MetaMoJi ClassRoom Helps Fujitsu FSAS Train Employees In Meeting Facilitation Skills
Tokyo, Japan (PRWEB UK) 19 July 2017 -- MetaMoJi ClassRoom is an application for mobile and Windows devices, designed to help educators manage everything from single student sessions through to full classes and seminars. ClassRoom has traditionally been used by tutors, schools and universities but has started to gain traction with corporate education teams. In February 2017 Fujitsu FSAS Corporation, a system integrator within the Fujitsu Group, began using MetaMoJi ClassRoom for group training.
The "Minato Mirai Innovation & Future Center" of Fujitsu FSAS is in the Minato Mirai district of Yokohama and was opened in 2013 for training and co-creation. From the location, you can see the Bay Bridge, the Ferris Wheel and the sea at Yokohama. The center has become extremely popular, with many visitors participating in seminars each year.
A two day "facilitation training" course is being held at the venue to cultivate skills in effectively running internal meetings. It is held for employees three years after joining, with a maximum class size of 20 people. The attendees include employees of affiliated companies in addition to Fujitsu FSAS's nationwide bases.
Moving Away From PC's, Whiteboards & Paper
Each attendee uses an ARROWS Tab device which is used by docking with a keyboard. During the lecture, training materials are delivered to students directly on their devices via MetaMoJi ClassRoom. Typically, educational institutions use MetaMoJi ClassRoom on tablets and focus on utilizing their touch screen capabilities, but in this corporate training keyboards are actively used.
A projector is configured per student group, with the device of one of the students connected to it. It is important that the instructor can see the groups progress and comment by watching the projected screen, but equally important that it can be seen by other groups. Hiroaki Morita, a member of the Human Resources Development Division and lecturer of this training said, "Although we divide the class into smaller groups, the quality of practical training has clearly improved over time. This is because you can improve the level of training received by allowing all groups to see each other’s progress."
MetaMoJi ClassRoom was introduced during an initiative to replace old training PC’s with ARROWS Tab devices in 2016. Mr. Naoki Uchida, manager of the Human Resources Development Department said: "We used to perform the training using traditional methods such as whiteboards and sticky notes. We decided to use ICT more during training at the same time as introducing a handheld device. The ability to digitally represent physical hardware such as whiteboards and sticky notes without losing the functionality is a key reason for deciding to use MetaMoJi ClassRoom."
Security & Cost Reductions
Prior to the introduction, there were concerns about security, whether printed materials might be easier to use, and that the time required for the training could increase due to the introduction of an application. The concerns of security were addressed by installing all applications on internal infrastructure and having a wireless network dedicated for the training and allowing access to MetaMoJi ClassRoom.
“There was a concern that printed material and a pen are easier to use. I typically prepared a printed booklet and gave it to each applicant, but few people would take them home after the training. Participants can now download the PDF of the materials after the training.” Said Ms. Uchida. “Removing the use of paper through digitization was not an original goal, but a result of using MetaMoJi ClassRoom is that our use of paper has decreased. It also reduces the cost of ordering printed booklets from external contractors and reduces the risk of losing confidential materials”.
Ms. Uchida continued, “There is a further cost reduction as we are no longer using paper pads and lots of sticky notes. Instructors no longer need to clean up all the paper and sticky notes after a training session, and the time spent cleaning the whiteboard in each room is now gone. The time spent leaving rooms ready for the next visitors after each training session is reduced."
Concerns of students needing time for additional training in the ClassRoom application were also resolved. Time was allocated on day 1 to explain how to operate the application and the training session is still completed in the same number of hours as before. The time spent on training for ClassRoom is offset by not needing to write information onto the whiteboard, to erase it all, or to add and remove sticky notes. The training still proceeds at the same tempo.
Encouraging Individuality During Training
Mr. Morito said “Using MetaMoJi ClassRoom, it is easy to organize the training plan as you can express your ideas easily and visually, and share with all participants. As a result, the discussion has become more animated and it has become possible to discuss the training content more deeply. It is possible to create colorful and easy-to-understand digital artifacts using ClassRoom, compared to using whiteboards and paper. The fact that the screen can be projected on to a large screen in addition to being displayed on each students’ device makes it easier to coordinate what each group is working on.”
One of the goals of introducing more ICT into the training was to develop a training style that allowed participants to act as individuals. Regarding this, Mr. Morita said, "When using MetaMoJi ClassRoom, constraints such as sharing pens and standing in front of the white board are removed. More opinions can be gathered from each student as they can explain at their own pace and approach answers in their own style, rather than being dictated to use whiteboards and sticky notes with fixed layouts and space. Using ClassRoom, it is easier for each student to demonstrate their own personality”.
The Future For ClassRoom And Fujitsu FSAS
Another effect of using the MetaMoJi ClassRoom application is that an internal practice has developed. "In the past, everyone stood writing around the whiteboard. Now we are collaborating with our Seattle office visually, in real-time, using MetaMoJi ClassRoom. It is close to having a real meeting in the same location.”.
Currently, only the "Facilitation training" uses MetaMoJi ClassRoom, but Mr. Uchida and Mr. Morito are already planning to extend its use to other training courses. Mr. Morito said, “In addition to collective training, I also plan to work on training by connecting to remote areas and networks. This would make more use of the feature to monitor the screen of one or more participants side by side on the instructor's screen”
More Information
If you would like to try MetaMoJi Classroom please visit http://business.metamoji.com/classroom and apply for a free trial. Our team will work with you to help you achieve your educational goals.
Ben Walshaw, MetaMoJi Corporation, http://business.metamoji.com, +44 2032900242, [email protected]
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