Introduction of information and communications technology (ICT) has been making headway in schools, and the government plans to distribute ICT devices to all primary and middle school students by fiscal 2019. What will classes be like in the future?

A room with clean white walls dubbed the Future Classroom was unveiled at an event from June 6 to 8 in Koto Ward, Tokyo. The walls could be used as whiteboards and when portable electronic devices were connected, they too were quickly transformed into electronic chalkboards.

The exhibition by Tokyo-based Uchida Yoko Co., which develops education systems, was for teachers and education officials.

In the demonstrations, all of the students were given tablet computers and a teacher transmitted questions via a wireless LAN. The answers the students wrote on the computer screens were magnified and displayed on the walls.

A primary school attached to the University of Tsukuba, Tokyo, which has instructors teach only their specialized subjects, will introduce the system this month.

The teachers will study how to utilize ICT to instruct students.

Yasuhiro Hosomizu, vice principal of the school, said, “The curriculum will be diversified and the students’ perspectives will also widen.”

Ahead of the introduction, the students have been using information devices and the teachers have used electronic chalkboards. At the event, teachers from the school put on mock classes.

In a mock third-year primary school math class, the students watched a video on a large display and counted how many of each type of car were shown in the video clip.

The students made charts of the numbers using the tablets and the electronic chalkboard.

However, some teachers were apprehensive.

A primary school teacher from Niigata Prefecture who watched the mock class said, “Though teaching methods and materials will drastically change, we don’t have the know-how to use them.”

Meanwhile, projects using the latest technology are under way to develop devices to make classes more efficient and develop teaching materials which may enhance students’ willingness to study.

Tokyo-based Sony Corp. developed “electronic paper” devices on which users can display text and other data and write using electronic pens.

Starting in autumn, demonstrations of the devices will begin at Waseda University and Ritsumeikan University.

The devices also have wireless LAN functions, making distribution of documents and submission of reports easier. The devices are expected to make lectures more efficient.

Yokohama-based JVC Kenwood Corp. developed a globe that displays videos explaining global warming and how typhoons and tsunami form.

The company had displayed large models at various events, but for the Future Classroom event, the company developed one 80 centimeters in diameter for schools to contribute to teaching about the environment and disaster prevention.

Some companies have tied up to encourage schools to introduce ICT systems.

About 30 companies, including Microsoft Japan Co., NTT Docomo Inc. and NEC Corp., set up a liaison council in May to jointly provide such systems to schools and local governments.

The governments of South Korea and Singapore have taken the initiative of introducing ICT systems in education.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is encouraging the introduction of ICT. A ministry official said, “By utilizing ICT from the stage of compulsory education, students will more easily understand class content and their interests in and motivation for learning can be raised.”

A fiscal 2011 survey showed that there is one computer for every 6.6 public school students and 73,377 electronic chalkboards, up about 20 percent from the previous year, were introduced in public schools.