New Training Content Released for Information Utilization Skills Diagnostic Service "Jokatsu." Integrating "Diagnosis" and "Development," Recruitment Begins for the 4th Phase of Information Utilization Skills Demonstration Schools

The General Incorporated Association International Edutainment Association (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Shunsuke Mori; hereinafter "the Association"), which provides DX support, educational material development, and public relations support to education boards and schools nationwide, has launched new training content to support the development of information utilization skills within its "Jokatsu" information utilization skills diagnostic service for elementary and junior high school students. Concurrently, Professor Kiichiro Okubo of Kyoto University of Education has joined as a supervisory advisor to oversee the design and improvement of diagnostic items. Furthermore, the recruitment of local governments and schools for the fourth phase of the demonstration project, which will verify the effectiveness of the diagnostic functions and new content, has begun. ■ Background In September 2025, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Central Council for Education published a "Summary of Issues"*1 for the revision of the next Course of Study, positioning "fundamental improvement of information utilization skills" as a major pillar of the revision. With the policy to reorganize the technology field in junior high schools into "Information and Technology (tentative name)," the establishment of a system to foster information utilization skills across all subjects is accelerating. Meanwhile, approximately five years have passed since the GIGA School concept led to the provision of one device per student, and the educational field is transitioning from a phase of "just using devices" to one of visualizing "what abilities students are acquiring" and systematically developing them. With the full-scale introduction of digital textbooks and the complete transition to CBT for the National Assessment of Academic Ability and Learning Status (scheduled for FY2027), resolving disparities in utilization between regions and schools is also an urgent issue. Furthermore, with the rapid spread of generative AI, an environment where fake news and misinformation can easily spread is expanding, making it more important than ever for children and students to acquire the "ability to discern the reliability of information."*3 Against this backdrop, the Association is building a system that supports the "visualization" and "development" of information utilization skills in an integrated manner, contributing to solving the challenges faced by schools nationwide. Challenges "Beyond Visualization" Revealed in Three Years of Demonstration Since its service release in 2023, the Association's information utilization skills diagnostic service "Jokatsu" has conducted demonstration projects involving over 20,000 children and students over three years. While significant results were achieved in visualizing the current level of children's and students' information utilization skills through diagnostic results, the educational field frequently voiced concerns such as: "Even if we know the weak areas from the diagnostic results, we don't know how to train them afterward," "There is no specific lesson content to develop information utilization skills," and "We could visualize it, but we are struggling with how to incorporate it into daily lessons." To address these challenges "beyond visualization," Jokatsu has newly developed and incorporated training lesson content to foster information utilization skills in addition to its diagnostic functions. As the first phase, this content focuses on areas that should be prioritized for strengthening based on Jokatsu's diagnostic results and will be released ahead of schedule. ■ Details of the New Content "Jokatsu Quest" As the first phase, the following three types of lesson content are being released. Jokatsu Quest is an educational material designed to help students enjoyably develop information utilization skills through a collaborative learning experience, primarily involving group work. It can be implemented in single sessions and utilized in comprehensive study periods or homeroom activities. ① Fake News Edition: "Unravel the Evil Organization as an Information Detective" This content develops the "ability to discern the reliability of information," which is essential in the age of generative AI. Children and students can experientially learn the characteristics of fake news and how to identify it through a puzzle-solving format. ② Cloud Utilization Understanding Edition: "Defend the School Network" This is a puzzle-solving game designed to help students understand the mechanisms and appropriate usage of cloud services they use daily. They can deepen their understanding of basic cloud concepts and considerations for information sharing and management in a game-like manner. ③ Problem-Solving and Inquiry Skills Edition: "Identify Noise and Organize Correct Information" This is a mission-based game where students organize various pieces of information in a mission format to derive the optimal answer. They learn to identify necessary information and reach conclusions by excluding "noise" from the information. Additional content will be released sequentially in the future. Professor Kiichiro Okubo of Kyoto University of Education Joins as Supervisory Advisor Since last year, Associate Professor Kiichiro Okubo of Kyoto University of Education has joined the Association as a supervisory advisor for the design and improvement of diagnostic questions for Jokatsu. Professor Okubo specializes in information education and media literacy education, providing advice on designing questions based on academic knowledge and fostering information utilization skills. Kiichiro Okubo, Ph.D. (Information Science, Tohoku University) Associate Professor, Center for Advanced Teacher Education, Regional Organization for Educational Innovation, Kyoto University of Education Born in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture in 1982. After working at public elementary schools in Tokyo and Shimane Prefecture, and as an associate professor at Shimane University, he assumed his current position. He serves as a DX Strategy Advisor for Schools at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and a Special Researcher at the Textbook Research Center, among other roles. His research focuses on the characteristics of manga as a medium, and methods for its comprehension and instruction. His work includes research on the reading habits and comprehension processes of upper elementary school children regarding manga (doctoral dissertation), and the influence of working memory capacity on manga comprehension—a survey of sixth-grade elementary school students— (awarded the Reading Science Research Encouragement Prize), etc. Comment from Associate Professor Kiichiro Okubo of Kyoto University of Education Information utilization skills are positioned as "qualities and abilities that form the foundation of learning" in the current Course of Study, and their importance is undeniable. In the next revision, the establishment of an "information domain (tentative name)" in comprehensive study time for elementary schools is being considered, further accelerating its centrality in the curriculum. However, objectively measuring and connecting these skills, which continue to transform with technological innovation, to instruction has been a major challenge for schools. "Jokatsu" is an extremely effective tool from the perspective of evidence-based education, as it can easily visualize modern skills such as cloud utilization "anytime, anywhere." Moving forward, we expect it to develop into a platform that dynamically updates items in response to new media characteristics such as generative AI, integrating development and evaluation in line with the times. Through the development of this scale, I will contribute from an academic perspective to foster the ability of all children to proactively build an information society. ■ Recruitment Begins for the 4th Phase of Demonstration Project Participants (Local Governments and Schools) To verify the effectiveness of Jokatsu's diagnostic functions and the newly implemented training lesson content, the Association will conduct the fourth phase of its demonstration project. We are now recruiting local governments and schools wishing to participate in the demonstration project. Recruitment Period: April 14 (Tuesday) ~ July 31 (Friday) Eligible Schools: Local governments and schools nationwide Eligible Grades: Elementary 5th-6th grade, Junior High 1st-3rd grade Minimum Participants: 30 people~ Application/Inquiry Form: https://forms.gle/2TbMfGwej1mychGE9 Free provision of Jokatsu diagnostic tool (2-3 diagnoses per year) Utilization of training lesson content (fake news, cloud understanding) Aggregated data reporting at the class, school, and local government level Meetings, training planning, and implementation based on diagnostic results *The detailed content of the demonstration will be flexibly designed according to the requests of participating local governments and schools. ■ Future Developments The Association, in collaboration with Associate Professor Okubo of Kyoto University of Education, will further deepen research on the diagnosis and development of information utilization skills. As the next Course of Study calls for a "fundamental improvement of information utilization skills," Jokatsu will support educational settings nationwide through both "visualization" and "development," contributing to fostering the necessary skills for children and students living in the Society 5.0 era. We will continue to expand the lineup of training lesson content and aim to build a more effective information utilization skills development model based on data and evidence accumulated through demonstration projects. ■ What is the Information Utilization Skills Diagnostic Tool "Jokatsu"? "Jokatsu" is a diagnostic tool for elementary and junior high school students that assesses information utilization skills, primarily focusing on the use of PCs, tablets, and the internet. Based on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's example framework for information utilization skills, it quantifies the "current status" of information utilization skills for local governments, schools, and children/students based on responses to questions across three areas: ① basic operations, ② problem-solving/inquiry skills, ③ media literacy, ④ knowledge of cloud, and ⑤ information ethics/security. ◼︎ Service Introduction URL https://www.iueo.or.jp/jokatsu Sources *1 Report on the Summary of Issues in the Special Committee for Curriculum Planning, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20260129-mxt_kyoiku01-000045057_01.pdf) *2 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology "Guidelines for the Utilization of Generative AI in Elementary and Secondary Education (Ver.2.0)" (Published December 2024) (https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/other/mext_02412.html)