Michael BARR    Department   Kyoto Junior College of Foreign Languages  , Department of English Studies for Careers    Position   Associate Professor
Date	2022/07/10
Presentation Theme	Teaching the SDGs: Content-based Research and Virtual International Exchange via Multimedia
Conference	The European Conference on Arts, Design, and Education, 2022 (ECADE2022)
Promoters	iafor - The International Academic Forum
Conference Type	International
Presentation Type	Speech (General)
Contribution Type	Individual
International coauthorship	International coauthorship
Country	Portugal
Venue	The University of Porto and Online
Holding period	2022/07/07～2022/07/10
Publisher and common publisher	Michael D. Barr
Details	Virtually everyone currently living in the modern world with access to the global media is familiar with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (a.k.a. the SDGs). The ubiquity of the symbol, the logo, and the colorful icon is such that these commitments made in 2015 are recognizable around the globe. This is particularly true in Kyoto, Japan, where one can see daily signage on buses or billboards, regular posts in the media, and support expressed on the local as well as national level of government. Institutions are also on board, as these ideals are both simple to understand and, importantly, easy for students to agree with on principle. The SDGs have been called “the world’s largest lesson”, and as such they constitute a tremendous educational opportunity. Throughout the unprecedented academic years of 2020 and 2021, a project was initiated, extended, and continued between cohorts of students at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The ongoing aim of these collaborations has been to connect larger issues to local communities. Due to the ubiquity and global reach of the Google Suite for Education - now Google Workspace for Education - groups can work together and interact in a way never before possible. Our research highlights methodology, best practices, challenges and advantages of structuring collaborative international projects in a virtual space with hyperlinks, sheets, multimedia, and shared documents embedded within a master sheet shared between up to a hundred participants.