Although the information technology in primary and secondary education in Japan has been rapidly developed by the educational informatization policy represented by the GIGA school concept and the promotion of online education in the Corona disaster, there is still a long way to go before DX is achieved. In this review, the trends of the policies for the realization of DX in primary and secondary education are summarized, and the achievements and challenges in the field of educational technology are reviewed.

Digital transformation (DX), which has improved living and working conditions with the help of information technology is now being implemented into educational practices. The implementation of information and communications technology (ICT), as well as the use of technologically advanced equipment, is being promoted in primary and secondary education. The Global and Innovation Gateway for All (GIGA) School Program, which provides computers for all students in compulsory education and addresses the growing needs of remote education, necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, brought about drastic changes in existing educational practices. In this study, we first reviewed the trends related to the policies and research on DX and educational practices in Japan. We then reviewed international trends related to DX in education. Finally, we considered the role of DX in enhancing educational practices, focusing on the development of higher-order skills of students and the enhancement of the level of competency of teachers.

With the remarkable progress of advanced technologies such as networks, cloud computing, AI, IoT, and robotics, the digitization of society as a whole is advancing rapidly. Digital data and digital technologies will become the central elements that make up the new society of the future, and it is required to create new values by making full use of these technologies (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2021). In the area of education as well, there is a need to promote not only digitalization using educational data and digital technologies, but also educational services and educational models, as well as the promotion of educational DX in order to transform education to be suitable for the new age. In this paper, we describe the trends and future prospects of learning support and teacher support technologies that create new education (learning) models and educational services in order to realize the educational DX for elementary and secondary education. In particular, we focus on VR/AR/MR technologies and their applications, and collaborative learning support technologies.

we design and evaluate a group formation method that decreases the bias in the amount of individual speech and increases the amount of individual speech during collaborative learning in inquiry learning in upper elementary school. Based on the hypothesis that children's interactions increase or decrease the amount of individual speech, we created 10,000 different group combinations by inputting children's interests, abilities, and personality traits data, and calculated the predicted amount of individual speech, the average predicted amount of group speech, and the bias of group speech for each group. For each group, we calculate the predicted amount of individual speech, the average value of the predicted amount of speech within the group, and the bias of speech within the group. The results showed that there was a correlation between the predicted and measured amounts of speech and that a certain amount of speech could be predicted, and that there was an increase in the amount of speech, especially among children who usually do not speak much.

Inquiry-based learning about earthquakes and natural disasters often entails fieldwork. However, creating a learning environment utilizing ICT is also desired to enable such education in remote learning contexts. In this paper, we report on the development and implementation of an inquiry-based learning program about the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami for middle school students by integrating an VR as a fieldwork. The survey shows that the developed program significantly increases students’ interest and understanding of the earthquake disaster. In addition, it is confirmed that students acquired generic skills required for inquiry-based learning. Although there is some challenge with learning using VR movies such as the limitations of the information provided and low usability, it is still effective in terms of realizing the height of buildings in a disaster-stricken area or creating immersive experiences. It also has the potential to contribute to the understanding of Inquiry-based learning regarding earthquakes and natural disasters.

With the DX of society progressing, the development of information literacy is required, but in many schools, there is a problem whether related instructions can be provided before the development of ability. Therefore, in this study, we developed a checklist for students so that teachers can grasp the current status instruction in information literacy. After extraction of items that cover "the System of Information Literacy", and trial for students ， the checklist, consisting of 14 items of "Appropriate Use of Information and Information Technologies", of 21 items of "Information Use in Problem Solving / Inquiry" , and of 9 items of "Information Ethics / Information Security", was developed．We carried out the checklist for students and asked the homeroom teachers to consider the results. The results showed that the checklist was effective to grasp the current status of instruction in information literacy across curriculum by combining the results with teachers' knowledge.

In recent years, the GIGA school concept has been realized in order to respond to the rapid progress of computerization in society. Along with this, teacher training is required to develop teachers' ICT utilization leadership. In this study, a collaboration of three organizations (board of education, school, university) developed and evaluated a diffuse teacher training program that partially used the online system. As a result, the online training conducted for the representatives of each school was highly satisfying. Then, the teacher felt that the number of business trips was reduced, and the work was reduced. Furthermore, the communication training conducted by the representatives at each school was highly reproducible. The representative realized the effect of the training. In addition, the participants were motivated to utilize ICT in the communication training. It was also revealed that the participants understood the need for ICT. Therefore, the effectiveness of this training program was suggested. However, there were some representatives who were worried about the implementation of the training. In addition, it is necessary to consider whether this training program is suitable for various training themes and training programs including practical skills.

We conducted an awareness survey on children regarding the use of one-to-one computing and analyzed how much the acquisition of basic tool operational skills of learners differs depending on the information terminal environment and the grade in which the learner is in school. We also considered whether it could be used as a familiar learning tool for children. Upon analyzing the answers of 1095 children from 14 schools in 9 local governments, 4th grade in elementary school, the evaluation score of the operation skills of Spreadsheet, Programming, and Interact tool was low, along with the usage frequency in the schools. We show that it is necessary to devise guidance to improve operational skills. Comparing the information terminal environment and grades, the number of children who use one-to-one computing was significantly higher than that of children sharing the information terminal, in the five categories of the answer results regarding the operation skills of the basic tools. We also show that the Information and Communication Technology environment, guidance, and grade differences in schools have an effect, and we clarify the importance of teaching in a way so that students can learn across subjects. In addition, the frequency of use at home may also affect the acquisition of operational skills, and how this can be integrated into homework should be considered in the future.

From the survey of children and teachers on the use to which the use of ICT in the classroom 1 to 1 PC by GIGA school initiative, were studied features in the children of the use of ICT and teachers of the lesson way of the induction phase. As a result, it was found that the children used the 1 to 1 PC in their daily activities such as communicating on the cloud while using various applications in combination, and that the teachers were able to guide the children in the use of the 1 to 1 PC in the school, but were not able to do so for home learning. On the other hand, teachers can actively guide students in the use of information terminals in school, but they cannot actively respond to home learning from the viewpoint of local government rules and information morality.

Digital Transformation (DX) is needed in society, including school education. In Japan, the Global and Innovation Gateway for All (GIGA) school concept was announced in December 2019, and accordingly, schools are installing one information terminal for each student. However, the development status of the information and communication technology (ICT) environment differs depending on the region and school, and there are concerns that this will result in learning disparities caused by differences in teachers’ knowledge and experience with ICT equipment. In this study, to clarify teachers’ expectations and concerns regarding the improvement of the ICT environment and the use of ICT, we investigated the attitudes of primary and secondary teachers concerning the use of information terminals for all students. The results showed that while the teachers thought it would be useful to have an information terminal for each student, they felt anxiety about improving the ICT environment and students’ physical and mental health. To use ICT devices in learning and improve the lives of students, it is necessary to develop the ICT environment, deepen the understanding of ICT use, and concretely resolve the concerns of students about its impact on their bodies and minds as well as the problems it entails.