"AFP Digital Learning": A Mobile Learning Service To Know The World Now Available For Educational Institutions
Caters To Everything From English Language Training To Global Education
By Utilizing News Materials From AFP World Academic Archive
Creative Link Corporation (headquarters: Tokyo, Japan / CEO: Katsuyuki Sanekata, hereinafter "CLC") and Castalia Co. Ltd. (registered main office: Nagano, Japan / headquarters: Tokyo, Japan / CEO: Satoshi Yamawaki, hereinafter "Castalia") joined forces to launch "AFP Digital Learning", a learning service targeting domestic educational institutions. Along with the release, they will conduct an experimental study on this service at Nagano Prefecture Nagano Senior High School (Location: Nagano City, Nagano, Japan / Principal: Tatsuro Horigane), a Super Global High School designated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
"AFP Digital Learning" is a mobile learning service in which contents from the AFP World Academic Archive (AFPWAA), provided by AFP, is available on goocus pro, a mobile learning platform developed by Castalia. By knowing of what is happening "now" around the world, you can learn what "have been" and what "will be" at the same time. With text, images, and video contents provided from AFPWAA, the system is capable of creating original educational materials and learning services. It is compatible with multiple devices, namely smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Contents that are delivered through the service are edited from PC browsers; with easy manipulations, it allows you to create educational materials even if you do not have special knowledge on HTML, CSS, etc. Needless to say, the service takes full advantage of the characteristics of the Internet and is capable of the monitoring and analysis of the users' learning status.
■Features
• A wealth of news texts, images, and videos from around the world are cleared for secondary use of copyrighted materials.
• Video news available in seven languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic
• Cloud-type learning compatible with smartphones, tablets, and PCs
• Enables a "continuable learning experience" by social learning and gamification
• Easy-to-manipulate editing/administration system for content editing and user management
■goocus pro: Learning platform http://www.gooc.us/pro
"goocus pro" is a mobile learning platform born out of an intensive research of learning with rapidly spreading smartphones. It takes full advantage of the portability of mobile devices, an always-on learning environment that does not require certain times or locations, emergence of ideas and competition born from the sharing of knowledge and discoveries by users connected with one another through social networking services such as Facebook, the habitual power of gaming elements, the management of users by the administrator and the utilization of the users' learning history, resulting in a new service that replaces the traditional learning systems.
■Super Global High Schools http:// www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/kokusai/sgh/
"Super Global High Schools" are high schools or unified lower and upper secondary schools (secondary schools, parallel or tandem-type junior and senior high schools, hereinafter "high schools") that conduct researches and developments of curriculums related to the fostering of human resources capable of finding and solving global social issues as well as those capable of playing active roles in global business.
They are designated as such under MEXT's project that fosters future global leaders who are internationally well grounded, to develop and implement quality curriculums and consolidate the systems for them.
■AFP http://www.afp.com/en/
AFP (Agence France-Presse) is the oldest news agency in the world, established in Paris in 1835 as its predecessor Agence Havas by Charles-Louis Havas, who is regarded the godfather of global journalism. Today, over 3,000 staffs work in 165 countries, and deliver over 2,500 photos and 5,000 pieces of news in multiple languages to newspapers and TV and radio stations around the world. The independence of their activities is determined under the French law.
CLC provides AFPBBNews ( http://www.afpbb.com/ ) to the Japanese territory.
■AFP World Academic Archive (AFPWAA) http:// ww.afpwaa.com
"AFP World Academic Archive" is an online database service for educational institutions, provided by French news agency AFP. The archive of over 10 million latest digital photos, along with over 100,000 videos, owned by AFP that has coverage bases around the world, are the most suitable for educational contents to foster future global leaders.
In group work, discussions, research paper writing, and presentations, the utilization of AFPWAA provided by an international news agency is highly effective. In addition, the contents provided by AFP are cleared for secondary use of copyrighted materials, which means that troublesome permission applications are never needed.
■Castalia Co., Ltd. http://www.castalia.co.jp/
Castalia Co., Ltd. (Registered Main Office: Nagano, Japan / Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan / CEO: Satoshi Yamawaki) is a company that creates new schools of learning, under the concept of "mobile and social learning." We develop "goocus pro," a mobile learning platform, and provide it to corporations and educational institutions. We also join forces with Educational Foundation Shingakukai, that operates educational business enterprises mainly in Nagano Prefecture, to collaborate in the planning of "Code Academy High School" ( http://code.ac.jp/ ), an extensive regional correspondence course high school and the first school in Japan that includes programming (coding) as compulsory subject.
【For questions with regards to this press release, please contact:】
Creative Link Corporation http://www.clc.net
Contact person: Kenichi Kaku
Holland Hills Mori Tower, 5-11-2 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 Japan
Phone: (country code 81)-3-5405-4577
E-mail: info[at]afpwaa.com Please change [at] to @ upon sending e-mails
■Castalia Co. Ltd. http://www.castalia.co.jp
Contact person: Toru Mori
5th Floor, DF Building, 2-2-8 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062 Japan
Phone: (country code 81)-3-3401-4191
E-mail: info[at]castalia.co.jp Please change [at] to @ upon sending e-mails.