November 23-25, 2024
Delegates from 26 countries made for a very international affair. Presented on the development of a low code template, which branches off a copy of a class Airtable database to provide a starting place for others. That project has its own information site: check out at.ianlab.org (the "at" stands for both "Airtable" and "Teaching Assistant").
September 7-8, 2024
Ten students are working on a project to make short videos and games that allow students (any age) to experience AI ideas. ResearchGate has the short overview AI in Play: Innovative Learning Through Games and Videos" (📄 pdf, 2 pages), and also the Japanese version and poster. Expect demos, videos, and a fun project.
January 18, 2024
Most of the speakers at this conference were international, including talks from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, India, and Macau. We contributed a presentation on Low Code Solutions for Managing the Integration of Video, Graphics and Active Learning Resources for Engaging Classrooms” (link takes you to the slides on ResearchGate). And here is a link to the EduCon Conference Series on the TERA site.
April 16 - 19, 2023
We were at the The Higher Education Technology Agenda (THETA) Conference 2023 (https://theta.edu.au), presenting the talks "Cohorts and Condensed Videos" (materials online) and "Back to the Future and the Pedagogical Luddite: A journey on seeing the past forward with the powerful new tools", plus putting our heads to figuring out futures for AI technologies and more.
Dec 1, 2022
In this workshop as part of the Asian Conference on Education, participants rose to the challenge of expressing the Corona years via the medium of tin foil. Results were shared through a low-code interface, see the picture below. Full papers available online.
Nov 23, 2021
Adapting to the pandemic, around 200 participants took part in our 2½-hour online workshop showcasing a new system supporting the learning of health professionals through on-demand video. Staged as part of the “Moving Forward in Unity: Nursing Through the Covid-19 Pandemic” conference, our system allowed groups to carry out problem-solving steps of diagnosing patient symptom examples, with the next stage of the video training being delivered to the smartphones of all group members. (More details on our site)
Jan 20 & Jan 21 2018
Over 150 local teachers crammed into this face-to-face two-day event, which was carried out for the Institute of Human Resources Training and International Cooperation (https://intic.edu.vn/, Vietnamese only), in their facility in the province of Binh Duong, an area renowned for its craft traditions. The conflict resolution contents included ideas on Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication (NVC).
March 28, 2016
We ran a workshop on the themes of constraints and integration for SEAMEO (the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization) Vietnam. Participants were educators from across Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
January 31, 2015
We ran a 2-hour event on non-verbal communication as part of TEDxWasedaU. It was a fun experience to stand on the (scaled-down) big red spot.
January 8, 2015
Ian contributed 1 day of a five day event, with the theme “Human Resource Management”. Participants in this course were 40 deans and principals of universities, all from the Philippines, who gathered at the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
January 28, 2014
Our "Unbundling and Rebuilding in Education: An Intervention" event in Tokyo was very successful, with 120 students saying things such as "“I was so amazed by what we did. I would never have experienced it if I had not been challenged”. We also debuted "Feedback With Balloons" (see picture).
December 18 - 19 Dec, 2013
In conjunction with SEAMEO (the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization), we ran a 2-day workshop in Ho Chi Minh City.
This workshop challenged traditional understandings about Critical Thinking (CT) and what it means to be a critical thinker.
Aug 4 - 10, 2013
We ran a Scratch workshop at our university's Open Day on Aug 4, and then for the remainder of the week, students could view the results of their work as projection mapping at that years WMDF Event.
15 April, 2013
We led an evening discussion and workshop, concentrating on the strengths and possible directions for the local area. This was part of the new "Monday Evening School" opening in town (this link in Japanese).
12 January, 2013
Two half-day workshops for international students in Tokyo focussing on "wayfinding" skills to help students when they graduate from University. We had an overall attendance of 80 students.
24 November, 2012
We ran a full-day program of workshop activities and discussions as part of this movement to introduce an "Ethical Stream" movement into Japan.
January 28, 2011
This workshop took "story" as a theme, loosely marking the release of the movie An Ecology of Mind about Gregory Bateson, and his quote "if I am at all fundamentally right in what I am saying, then thinking in terms of stories must be shared by all mind or minds, whether ours or those of redwood forests and sea anemones." The workshop supplied a clear theoretical basis to back up the practical activities.
Sep 13 - 17, 2010
For the ninth time, we ran a 5-day workshop open to students from a large number of universities in Japan. We packed many new things into this event, as summer is now increasingly being used up by work on WMDF, so we will be concentrating on shorter workshops for a few years.
Mar 23 - 25, 2010
In conjunction with SEAMEO (the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization), we ran a 3-day workshop in Ho Chi Minh City.
This workshop challenged traditional understandings about Critical Thinking (CT) and what it means to be a critical thinker. Although both private and public sectors are keen to promote CT, the reality is that being “critical” can be a drain on resources. What do institutions really want from CT? What is generally being presented as CT? Understanding CT is key to success.
We used rich experiences designed to challenge and extend “comfort zones”.
Sep 7 - 11, 2009
Online registration for this year's 5-day course at Waseda is now available (course number 75). The 5-day workshop is open to students from a large number of universities in Japan. We are happy to field questions from anyone with an interest in attending.
December 7, 2008
We ran a one day workshop for international students, in Akihabara. The theme was investigating different styles of thinking in different cultures, which we did experientially.
8 Sep - 12 Sep 2008
Online registration for this year's 5-day course at Waseda is now available (course number 80). The 5-day workshop is open to students from a large number of universities in Japan. We are happy to field questions from anyone with an interest in attending.
February 2, 2008
Illusions: a new experiment for koto-tsukuri, although we have found optical illusions useful in some previous workshops. We worked with a student to run an experimental workshop that used illusions to teach elementary school students about creativity and different ways of viewing the world.
September 10 - 14, 2007
The yearly class from which many of the koto-tsukuri ideas have grown was held again at Waseda. Thanks again to Takizawa-san and all the people at the Media Network Center.
March 8, 2007
On March 8th, we will be presenting at the "2-Year Anniversary Event of Akihabara Crossfield Industrial-Academic Cooperative Function". We will run four 45 minute workshops, at 9:30, 11:00, 14:00 and 15:30. The theme is "Koto-tsukuri: World Class Thinking". This is the Akihabara site. They have a program and a leaflet.
This event is free and requires no registration. Just turn up in time for one of the sessions.
What is World Class Thinking? We think Japan has much to contribute to this. "Koto-tsukuri" itself describes a new way of thinking. We use it in education to focus on the power of interactions.
February 21 & 22, 2007
We are pleased to announce a 2-day workshop hosted by JIPDEC in Tokyo. The workshop is aimed at IT Professionals, is open to the public, and is free. The language of this workshop will be Japanese, so the Japanese details are at the following link:
December 10, 2006
We helped our students run a 1 day "Experience the World" event for local elementary school students. Activities focussed on the differences in cultures and thinking throughout the world. Working with elementary school students was very active and a lot of fun.
November 21 - 22, 2006
A 2-day, 1-night workshop held at the Shikabe Royal hotel. Here is a summary from the promotional material:
This workshop will challenge your ability to work in teams. You will learn about the importance of structuring tasks, and of understanding the role of yourself and others in a group. You will be challenged to communicate and to solve problems creatively. You will be required to think about how you will use the lessons of the workshop when you return to your real-world life.
November 13 - 14, 2006
Koto-tsukuri workshops attracted significant attention when they were presented at the 2-day Business Expo in Sapporo. We talked with representatives of different companies, professors and students from universities in Hokkaido, and a director of research for Monbukagakusho. Our stall itself represented an aspect of the "koto" ideal by creating an interactive experience.