics education" and "enrichment of experiential learning" in order to cultivate the qualities and competencies required of children in the future. To achieve this goal, educational institutions are asked to work on the integrated enhancement of "individually optimized learning" which nurtures diverse children without leaving anyone behind through the utilization of ICT, and "collaborative learning" which maximizes the diverse individualities of children. Meanwhile, the recent development of AI technology is having a major impact on our society. In the field of educational research as well, a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contend" (meaning diverse opinions are competing) continues regarding the merits and demerits of AI assistants using Large Language Models (LLMs).

Author’s previous research projects aimed to realize a learning support environment through interaction with others, viewing not only school education but also real-world situations as learning opportunities. Specifically, they proceeded with the construction of a learning support environment based on real-world media technology utilizing ICT, and its evaluation through practical implementation in educational settings, with the goals of enhancing learning experiences, improving learning motivation, and clarifying learning context.

In the current research project, the author’s group are challenging the extent to which the expansion and deepening of real-world media technology, realized by latest ICT including AI and LLMs, can approach the enhancement of learners' experiences, motivation, and contextualization. Specifically, the author is advancing research centered on the following academic Research Questions (RQs):

RQ1: For learning in situations expanded from limited settings (e.g., classrooms) to diverse real-world environments, what kind of qualitative transformation does a learning support environment using latest ICT, including LLMs, bring about in learning activities?
RQ2: To what extent is adaptation to individual learners possible through a learning support environment constructed with the ICT-based real-world learning media technology?
RQ3: What should be the design of a learning environment that utilizes the above real-world media technology? What kind of design guidelines can be proposed based on the insights gained through case studies?

The current project utilizes a museum as a practical field for study. Learners visit the museum and learn by interacting with various exhibits. To clarify the learning context, the author is building a system that not only tracks the learners' real-time location but also records their activities. The proposed system presents information about the exhibit based on learners’ location via their mobile devices. Learners use the devices to record data — including personal notes, conversation audio, photos, and videos — which are later used for reflection in classrooms or at homes. So far, a PDR (Pedestrian Dead Reckoning) system has been implemented on smartphones that supports the diverse walking styles of learners in the museum. Evaluation experiments are currently underway.

Keywords:

ICT, Learning environment, Real-world media.