J:COM teams up with local cable TV company for aiding elementary school e-learning

Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM), a company of Sumitomo Corporation Group, assisted in the delivery of e-learning to Nakano Hongo Elementary School in Nakano Ward, Tokyo on December 8, 2018 in partnership with Ehime CATV. The project involved delivering a seafood education class (Gyoshoku kyoiku (*1)) by way of videoconferencing, and broadcasting the class live on cable TV. This was the first instance in which two Japanese cable TV service providers teamed up across geographical service areas to deliver e-learning.

Gyoshoku kyoiku refers to nutrition education focusing on seafood. It has been promoted by the municipality of Ainan-cho in Ehime Prefecture since 2005. By linking Ainan-cho fishing port and Nakano Hongo Elementary School via videoconferencing, the class enabled elementary school children in Tokyo to have real-time conversations with members of Ainan-cho’s fishing industry while watching fish being shipped, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of how seafood reached the dinner table. J:COM and Ehime CATV provided line and system support for the e-learning program, and broadcast the class live on a community channel (*2) in a bid to help stories originating in Japan’s various regions reach wider audiences.

Videoconferencing for this e-learning project employed a wireless communication system known as regional BWA (*3), successfully demonstrating its superior effectiveness in highly “ubiquitous(*4)” applications. Regional BWA is a focus area of another Sumitomo Corporation Group company, BWA Japan, which provides, in partnership with J:COM and others, network backup services and emergency telecommunications services catering to the requirements of local municipalities and communities.

*1 Gyoshoku kyoiku (seafood education): Systematic learning about fish, marine resources and relevant industries through interactive, hands-on learning. The concept originated in Ainan-cho, Ehime Prefecture.

*2 Community channels: The term is applied to channels belonging to J:COM and other cable TV service providers.

*3 Regional BWA: A wireless telecommunication system using the 2.5 GHz band, set up for the dual purpose of contributing to regional public welfare by improving local public services and alleviating the digital divide.

*4 Ubiquitous: Access to a communications network anytime, anywhere