That makes me wish there was an Apple Store in my area. I think the closest one is three hours away. I'll have to check again.
One of the biggest instructional impediments for teachers I've found in Japan at the jhs level is the amount of extracurricular activities that both students and teachers are involved in and the lack of interest in pursuing online portions of their courses for what I think is fear of exposing income differences between students and possible security breaches that would expose personal information. Teachers and students are so busy here, it blows my mind.
Yeah, there is a pretty heavy stress on the club activities in jhs as well as shs. It takes a huge toll on the students and teachers too. Having clubs and things like that is great, but they tend to go to the extreme with it.
The online portions of the courses pose a whole different set of issues. I get that they don't want students putting out personal information and they don't want teachers requiring assignments to put out that information. But they have juxtaposed any online exposure with bad online exposure. The ridiculous part is that there are plenty of things that can be done without posting to the public internet. Even just in-class activities using technology are viewed with suspicion in many circles (even at the higher ed levels). It is changing, but glacially.
Glacially is a very apt word for change here. And then, when they're ready for it, it comes on like a bullet train.
That's probably the best description I've heard of how it works. (Examples for those outside of Japan: Rampant FAX machine usage and 7-11's everywhere.)