When Japan opened herself to the world in 1868, one of the government's high priority was catching up with Western standards in science and education. The Japanese education system was reformed mainly according to the German and French model which experts regarded as most suitable and advantageous.
After the second world war, the Americans reformed the Japanese education system after their own which consists of six years of elementary school, each three years of junior and senior high school and four years of university or two years of junior college.
Compulsory education includes elementary school and junior high school. Over 90% of all students also graduate from high school and over 40% from university or junior college. At universities the percentage of male students is higher than that of female students while the opposite is the case at junior colleges. The number of graduate university students is relatively low.
The Japanese school year starts in April and consists of three terms, separated by short holidays in spring and winter, and a one month long summer break.
A characteristic of the Japanese school system are entrance exams, and with them a high competitiveness among students. Most high schools, universities, as well as a few private junior high schools and elementary schools require applicants to write entrance exams. In order to pass entrance exams to the best institutions, many students attend special preparation schools (juku) besides regular classes, or for one to two years between high school and university (yobiko).
The most prestigious universities are the national University of Tokyo and University of Kyoto, followed by the best private universities.
Sunday 5 December 2010
Technopaganism - Using New Technology to Study Old Religions
So how can we embrace this technology? I mean, in addition to using it to meet new people and learn new things, there's got to be a way to incorporate it into our spiritual practice, right? If magic is a tool that can be used in tandem with the mundane, then surely the mundane is a tool that can be used in tandem with magical practice.
How many of you have ever done a working on or for someone using only a screen name, email address, or ISP?
Years ago, I was having problems with an online stalker who had targeted me in a chat room. This wasn’t someone I had ever met in real life, but somehow she had latched on to me, and literally followed me around the internet. Wherever I went, there she was. Eventually things came to a head when she started making reference to things in my Real Life World that I had never mentioned online -- that was when I knew I needed to do something.
I never did find out her real name, but I had a screen name and an ISP, and that was good enough for me. I created a "Smoke the Trolls" working that was very industrial in nature -- it involved duct tape, a floppy disc, a packet of Kool Aid, some magnets, and a hammer. The entire focus of the working was to remove her presence from the Internet entirely -- basically erase her from existing on the worldwide web, or at the very least in my little corner of it.
It worked, and I never had a problem with her again . But the point is, if you're going to use the Internet for mundane stuff like communication and knowledge, why not use it for spell work as well? Why not use it for ritual work?
I've participated in online rituals, I've sent out calls for healing to people I've never met except online, and I've wished untold blessings upon those who were really nothing more than a name on a screen. I did it because I was able to, and because even though in theory, we know Paganism is "old", the fact is that if we don't evolve along with our technology, we're going to shortchange ourselves.
There are entire traditions of people who consider themselves Techno-Pagans. They're the folks who know it's okay to use a cell phone, a Blackberry, an iPod in ritual workings. This is the age of information, so why not make that information and that technology work for us, rather than be a hindrance?
Consider, for a moment, how many Pagans work in the field of information and technology. If you're a at Pagan convention or event, you can't swing a cat without hitting at least one computer programmer or IT specialist. If cyberspace and the magical world are both virtual realities, both places that are constructed and maintained by our thoughts and our belief systems, why can't we blend the two?
Let's not turn into a generation of Luddites. Let's not say that new technology has no place in the world of an ancient spirituality that embraces the natural world. Of course it does -- it's a tool, and if we use it to our advantage, then there's no reason that magic and science can't walk hand in hand as we navigate our way along our spiritual paths, whatever those may be.
How many of you have ever done a working on or for someone using only a screen name, email address, or ISP?
Years ago, I was having problems with an online stalker who had targeted me in a chat room. This wasn’t someone I had ever met in real life, but somehow she had latched on to me, and literally followed me around the internet. Wherever I went, there she was. Eventually things came to a head when she started making reference to things in my Real Life World that I had never mentioned online -- that was when I knew I needed to do something.
I never did find out her real name, but I had a screen name and an ISP, and that was good enough for me. I created a "Smoke the Trolls" working that was very industrial in nature -- it involved duct tape, a floppy disc, a packet of Kool Aid, some magnets, and a hammer. The entire focus of the working was to remove her presence from the Internet entirely -- basically erase her from existing on the worldwide web, or at the very least in my little corner of it.
It worked, and I never had a problem with her again . But the point is, if you're going to use the Internet for mundane stuff like communication and knowledge, why not use it for spell work as well? Why not use it for ritual work?
I've participated in online rituals, I've sent out calls for healing to people I've never met except online, and I've wished untold blessings upon those who were really nothing more than a name on a screen. I did it because I was able to, and because even though in theory, we know Paganism is "old", the fact is that if we don't evolve along with our technology, we're going to shortchange ourselves.
There are entire traditions of people who consider themselves Techno-Pagans. They're the folks who know it's okay to use a cell phone, a Blackberry, an iPod in ritual workings. This is the age of information, so why not make that information and that technology work for us, rather than be a hindrance?
Consider, for a moment, how many Pagans work in the field of information and technology. If you're a at Pagan convention or event, you can't swing a cat without hitting at least one computer programmer or IT specialist. If cyberspace and the magical world are both virtual realities, both places that are constructed and maintained by our thoughts and our belief systems, why can't we blend the two?
Let's not turn into a generation of Luddites. Let's not say that new technology has no place in the world of an ancient spirituality that embraces the natural world. Of course it does -- it's a tool, and if we use it to our advantage, then there's no reason that magic and science can't walk hand in hand as we navigate our way along our spiritual paths, whatever those may be.
Thursday 2 December 2010
Education Technology
When the Adobe Education team demoed their Connect 8 online meeting software, I was, to put it mildly, impressed. A great business application also happened to be an awesome educational tool. Then, the folks at WizIQ gave me a demo the other day of their own virtual classroom software which shared many of the useful features in Connect but was highly competitive in terms of price and was specifically designed around the idea of classroom. I’ll be taking them head-to-head very soon, but suffice to say, both have some incredibly compelling use cases. However, until you actually see how they can change the student experience, it’s hard to appreciate just how powerful these tools really are.
World Education
World Education is dedicated to improving the lives of the poor through education, and economic and social development programs.
World Education is well known for its work around the globe in environmental education, community development, maternal and child health, school governance, integrated literacy, small enterprise development, HIV and AIDS education and prevention and care, and refugee training. World Education also works to strengthen literacy and adult basic education programs in the United States. Projects are designed to contribute to individual growth, as well as to community and national development.
Over the last few years, World Education has worked in Cambodia with UNICEF and the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS) on a project to build the capacity of ministry staff and parent educators to promote children's school readiness through discovery learning play. Ms. Ouk Sophannary, an officer at the ECE Department for the last six years has been involved in the project since April 2008
World Education is well known for its work around the globe in environmental education, community development, maternal and child health, school governance, integrated literacy, small enterprise development, HIV and AIDS education and prevention and care, and refugee training. World Education also works to strengthen literacy and adult basic education programs in the United States. Projects are designed to contribute to individual growth, as well as to community and national development.
Over the last few years, World Education has worked in Cambodia with UNICEF and the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS) on a project to build the capacity of ministry staff and parent educators to promote children's school readiness through discovery learning play. Ms. Ouk Sophannary, an officer at the ECE Department for the last six years has been involved in the project since April 2008
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In Zimbabwe, a nine-year-old boy living with HIV knew to take his antiretroviral treatment whenever he heard the country's national anthem on the radio. The anthem is played twice per day, at sunrise and sunset—and this schedule coincided with when Kudakwashe needed to take his pills. When the radio had batteries that worked, this system worked well for Kudakwashe.
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