AI is a part of our everyday lives, encompassing chatbots, smart recommendations, and image generators, but do our students truly understand how it works?

 This is Apirak Sang-ngenchai, and I am teaching 2nd year students in the "Fundamentals of AI" class. In our class, we focus on an active learning approach that helps students understand the fundamental concepts behind AI through engaging with the topic. Instead of just listening to lectures, students explore the world of AI through a variety of fun, interactive activities.

 We started with the basic questions: What is AI? What is machine learning? And how can a computer see and recognize an object? Rather than explaining everything through slides, we used activities that sparked curiosity and brought these topics to life.

Here are some of the tools and activities we used:

• Chat with Eliza: A simple AI chatbot that mimics a therapist. This helped students understand rule-based AI and how early AI systems communicated with users, unlike ChatGPT or Co-pilot, which provide a smarter and more diverse range of information nowadays. It also led to fun and thoughtful conversations about how AI can seem “smart” even when it doesn’t really understand us.
  Link: https://web.njit.edu/~ronkowit/eliza.html

• Google Quick, Draw: A game where students draw objects and the AI tries to guess what they’re drawing. This activity introduced the concept of unsupervised learning techniques and pattern recognition, showing how machines learn from massive amounts of human data.
  Link: https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/
  
  
• Teachable Machine: An easy-to-use website where students can train their image or human body key points recognition models. Students quickly grasped the idea of training data, labels, and model accuracy, as well as the concept of supervised learning techniques, while having fun with creative experiments.
  Link: https://teachablemachine.withgoogle.com/
  
  
• Google Colab Coding: We also introduced students to basic Python coding on Google Colab. They ran simple machine learning scripts, changed parameters, and observed how the results changed. This provided them with a hands-on introduction to machine learning algorithms without requiring a complex setup.
  Link: https://colab.google/

 Through these activities, students didn’t just learn about AI; they also gained practical experience. They experienced how it works. They learned that machines require training, that data is important, and that results aren’t always perfect. Active learning also helped create a lively classroom atmosphere where students helped each other, shared discoveries, and reflected together. In the end, they weren’t just learning about AI. They were learning how to learn actively, a skill that will be valuable across all disciplines no matter what the future brings.

Apirak Sang-ngenchai

 Hello, this is Hitoshi Kihara, I am in charge of some of the Math classes at ICT. I am going to introduce the Math Battle that was held on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025, for the 2nd year Calculus class.
 In our regular Calculus classes, each student creates a problem and its solution based on the day’s lesson, and in pairs we check each other’s work.
 This event, held just before the midterm exam, was designed as a comprehensive review. I turned our usual activity into a team-based competition. The team that created the most problems and solved the most problems from the opposing team within the limited time would be the winner.
 This was my first attempt at holding a Math Battle, but the students participated with remarkable focus and enthusiasm.
 It was impressive to see them trying to create problems that were as challenging as possible so the opposing team couldn’t solve them. Also, it was impressive to see their determination as they worked through the other team’s problems, attempting to solve them by trial and error.
 Of course, due to the limited time, some problems and solutions had minor flaws. However, many students also came up with truly excellent problems.
 Below is an example of one such problem.

 At first glance, this problem may look long and complicated, but if they apply what we've learned in class, the solution is actually quite simple. That said, solving it does require accurate calculation skills. It’s a truly excellent problem, packed with multiple mathematical elements within just one question.
 During the Math Battle, there was a friendly and lively atmosphere with both the problem creators and solvers being all smiles. But it’s funny, isn’t it? If I gave a similar problem on the midterm exam, I’m pretty sure I’d be met with endless complaints and a much more brutal atmosphere. Anyway, the answer to the earlier problem is 1 over 184,756. What an incredible number! Hmm … maybe I’d better not include it on the midterm after all. Well then, until next time!

Create problems for each team

Solve the problem created by the opposing team and have the original creators check your answer

Hitoshi Kihara

Hello. My name is Hamish Barnetson, a new English teacher at ICT. Nice to meet you all! I’m from the UK. I was born in Scotland but moved around a lot as a child, so I am used to changes. I also went to boarding school when I was 7 years old, so I know what it’s like to be away from home! I have lived and worked in Japan for over 10 years in several regions including Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Niigata. I recently moved to Hakusanroku Campus with my family, and we are really enjoying living here so far. I am looking forward to meeting all the staff and students here.

So far, it has been really interesting to see the students participating in classes that are basically all in English. They seem to be making good friends and trying their best with all the new information. They are enjoying some friendly competition in classes, and getting used to interacting, working together and presenting their ideas in English.

As I mentioned, I have a family here so you might see them wandering around campus sometimes. Please say hello to them if you get a chance. I’m glad they can be in such an international environment and meet people from many different countries. Plus, what a great place for outdoor activities! I hope to get involved in some outdoor activities with students in the future.

Anyway, I will try my best to help the students with their English skills, and I really hope they enjoy their time here. I encourage them to use English as much as possible in my classes. It is usually challenging at first but after a while it should start to feel more natural hopefully.

Let’s enjoy this first year together at ICT!

Hamish Barnetson

Hello! I’m Sharmee Abuan, a new Learning Mentor (LM) at Hakusanroku Campus. I studied Information Technology in university and spent several years working in the field, doing tasks related to network configuration, data transactions, and system development in the Philippines.

 At Hakusanroku Campus, we hold Learning Sessions (LS) in the evening where students work on their homework, projects, or practice their English. LM are there to help out whenever students need support or guidance. While my main role is during LS time, I also join afternoon classes to observe and get a better idea of how students learn in class. I am hoping to use my IT background to help students figure out solutions to their tasks, when they have computer-related issues or get stuck with online tools. 

 In my first month of working, I have encountered several teachable moments while interacting with other LM’s and students and I hope to share them here. Little moments that make me reflect on what skills I still need to work on to hopefully become an effective LM.

 1. The Communication Trick - The students are currently doing a self-guided reading program that ensures each student is learning at the appropriate level and advancing at their optional pace called SRA during LS and we try to bring up the learned words and content when chatting with them. This, hopefully, would help reinforce their language skills.

 2. I do, We do, You do - One evening during LS, a student came over and asked for help with their Computer Skills homework. As I have observed from what other LM’s do, we sat down together and worked through the task step by step at first. I showed them how it’s done on my laptop so they could follow along. Afterwards, we ask them to do it by themselves and it is always nice to see when they can finally work independently.

 3. Working Together Works - At LS, students also get the chance to help each other. It is amazing to see students sitting together and talking about school. For example, trying to solve that one challenging quiz of the day and learning tips and tricks from each other.

 I learn something new each time I work with the students, especially during the two hours I spend with them in the evening at LS. Little by little, it’s helping me understand how to support them better.

 When I first heard about what LM’s do, the possibilities for growth not only on the students’ side but also for my personal growth made me feel excited. It felt like I’d be learning alongside the students as I support them, and that idea really motivated me. Now that more than a month has passed since the semester started, I’ve seen students gradually open up. The first-year students are still adjusting to their new environment but are becoming more confident, while the second-year students are stepping up and even helping their juniors. 

 Right now, I’m still in the process of adjusting and learning, just like the students. I plan to use this first year to grow by studying many of the subjects they’re learning, especially the computer-related ones, and by observing what makes an effective LM. I hope that by doing so, I can support the students even better in the years to come.

Sharmee Abuan

 Hello. I am Masaaki Shikada, ICT President.
 On Thursday, April 24th, 2025, I helped plant Engineering Design II's "Kosen Beniharuka" seedlings for the third time. This time, I had a meeting at Kanazawa Campus, so I couldn’t travel to Hakusanroku Campus until after the meeting ended. By the time I arrived, the ridges had already been prepared and the planting had begun. This year I planted the second row from the west side. The soil was quite wet this winter due to the heavy snowfall, but I felt this made the work easier.
 This is the third time I have planted seedlings, and although I am getting used to it, I still worry about whether the seedlings I planted will grow well. The year before last, the potatoes did not grow very large, probably because it rained a lot. Last year, good weather and moderate rainfall resulted in large potatoes. We expect this year's crop to be as good as last years.
 All 2nd year students, Engineering Design II teachers, and Learning Mentors Domyson Abuan sensei and Sharmee Abuan sensei joined us to complete the seedling planting before 16:00. Then electric fences were installed and measures were taken to prevent damage from animals. We hope for another good harvest this year, following on from last year.
 Our school will hold an open campus on Saturday, November 1st and Sunday, November 2nd. In conjunction with this event, the annual baked sweet potato sale will be held at the Sena Road Station. If you have time, please visit the Sena Road Station and try some potatoes!
Click here for more details about Open Campus

Masaaki Shikada