Rules for the use of GIGA school devices devised by junior high school students in Settsu City, Osaka Prefecture
— We also want to be able to use YouTube and Twitter safely. — In a rule-making class, students proposed strategies that included filters

Information security solutions provider Digital Arts Inc. (headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Toshio Dogu; hereinafter referred to as "Digital Arts"; Code 2326) is that we have released the rules for the use of GIGA shcool devices, as thought up by students at Settsu Daini Junior High School and Settsu Municipal Daiyon Junior High School in Osaka Prefecture.

Digital Arts conducts rule-making class on GIGA school devices for junior high school students in Settsu City.

Under the GIGA School Program promoted by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), a great number of city have introduced GIGA school devices under the one device per student initiative and high-speed networks in elementary and junior high schools, helping to promote the use of learning devices. As online classes and technology education are to become mandatory due to the pandemic, there is a growing debate among educators and experts on how to safely manage GIGA school devices.

Against this backdrop, Digital Arts conducted rule-making classes for second-year junior high school students at Settsu Daini Junior High School and Settsu Municipal Daiyon Junior High School from July to October last year to help them think about rules for using GIGA school devices. We thought it was important for the students, the ones who actually use the devices, to have the opportunity to see firsthand the challenges of using them, rather than leaving all the decisions to the school teachers, filter providers, and other authority figures.

The following is a partial list of the various ideas that the students devised themselves that will be effective for their future learning, including requests and issues in using the devices and how to deal with them by making use of filters.

YouTube is necessary for practical learning, and Twitter is necessary for research.

The Settsu City Board of Education in Osaka Prefecture is focusing on technology education and has introduced approximately 6,800 iPads into elementary and junior high schools across the city. With the philosophy of "preventing issues before they happen," filters are used to ensure that students and teachers can learn safely and securely while using the GIGA school devices.

In the first class, students learned about "internet dangers," such as leaking personal information through videos and social media posts, which the students are likely familiar with. By the second class, the students discussed the ethics of using the devices and devise rules for filters. Finally, the groups were asked to summarize their views and give a presentation to their classmates, the teacher, and Digital Arts.

In class, students expressed their desire to use YouTube and Twitter safely in their studies and to use safe apps when taking breaks. In particular, the specific reasons why these are necessary were also clearly indicated: YouTube makes practical subjects such as home economics, easy to understand, and Twitter provides access to real-time information for research. Some groups also raised questions, such as not knowing the difference between URLs that are and are not blocked by filters.

Based on these views, the students came up with ways to safely use YouTube, Twitter, and other websites themselves.
The students also gave examples of specific methods, such as consulting with teachers and utilizing filters. These points were brought up by Digital Arts as filters make it possible to control such things as access only to videos related to learning, and access to Twitter only for viewing and blocking posts.

Students themselves delved into the objectives and devised specific ways to deal with various situations.

When considering the operation of GIGA school devices solely from the perspective of the school, school board, or other administrators, it is easy to choose to block YouTube videos, Twitter, and other social networking sites entirely. However, as the students' comments indicate, YouTube and Twitter can also be used to deepen their learning. The students themselves were able to delve into the areas they needed to learn and the purpose of their learning, and clarify the issues they needed to address.

Thus, we believe it will be necessary in the future to construct usage rules through discussions between students and schools. In addition, in creating such rules, filters that allow flexibility in specifying which websites are allowed or blocked, how YouTube and social networks are controlled, will be increasingly important.

Digital Arts will continue to support the rule-making of GIGA school devices in Settsu City, and will strive to develop further products for better and safer use of GIGA school devices.

Click here to see the rules for GIGA school devices devised by junior high school students in Settsu City.

Comment from Toshinori Muneki, Supervisor, School Education Division, Settsu City Board of Education, Osaka Prefecture

With a desire to 'never stop students' learning' during the pandemic, the Settsu City Board of Education was quick to get involved with the GIGA School Program. In order to make technology, which used to be only a tool for teachers, an everyday learning tool for students, we expanded the scope of classes to include individually optimized learning using digital drills, group work using collaborative learning tools, and individual expression to help students express their ideas. To improve the use of technology in schools, we decided to use the GIGA School version of Digital Arts' i-FILTER@Cloud web security cloud service i-FILTER@Cloud to filter content as we requried speedy responses to issues.

The Settsu City Job Experience Program is designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn about social issues and corporate efforts faced by companies, and to work as a team to solve problems, thereby gaining an opportunity to think about their own lives in the future.
The rule-making class conducted by Digital Arts also gave them an opportunity to confront the advantages and dangers of using the internet. Many of the views shared by the students were more realistic than we expected. There are many issues in the management of these devices, but I feel it is important for the students to think about how they will use them going forward themselves.

(Reference) Career Education in Settsu City

https://www.city.settsu.osaka.jp/soshiki/kyouikusoumubu/gakkoukyouikuka/kyaria/

filters service specializing in the GIGA School Program and its One Device per Student Initiative

Digital Arts' web security cloud service i-FILTER@Cloud GIGA School Edition is a filters service for schools that has been improved to enable the use of the GIGA School Program's one device per student initiative and allow safe and smooth learning in educational settings. Based on i-FILTER's filter database, which has the No.1 share in the domestic market^*, detailed filtering rules can be made to meet the learning environment's needs.

https://www.daj.jp/es/

• * Fuji Chimera Research Institute, Inc. 2021 Network Security Business Survey General Guide Web filters Tool Market Share (FY2020) (Published September 2021)