Gakusei Seikatsu (Student Life in Japan)

This project was originally created at the 2006 AATJ/Japan Foundation Summer Insitute in Urawa, Japan, as a cumulative project encompassing Japanese language lessons, cultural units, and technology such as PowerPoint and digital video editing. The authors of the first PowerPoint-based edition, and complete elementary unit were Lori-Ann Abe, John Johnson, and Andrew Scott.
At the end of the Urawa Institute, this project was a PowerPoint and video-based learning system in which Japanese language students could explore the lives of Japanese students both elementary and high-school and contrast them with their lives and experiences.

In the two sections, elementary and high school, students were given appropriate language and cultural units in a very interactive and multi-sensory way. In the elementary section, students were exposed to the classes, activities/customs, and the fun activities elementary students do in Japan. In the high-school unit, students were shown an interview with two Japanese high-school students on topics ranging from school uniforms to social lives to club sports.

This stage of this project though implemented successfully had several technical and design issues including incompatibility with Macintosh computers, inconsistency in navigation system, contrast issues, etc.

In response to these issues, Andrew Scott redesigned the project by doing the following:
1. Addition of the third unit on school uniforms, as well as a complete high school unit.
2. Limiting PowerPoint use and converting project to being an HTML and Flash-based website.
3. Converting all videos to Flash to ensure compatibility with all computers and web-browsers.
4. Improved navigation and design using PhotoShop and Flash.
5. Improved and expanded language and culture activity samples.
6. Addition of sample final projects based on the 5 cultural standards.
7. Addition of capability to be uploaded to the web rather than being confined to a CD or DVD.