AGL workshop encourages teenagers to develop community, envision future
Tokyo Tech's Academy for Global Leadership (AGL), Hitotsubashi University, the University of Tokyo, and Ochanomizu University traveled to Ehime Prefecture to hold workshops for students of Matsuno Junior High School students on March 24. Four students and one faculty member joined the event from the Institute.
Participants with university students
Matsuno Town is a rural community of less than 4,000 inhabitants in the mountains of southern Ehime. As educational facilities only extend up to high school, the town's students rarely get a taste of university life. AGL students and their peers wanted to help, and so they organized a career-focused workshop that covered both university life and envisioning the more distant future. Twenty of the approximately 100 junior high school students in Matsuno Town participated in the event.
Morning program: University study experience
Community development course
Community development workshop
After listening to a lecture about community development by the university students, the junior high school students took their university mentors for a walk around the neighborhood. They interviewed tourism facility staff and discussed tourism resources and issues in the area. To finish off, students planned their ideal sightseeing route around town and presented it to other participants.
Artificial intelligence course
Artificial intelligence workshop
Students taught a computer how to play rock, scissors, paper, and created image recognition AI devices. To complete this course, students presented ideas regarding services that utilize artificial intelligence. Robogals Tokyo, a university student club that carries out programming workshops for elementary and middle school students, was in charge of organizing this event.
Afternoon program: Creating a vision of the future
Discussion with university students
The afternoon was reserved for a workshop that focused on the future. After a short panel discussion between the university students regarding how they discovered their study interests, the junior high school students split into groups and talked about what they wanted for the future. The session provided a great opportunity for Matsuno's teenagers to speak directly to students from Tokyo, and feedback after the event was positive:
- I used to have a negative image of rural Matsuno, but now I understood that our hometown is actually doing a good job, and is not a bad place to be at all.
- It was exciting to see artificial intelligence reacting because of a circuit that I myself connected.
- I am now more confident about my future.
Comments from participating AGL students
Yasuki Tsuchiya and Niki Oosaka, 2nd-year master's students (at time of the event)
Our team, which consisted of members specializing in community development, electrical machinery, and artificial intelligence, began planning this workshop in May of 2018. It was wonderful to share our research with junior high school students, and to witness the joy and excitement as they learned and broadened their visions of a better tomorrow. We truly hope that they discover their real passions and take a positive stance as they move towards the future.
Global Leadership Education Program and AGL
The Global Leadership Education Program, which began as part of AGL, aims to train true global leaders who have a firm academic grounding to contribute to the development of science and technology in fields other than their own. Program participants are expected to utilize in-depth expertise in their major, an international mindset, knowledge of technology management, strong communication and leadership skills, and the ability to view the world from a broad perspective as they take action to solve some of today's most pressing issues.
AGL was founded in April 2011. While support by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for the academy ended in March 2019, the Global Leadership Education Program will continue to be offered.
This event was supported by the Tokyo Institute of Technology Fund.
- Academy for Global Leadership
- Robogals Tokyo Facebook (Japanese)
- Matsuno Junior High School (Japanese)
Contact
Academy for Global Leadership Administration Office
Email agl.jim@agl.titech.ac.jp
Tel +81-3-5734-3116