We held an online event (August 8, 2023) where professionals from educational researchers, practitioners, and educational materials manufacturers who have adopted UD fonts gathered to discuss how to build an education system that leaves no one behind. This report features Guest Talk 2.
Guest Talk②
How UD fonts are used to support the quality of education in Ikoma City
Guest: Daisuke Yashiro, Vice Principal of Ikoma City Tawaraguchi Elementary School
April 1997 - March 2017: Teacher at a public elementary school in Ikoma City
With a universal design perspective, he works as a teacher, striving to create lessons that "ensure all children understand and can do it."
April 2017 - March 2021: Supervisor/Assistant Section Chief, Ikoma City Board of Education Secretariat. Mainly involved in special needs education and elementary school English education. In 2019, he was in charge of introducing UD fonts to all elementary and junior high schools in Ikoma City, and through teacher training, he realized that creating information that is easy to understand had spread to teachers in the city.
From April 2021, he will be working as vice principal of Ikoma City Tawaraguchi Elementary School, where he will work to create a better learning environment.
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Report
Participant comments
I realized that using UD fonts makes it easier to read and write quickly, and leads to improved recognition and comprehension. I also thought it was a good thing that children could choose the font and obtain information in letters that they find easy to read.
I think this was an opportunity to confirm the benefits of introducing UD fonts. I also discovered that choosing a font requires thinking to communicate with others. I will use what I learned in this training in my classes.
In our city, an increasing number of teachers are creating documents using UD fonts. I was very inspired to learn that some local governments are introducing and researching UD fonts.
UD fonts were introduced after effectiveness verification
We spoke to Yashiro, who uses UD fonts on-site, about his activities before and after introducing UD fonts.
Morisawa's encounter with UD fonts came about through a city promotion study group at the Graduate School of Project Design, in which Ikoma City and Morisawa participated. At the time, Morisawa heard about teachers who were creating materials with fonts in mind, and noticed a growing number of students in special classes, as well as an increasing number of students in regular classes who needed special considerations. After learning about UD fonts and thinking they might be useful, Morisawa conducted a demonstration experiment to see what would happen if UD fonts were used in regular classes at public elementary and junior high schools.
A demonstration test was conducted on 116 fifth grade elementary school students.
As a result, it was found that the number of students who completed all questions was higher when using the UD digital textbook font. By making the characters easier to read, children who previously had difficulty reading were able to read faster, which led to more time for thinking. This test was the deciding factor in Ikoma City introducing UD font to its elementary and junior high schools.
Initiatives to spread awareness
Solving the problem of choosing a typeface
When introducing UD fonts, teachers expressed concern that they were unsure which of the many types available to use. To alleviate this anxiety, an initiative was implemented to present fonts suitable for each usage situation.
Give kids the choice of fonts
As children enter society, they need the skills to be independent and to choose what suits their own characteristics and overcome obstacles on their own. To that end, we were told about an initiative implemented in the city's special education classroom, "Language Classroom," in which children are given the opportunity to choose the worksheet they want to use from worksheets with the same content created in three different fonts: UD font, Mincho font, and standard textbook font.
As a result, it was found that while many children chose the UD digital textbook font, some also chose the regular textbook font. This made them realize that it is not enough to simply use the UD digital textbook font, but that UD fonts are one option for support tailored to each child's individual characteristics.
Activities to raise awareness
Apparently, UD fonts were an opportunity for the group to learn about dyslexia (LD), a reading and writing disability, and to realize the need for consideration. To spread awareness of examples of consideration using UD fonts, they shared information at training sessions and also sent letters to staff, schools in Ikoma City, and parents to raise awareness of the existence of UD fonts.
We want people to use it proactively, not passively.
When switching from the previous font to the UD font, some people complained that the line spacing had widened and that the corrections were troublesome. Therefore, they wanted teachers to feel that UD fonts were effective and to use them proactively, rather than passively. They also held training sessions and conducted surveys, and spoke about the results.
The training session also included information on how to use UD fonts more effectively. After the training, all participants responded that they would like to use UD fonts and actively use them.
Survey of training participants
How to draw 4 lines and create teaching materialsHereIt is introduced in.
Professor Yashiro explained that Ikoma City introduced UD fonts after conducting a demonstration test, and that since then they have been conducting activities to raise awareness and promote the use of UD fonts, including training sessions, in order to encourage students to use them voluntarily. Through these activities, UD fonts are being increasingly used in teaching materials, class newsletters, and other areas.
If you would like to watch the entire seminar, including Professor Yashiro's talk, you can do so by registering below.
If you are considering using UD fonts as part of your school organization, like Ikoma City, please feel free to ask us any questions below.
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