Tokyo Gakugei University and NIJIN Academy Start Practical Joint Research Utilizing University Facilities for Next-Generation Education Fusing Metaverse and Real Spaces.

NIJIN Academy, one of Japan's largest alternative schools for elementary and junior high school students, operated by NIJIN Inc. (Headquarters: Koto-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Tatsuro Hoshino), has concluded a joint research agreement with Tokyo Gakugei University (Koganei-shi, Tokyo, President: Mitsuru Kokubun). As a place for practical verification of this research, we will establish the "Be happy Do happy Lab" within the "Explayground activities" promoted by the Tokyo Gakugei University Explayground Promotion Organization, and implement hybrid education. Utilizing the facilities within Tokyo Gakugei University as a research field (NIJIN Academy Tokyo Gakugei University Lab School), we will demonstrate the effectiveness of hybrid education that fuses the metaverse and a real campus.

## ■ Purpose of Joint Research: Building a "New Place of Learning" that Goes Back and Forth Between Digital and Physical Spaces

This joint research will be conducted under the theme of "Empirical Research on Individually Optimized Exploratory Learning in a Hybrid Educational Environment Fusing Metaverse and Real Campus," under the guidance of Professor Yoshihiro Kaneko of the Organization for Educational Incubation, Tokyo Gakugei University. The purpose is to clarify the effectiveness of a "hybrid learning environment" that fuses the "Metaverse School Building (Online)" deployed by NIJIN Academy with the educational resources (CLT combo, HIVE, Iketogawa Play Park, etc.) possessed by Tokyo Gakugei University. We will objectively verify the impact that the transition between online education, which transcends location constraints, and the exploratory environment with physical presence, which is the university campus, has on children's pursuit of uniqueness and expertise.

## ■ Outline of Joint Research: Establishment of a Lab through Explayground Activities, Clarifying the "Mechanism of Learning"

As a place for the practice of this research, we will set up a lab (Tokyo Gakugei University Lab School) utilizing the facilities within Tokyo Gakugei University. This will be operated within the framework of "Explayground activities," where industry, government, and academia collaborate to create new learning born from "play."

Using university facilities as a schooling location for NIJIN Academy, which is deployed in the metaverse space, we will conduct the following investigations and analyses.

1. Log analysis and visualization of the exploratory learning process
Analyze the learning process based on individual interests and concerns from data such as ICT utilization status and behavioral observation. We will organize the mechanism from an academic perspective of how children discover their uniqueness and deepen it into specialized learning.

2. Investigation of changes in "learning space" and "learning"
Investigate psychological and behavioral changes while going back and forth between virtual spaces and real educational environments. We will demonstrate how online stimuli materialize in real-world settings and create a cycle of learning.

The results of this research will be utilized for the construction of next-generation educational models after objective data analysis and evaluation by Professor Yoshihiro Kaneko of the Organization for Educational Incubation.

## ■ Start of Verification Field: Pre-open Experience Session Held with Great Success!

As a practical field for this research, we established a lab (Tokyo Gakugei University Lab School) within the Explayground activities. Ahead of the full-scale start of the research, a pre-open experience session was held on Thursday, March 26, 2026, where children engaged in activities to find the "seeds" of their own exploratory themes while exploring the vast university campus.