Aoyama Gakuin University Case Study: Blended Learning and Flipped Classrooms Utilizing Mobile Devices
The third and last case study examines blended and flipped classrooms utilizing mobile devices in teaching EFL in Japan. M-Learning can offer a rich, motivating, informal, contextual, and ubiquitous learning environment, where students control their learn
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Aoyama Gakuin University Case Study: Blended Learning and Flipped Classrooms Utilizing Mobile Devices
Abstract The third and last case study examines blended and flipped classrooms utilizing mobile devices in teaching EFL in Japan. M-Learning can offer a rich, motivating, informal, contextual, and ubiquitous learning environment, where students control their learning time, environment, and pace. Third-year economics majors were given iPads, with e-books integrated into the curriculum. Three empirical studies examined the effectiveness of blended and flipped learning with various emerging technologies from voice recognition to Web-based applications accessed by iPads and smartphones. Results of computer assessment tests such as the CASEC, OPIc speaking test, and TOEIC indicated that blended and flipped lessons helped students to improve their overall English proficiency better than traditional approaches.
Institutional/Pedagogical Context Historical Background/Pedagogical Aims Aoyama Gakuin University (AGU) is a Japanese Christian university in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo. AGU is part of Aoyama Gakuin, which includes a kindergarten, an elementary school, junior and senior high schools, and a women’s junior college. It was founded in 1874 by Methodist Episcopal missionaries from the United States. Higher education began in 1949 when Aoyama Gakuin College was established. Today, AGU is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan. It is active in international exchange programs for students and faculty. Few universities in Japan are known for having such a cosmopolitan atmosphere as well as a prized location, with its main campus in a fashionable and trend-setting district of Tokyo. AGU is a mission school with a pedagogical focus mainly on liberal arts education.
© The Author(s) 2017 S. McCarty et al., Implementing Mobile Language Learning Technologies in Japan, SpringerBriefs in Education, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2451-1_5
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Profile of Students/Majors/Curriculum Students all live off campus, attending mostly from Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures. Besides the main campus in central Tokyo, the Sagamihara Campus in Kanagawa Prefecture is where freshmen and sophomores study, and a College of Science and Engineering is also located there. The total undergraduate student population at AGU is about 20,000, with about 1300 full-time faculty members and part-time teachers. Undergraduate and graduate programs include literature, law, economics, and business; international majors such as politics, economics, and communication; science, engineering, cultural and creative studies, among others. Graduate programs also include professional training in international management, accounting, a law school, and other specializations.
Technological Context Campus IT Infrastructure AGU has a Foreign Language Laboratory for IT infrastructure maintenance, student support, supplementary learning materials (such as videos), and faculty support. The faculty member in
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