Hand-crafted teaching materials and school activities in collaboration with schoolteachers

Abstract

　The present authors have been creating hand-crafted teaching materials by using recent advanced Information Communication Technologies and conducting school activities at both special needs and general schools. The research project organized by one of the present authors, Shigeru Ikuta is now widely spread all over the world; more than 180 schoolteachers even in Japan join the present project. The research activities described in the present paper were performed to help students with various difficulties learn and improve their required subjects and daily lives by using newly developed software and handy tools with Bluetooth functionality. Shigeru Ikuta is now editing a book entitled as "Handmade Teaching Materials for Students with Disabilities," published by the IGI-Global, USA in August; 15 refereed chapter papers all over the world are included in the book. This book is quite valuable to introduce Japanese activities performed at special needs school to all over the world. Shigeru Ikuta was recently invited by the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia; he has performed workshops twice to pass the know-how of creating handmade teaching materials to kindergarten teachers at the 6th International Education and Forum (Teaching and Learning for Early Childhood Education 2018). The present paper describes the activities performed in 2017 academic year by the Japanese schoolteachers and Otsuma Women's university students.