2024/06/18
Keio University
A research team from Keio University, consisting of Professor Hideo Akabayashi of the Faculty of Economics, Shinpei Taguchi of the Doctoral Programs in the Graduate School of Economics, and others, used government data covering all public elementary and junior high schools across Japan to analyze the impact of school IT infrastructure and teachers' ICT skills on the implementation of interactive online classes during the school closures of the COVID-19 pandemic and on teachers' overtime work during and immediately after the school closures.
The results showed that the level of IT infrastructure, not teachers' ICT skills, influenced the implementation of interactive online classes. On the other hand, schools in areas where teachers' average ICT skills were low had more teachers working overtime. This study is the first paper to causally analyze the impact of school informatization policies on the use of online tools in classes and teachers' working hours. It clarifies the significance of promoting school DX for continuing school education during a crisis and for improving teachers' working conditions.
Please see below for the full press release.