online exchange step into the world
Popular program for middle and high school students

Connect videos with slums in the Philippines online and have conversations in English with local high school students.
Online international exchange programs introduced one after another by junior high and high schools that have given up on school trips and overseas training due to the spread of the novel coronavirus have been well received.

Developed by Shunta Igarashi (28) of Kobe City, who was involved in learning support for children in slums at a Philippine NGO when he was a student.Developed as a corporate educational venture.What is the new form of international exchange born in the corona misfortune?

[Overseas training canceled]

In late August, a web conference system “Zoom” was used from Iloilo, a city in the central Philippines, on the tablet terminals of eight students from the first to third grades of Kwansei Gakuin High School (Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture), and it was broadcast live on smartphones. The video was projected.

An endless pile of gray garbage near the slums.Carlo (16), a second-year high school student living in the area, asked in English, "How much can you sell for 50 kg?"When Kwansei Gakuin students answered, "20 dollar?" or "XNUMX yen?"

At the Kwansei Gakuin High School, the language training that applicants had to visit abroad every year due to the corona crisis has been cancelled.Some students have returned to Japan while studying abroad.Instead, I prepared an online overseas training for about two and a half hours.

Manami Tanaka, 18, a third-year student who was forced to return to Japan from South America and Bolivia in April, said, "I used to live in the Philippines, but I didn't see the world of the mountains of garbage nearby. I want to go and learn more,” he said, broadening his horizons.

[Developed by venture companies]

The developer, Mr. Igarashi, stayed in Iloilo City for three months instead of a graduation trip in his fourth year at university, and taught English with songs to children living in the slums near a pile of garbage.Everyone agreed that their dream was to become a doctor or a teacher.

However, I was shocked when I realized that I didn't know any other occupations.After working for a temporary staffing agency, she continued to visit orphanages in Thailand. I started.

In the same year, the school started a program that connects schools in Japan and overseas via Skype, but sales fell to zero in April due to the temporary closure of schools due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

In May, the Zoom version of the web conferencing system, which allows large numbers of participants to participate, was released, and 20 junior and senior high schools in Tokyo, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and other areas have introduced the system, mainly schools that have canceled overseas school trips due to the coronavirus pandemic. decided.In addition to the language learning effect, the program is themed on social issues that are in line with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) set by the United Nations as goals for the entire international community, and in recent years there has been growing interest in education that incorporates the SDGs. is also behind the introduction of

Another course created by Mr. Igarashi by making use of his NGO activities and the connections he has developed through the Internet connects online with junior and senior high school students from multiple Asian countries who are still living at home due to the COVID-XNUMX pandemic.

In mid-June, at Kaetsu Ariake Junior High School and High School in Koto Ward, Tokyo, 32 first-year high school students from their homes talked freely about their dreams and ideal society with high school students from India and Pakistan. Everyone clapped their hands to the student's song and matched the rhythm.

A 34-year-old teacher at the same high school, Risa Tanaka, said, "If we interact online in advance and meet face-to-face during school excursions and other events, the effect will increase," and is considering using it after the coronavirus is contained.

Supporting the local community is one of the objectives of the Iloilo City training program, such as donating XNUMX% of the sales to a local NGO.Igarashi says, "The online program is a step forward into the world. I want it to lead to taking action myself."

Web:https://mainichi.jp/articles/20200929/k00/00m/040/123000c