For the first time at UNBC, a high-definition video link will connect the University to classrooms in Japan. This fall, students from the acclaimed Gakushuin Women’s College in Tokyo will attend classes with UNBC students via video-conference.  It is the first time that UNBC will deliver courses through an international videoconference link and builds on a longstanding relationship between UNBC and Gakushuin. To date, more than 600 Gakushuin students have attended UNBC, making it UNBC’s largest single international partner.

In a ceremony at Premier Christy Clark’s Friends of BC reception in Tokyo Japan last evening, UNBC President Dr. George Iwama and Dr. Yasuharu Ishizawa, president of Gakushuin Women’s College signed an MOU announcing the program.

“This video link will allow the extension of our teaching in real time to students in Tokyo,” explains Dr. Iwama. “In return we expect to benefit from their teaching of Japanese language and culture to us.”

Gakushuin Women's College has a long tradition as part of the Gakushuin University, which was founded in 1877 from the Emperor Komei, with the ambition to educate the youth of the Japanese aristocracy and imperial family. Since 1847, Gakushuin University has educated the children of the nobility in Japan, including the present Emperor and Crown Prince.

The first cohort is part of a one-year pilot program and is expected to begin September 2012 with approximately 15-20 students from Gakushuin Women’s College sharing a virtual classroom with 25 students from UNBC. Gakushuin students will earn UNBC undergraduate course credits towards their own degree. They must have passed English proficiency requirements to take the course.

“Developing this ability opens up possibilities for serving remote communities in British Columbia and beyond,” notes President Iwama. “Our experience and expertise in delivering courses via video conference to our regional campuses like Terrace and through the Northern Medical Program has enabled this project to proceed efficiently. I'm very excited about the far-reaching potential of this project.”

Manager of English Language Studies at UNBC, Paul Pan, has been working on this project for the past two years and also sees its potential for expansion. “Depending on the success of this pilot program, we’re hoping to extend this course delivery system to other institutions in Japan and Asia.”

At the same event, UNBC signed a MOU with the Japan Travel Business World Tokyo Corporation—Japan’s largest company which specializes in exchange programs and business-expansion opportunities throughout Asia. JTB helped orchestrate the video conference project with Gakushuin Women’s College. The MOU states that UNBC and JTB will continue to work together as partners in international education opportunities.
 

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UNBC President Dr. George Iwama (foreground) and Dr. Yasuharu Ishizawa, president of Gakushuin Women’s College "high five" from two different continents via video conferencing technology.