In early December Elizabeth Hartnell-Young spent a week in Japan at the
Faculty of Informatics at Kansai University, as part of an academic
exchange funded by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. With the help of
an interpreter, she conducted and recorded a focus group with students
of Communication Theory in preparation for a forthcoming paper with
their tutor, Dr Yukari Makino, and presented a lecture to 150 first year
students. She also met for the second time with Professor Haruo
Kurokami, who is leading work on thinking skills, digital TV, and
rubrics for curriculum planning and assessment in schools.