The cause which made the ombudsman network

 When there is also a depression in 1999, it also finished the summer vacation for three short days and it came back from the country, the magazine of the report interviewed in the cause of Japanese compumentor establishment had been first sent from ARUKU publication this month. The cause which made this ombudsman network is also written in it. Although those who exist interest are long letters, please refer to them.
In addition, this magazine is a "global education network". It is an informational magazine for the educational persons involved in the monthly publication "which considers network society" who say.
http://www.alc.co.jp/edunet/index.html

  Technical support by NPO and the volunteer

Maintenance and the community of the "school Internet" On -

- It is educated by the citizen society of the United States which ripened....

Mr. Junji Hattori, a computer engineer, may be call toed to stop by several persons' group in the park in Los Angeles in which I was staying at work three years ago over a long period of time .

"I think that new play institution will be built here. Don't you have some opinions offered, either? "

It is said that the residents who they will be city personnel and construction contractors and will live [ whether if what institution is built, I have a citizen be glad, and ] by the community if the talk is heard, though abruptly bewildered by the question to an unknown man's direct talk is heard. The administration of this country is realized in civic voice -- Mr. Hattori felt that the essence of American democracy was touched, and he keenly realized the difference with the society of Japan of following it if some are directed from a top or everybody comes to do "administration is a head's work."

Time is made the same and the "network day" project that it will connect with the Internet all at once will launch the school of an area in California in March, 96. Mr. Hattori did the figure which even not only a school but the local resident and company which are a person concerned are united, and promotes an educational network before his eyes.
A civic volunteer activity does not realize and a "network day" is not advanced by the policy of a country. Mr. Hattori received impression in the organization in which a country supports movement of a community deeply. Admiration was carried out not only to a school but to the Internet terminal surely being fixed by the institution which citizens, such as a library of an area, use.

Experience in such United States becomes a basis, and they are October, 1997 after a homecoming, and Mr. Hattori.

 a Japanese compumentor (project 2020: -- in order to leave this earth with future)
http://www.nse.sis.ne.jp/~junji/
The citizen group who says was established.

 It is the organization who performs the support activities for introducing into NGO or the educational spot focusing on the Internet.

 It centers on the ombudsman activity for on the other hand making civic voice reflect in administration.

 Ombudsman network (the link to national ombudsman activity, and support activities)
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~jhattori/
It was also builed.

It is the foundations of citizen activity that you suck up a request of an individual level and make it reflected in administration. Mr. Hattori decided to begin the activity which narrowed down the target from within the limits which a hand reaches first to surveillance and education with information offer of a town centering on Nerima-ku, Tokyo which has a house in order to raise the bud of movement. I collected the friend who consents to the meaning through a homepage etc. simultaneously, and it was considered that I would have grass-roots activity similarly caused in various places.

 Kami-Shakujii, Nerima-ku Town news (forum of the best hospital of a town, a restaurant, a school, a governmental agency, and a politician)
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~jhattori/nerimaku.html
NERIMA administration Wathcers (administration ombudsman of Nerima-ku)
http://www.baku.or.jp/~nkwatche/

In Nerima-ku, it succeeds in getting cooperation of a ward office, and development is gradually seen but in respect of ombudsman activity, such as establishing the mailing list which residents are soon told that an opinion is by the personnel and the assemblyman of a division.

 Nerima Ward Office (private site)
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~jhattori/nerimakuyakusyo/
Nerima Old People's conference
http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~su6sr/
Ombudsman network news
(Mass communications, a company, a politician, the true journalist that can criticize administration)
Financial support to the reports by the ombudsman, and the men of those
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~jhattori/ombudsnetnews/

 However, the computer support to a school does not go up  so that it may consider. Although it worked on a maker, a software house, mass communications, etc. when I would have equipments and software, such as a computer, offered, the place which responds to appeal was [ that there is nothing ] equal. A gathering of the volunteer member who cooperates in both technical support is also bad. For a start, the reaction of the school itself is so poor. the school which requests support formally although NGO and the school are widely called to also on a homepage -- completely -- it was so actual that it could say that there was nothing

- Utilize "a civic hand" for personal computer instruction or network environmental maintenance.

In investigation of the Ministry of Education, there is a teacher who can do instruction of a computer about twenty percent of the whole. It was heard that personal computer instruction and environmental maintenance of the Internet had hurt the head in every school. If it hears that it cooperates in connection and the production of a homepage of the Internet for nothing, it is glad and you request.
If shortage of a teacher's computer literacy was suppliable with "the civic hand" when saying from the U.S. precedent, the information education of Japan to which being late is pointed out must have been clearly improvable. In the school in Japan, activity of Mr. Hattori who began to think whether the big feeling of resistance is for a citizen to interfere in an educational place is taking nature and the ombudsman activity lead.

Mr. Hattori's "Japanese Compumentor" is the nonprofit organization inaugurated in California Silicon Valley in 1986.

 "CompuMentor"
http://www.compumentor.org/）

 It is considering as the model.

 In this organization, the volunteer staff who can do technical instruction of a computer is registered, and service of sending a talented person according to the request from various citizen groups, educational facilities, etc. is offered. Many [ the organization to whom the home saturation level of a personal computer needs the help of a person unfamiliar to operation of a computer, or an external specialist also for the United States of reaching to about 50 percent ] In the citizen group of welfare relation who performs medical treatment, childcare and old people, disabled person support, etc. especially, and educational facilities, the needs of the talented person who can employ special knowledge efficiently are increasing in management of a database, or construction of a network system quickly, and it is thought that this is naturally provided by the same citizen's hand. According to Mr. Daniel Benholin who does representation of "CompuMentor", it buds by the hand of the venture et al. of an individual level, and it is told to the U.S. computer culture which has developed by carrying out the market share of the information which each has, or the technology that the soul of mutual help is dwelling primarily. If it is called technical support of a computer, Japan which does not not much have an example besides a company demanding personnel expenses and sending the staff is a big difference.

- Technical support is indispensable also in Japan. -- It learns to a U.S. example.

The number of the organizations who sent the volunteer staff to whom "CompuMentor" is called "Mentor (leader)" until now exceeds 6000. Although a support request and volunteer registration are received by the homepage, both, popularity is high and Japan is an opposite aspect. It is said that it is like [ with which seemingly it is the United States where volunteer soul rooted, and it has not been troubled by collection of a talented person, and a registration candidate does not sever the back ]. A sending place is decided, after the volunteer staff before and behind 3000 persons is registered and always [, such as a computer engineer who works in local Silicon Valley, ] takes into consideration a special field of study, the contents of a request, an area, etc. Although they are all in charge of instruction gratuitously, to a request place, 175 dollars is charged as project charge. The grant in aid from this, a public organization, or a company, donations, etc. are the main sources of revenue. In description of a homepage, the enterprise scale grew twice [ about ] in the past four years, and for-the-year budget has become no less than 1,200,000 dollars.

Although the idea of activity is the same, why do the situation differ like this in Japan and the United States? Mr. Kazuaki Okabe, a detailed free journalist, also tells as follows activity of "CompuMentor" by the author of the "Internet people's revolution."

"The relation between a school, parents or a school, and a community is completely different primarily. It is performed daily that it is as taking it upon himself to volunteer for the role of an setup of equipments after school, saying and [ teaching how the parents who are that parents are usually concerned with an educational place in the United States, for example, are engaged in the job of computer relation participate in a lesson, and use a personal computer for children ] Parents cooperate, a bazaar etc. is opened and capital is earned, and since an auxiliary teacher is also employed or it is a thing instead of a school about it at capital, it is surprise. After the same is said of other fields, such as fine arts and music, only within the thing of a computer, cooperation of a citizen is not necessarily given especially."

The school in the United States has the organization called "PTSA." Although it is equivalent to PTA of Japan, parents, teachers, and students are united, school life and the educational quality are raised and it works as like, the role is what was considerably thrust in compared with Japan, and it is going to concern parents with the lesson itself positively taking advantage of its elated field. Not only parents but neighboring residents or a neighboring citizen group, and a company do not regret the cooperation with a school. If the computer room of a school is removed after school and employees, such as a computer maker, will visit like every day, it is said that the spectacle in which the operation method etc. is taught to children can be used as an eye. Of course, since the market of the future in the children who grew familiar with the computer and were familiar with it growing up will spread if it sees by the long eye although it is carrying out as the volunteer based on an employee individual's will, it is meaningful also as corporate activity. The United States is said that it is generally the competition society of the merit system. However, the consciousness that fair competition will be performed after relieving the weak, making power given and making it stand on the same sumo ring as the premise has rooted. Therefore, many the companies and citizen groups who perform support activities to the information weak, such as a child, a disabled person, old people, and a housewife, exist. Mr. Okabe indicates whether the point differs from the society of Japan which has only competition on the head greatly.

A teacher side also has again the soil which accepts such support very automatically. It seems that according to Mr. Okabe the connection environment of the Internet is ready 90 percent in the school of a way, and not all teachers are necessarily well versed in operation of a personal computer or the Internet in San Francisco although 80 percent is regarded as having a personal computer from about 70 percent of the home with the child who goes to an elementary school. In the educational spot in the United States that it is also rare that there is nothing that is called a staff room and a staff meeting is held, it can progress and the direction is left to discretion of teacher each the contents of a lesson, and often. Unlike Japan, the authority of the country about education is weak, and by each state or each school division, educational objects differ and are in the tendency that the peculiarity of a school or a teacher is respected so much. Therefore, there are some teachers who take in multimedia teaching materials and the Internet to a lesson positively, and there are the opposite teacher and a teacher who there is no skill and cannot do even if he wants to do so. Then, it is said that a teacher may depend special knowledge for citizen groups and guardians, such as CompuMentor", uniquely, and it may look for support. The school side is also welcoming it. It is said that the system which utilizes effectively and compensates an external talented person with the field which is beyond a teacher's control is functioning splendidly.

"Though such activity wears heat, probably the situation of having not yet rooted has citizen activity in Japan, and doesn't the way of this educational spot dislike? If a thing like subrogation of a lesson of a common citizen is done, a teacher will feel that it is not thought that it is nice as its post was taken." Mr. Okabe apprehends the difficulty of the citizen activity rooted in the difference in culture.