Miyazaki, JAPAN

Claremont, CALIFORNIA

Students at Miyazaki International College (MIC) learned firsthand how internet technology can link students from around the world when they participated in a Videoteleconference on Environmental Issues with students from Pitzer College in southern California. Fourteen MIC students enrolled in information science courses and 16 political science students from Pitzer College took part in the event, held on November 7 and 8, 1995.

CU-SeeMe technology allowed the participants to see, listen, and respond to each other simultaneously. "We can exchange information easily using CU-SeeMe. The advantage of this is that you can ask anything immediately." said participant Hiroshi Onoe.

Japanese students had practiced broadcasting locally over the school's local area network before the conference, but, despite the preparation, the excitement and anticipation of speaking to American students by live broadcast was high. "I was nervous before the presentation because I was worried about my poor English. I was glad they were nervous too!" commented Nahoko Osawa.

At the appointed hour, students on both sides of the Pacific turned on their computers to find two video images side by side on their screens. In one video image the Pitzer College students appeared, while MIC students were visible in the other. "I had never expected that I could speak with people who were so far away from us. It was great that we could see the faces of students!" exclaimed Takashi Shii, an MIC student.

Over the two day period, Japanese students explained the consequences of mercury contamination in Minamata on Kyushu; shared information about campus recycling efforts; and presented results from their Miyazaki environmental concerns survey.

Pitzer students introduced the Japanese students to the concept of "environmental racism." They defined environmental racism as what happens when environmental hazards are concentrated in economically deprived areas. The Pitzer students also shared innovative ways to recycle campus waste as well as reported the results of their own environmental survey .

The conference presentations elicited a great deal of discussion and information sharing. Students gained insight into each other's points of views. Fumie Yamashita in Japan observed "that environmental problems are common problems in the world and we all have to think and discuss about environmental problems more.... people have to find solutions and try to solve the problems by helping each other."

The Japanese students felt they came away with a better understanding of environmental issues in America. "I really had no idea what environmental racism was before they told us about it," commented one student.

A Bit of Background

At Miyazaki International College in Japan all course instruction is in English only and every content course has two teachers in every class: a content teacher and a language teacher. For this teleconference, English language instructors, Katharine Isbell and Julia Karet, were on site in Japan with their students, while the content course instructor, Jim Kieley, was in California with students from two political studies courses at Pitzer. Prof. Kieley left Pitzer College in 1993 to come to Japan to set up the new school's computer system and to establish the information technology curriculum. In November 1995, he went to the US for a conference presentation and was able arrange the teleconference at Pitzer College.

Preparation

In the weeks prior to the teleconference, Japanese students prepared by learning internet skills, practicing their speaking, and preparing content materials. The students --

• Downloaded sound files. They listened to a mini-lecture about Pitzer College and environmental problems in southern California and heard an interview on organic farming in Miyazaki.

• Used Web Chat to practice real time keyboard communication on MIC's LAN. This familiarized the students with asking and answering questions and asking for clarification. It also helped overcome their reluctance to spontaneously type comments and responses without the benefit of "spell-check" and extended preparation.

• Practiced with CU-SeeMe to become familiar and comfortable with the technology -- seeing and hearing themselves on the computer monitors, being a "lurker" and a "participant", using the "chat" window, learning to adjust the inputs etc.

The virtual conference brought students together for a free exchange of ideas in cyberspace -- without printed pages, conference fees, airline tickets or hotel bills. The teleconference was a particularly good way to integrate language skills, academic content and internet literacy. Everyone who participated thought videoteleconferencing was an exciting, environmentally friendly, and cost efficient technology. "Let's do it again" was the sentiment shared by all the participants.

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