The AML project was set up as a special project of the Research Institute of Aoyama Gakuin University, which has carried out research activities in the field of new education methods utilizing IT, since 1999. Cyber Campus was launched for educational and corporate activities with the aim of developing and training human resources to become mentors. The first activity is the IT committee for management and technology integration strategy. The committee conducts research into new educational methods. The results of the research were followed in the second activity, called "development project of Cyber Campus educational methods". The third activity is the AML Consortium. The Cyber Alliance initiative attracts participants extensively from colleges, businesses, and public institutions in and outside Japan, who jointly conduct research and development, and share the results.

In the AML project, six working groups conducted researches on new IT-based educational methods with multiple themes, and have achieved a number of results. The results obtained in the research phase are applied in actual learning of the teaching phase, following the content production and system development of the development phase. In 2002, a new educational method developed by the AML project was used in eight sessions.

Cyber Business Exercise

From 2000 onward, a collaborative learning called "cyber business exercise" is provided as one of the activities in the teaching phase. In a cyber business exercise, students and lecturers bring in their own laptop computers and connect them to the network before the lesson begins. When the class begins, they log into the Cyber Campus basic system and other web-based educational systems, followed by the distribution of learning content, roll call, and tests.

In the exercise, students experience corporate activity, using virtual enterprise developed by WG5 Subcommittee on Cyber Business Education Method. They can improve their understanding by experiencing the marketing project, production project, and distribution project.

The lesson is supported by Cyber Campus Basic System, developed by WG2 Subcommittee on Cyber Campus Basic System. The system will reduce the lecturers' burden through distribution of electronic learning content, distribution and collection of questionnaires, correction of tests, and aggregating of attendance records. The system helps students to better communicate with each other, and lecturers will provide them with opportunity for collaborative learning and Q&A function.

Further Development

Based on the achievement of these activities, Aoyama Gakuin University carried out an international joint learning experiment with a college in Asia in 2002. With the results obtained from the experiment, they are considering how the international joint learning system should be. They are also planning to continue the promotion of e-Learning in various forms.