Toyo University Educational Corporation (hereafter, Toyo University) has released the “Toyo University Official App” as a tool for approximately 30,000 students to enrich their campus life. Building this app triggered the adoption of Google Cloud as a data analysis platform. We are innovating the curriculum, the way learning is done, the work of faculty and staff, and the school culture. Regarding the promotion of educational DX, we interviewed the managing director of Toyo University, four staff members who promoted development and construction, and the person in charge of Accenture Co., Ltd. (hereafter, Accenture) who supported the system construction.
Services used:
Cloud Run、BigQuery、Google Analytics、Google Workspace、Google Classroom、Google サイト、Looker Studio、Cloud Scheduler、Workflows、Cloud Router、Compute Engine、Cloud Storage、Dataform、Cloud SQL、Cloud Functions、Cloud Load Balancing
Solution in use:
database
Using Google Workspace is a deciding factor in adopting Google Cloud
At Toyo University, in order to promise the growth of each and every student, we aim to realize a student-oriented education that makes full use of digital technology, and we will fully ensure the sophistication and quality of education throughout the university. Based on the policy, we are promoting the “Educational DX Promotion Basic Plan”. Educational DX aims to utilize digital technology to innovate curricula and learning methods, and to establish an education that meets the needs of the times.
As part of this, we are moving forward with a plan titled “CLMS (Campus Life Management System) that will serve as a compass for the Learning Journey of 30,000 People”, which will integrate educational information consistent from enrollment to graduation and optimally utilize AI analysis results. Released “Toyo University Official App” at the end of March. Aiming to realize student-oriented education and student support using data, we provide important information from the university and useful information when you have trouble with campus life. In addition, it provides a function to flexibly look back on various experiences such as learning and extracurricular activities. It is now possible to share what it is to be from the perspective of “understanding” and “sympathizing with others”. In addition to creating value through these new student experiences, we are also using it to improve the educational environment by understanding and analyzing students’ ideas and motivations, which was difficult to obtain through conventional questionnaires. Triggered by the development of this app, we built a data analysis platform on Google Cloud.
Fumihiro Niiyama, Manager of the Office of the President, Office of the President, said, “In the past, data was extracted from the academic affairs system operated on-premises, analyzed, and fed back to faculty and staff. Data analysis was performed in parallel with application development. We chose Google Cloud because we believed that the cloud would be more suitable than on-premises in order to build a foundation and realize a system that would not stop even if about 30,000 people accessed it in a short period of time and at a low cost.” I talk.
One of the reasons we adopted Google Cloud was that we had already adopted Google Workspace as our communication tool. Toyo University introduced Gmail in 2010, when Google Workspace was called Google Apps. After that, we considered a policy to make more active use of Google Workspace, and will start full-scale use from April 2022.
Ms. Tomoko Yano of the Higher Education Promotion Support Office commented on the effects of introducing Google Workspace, saying, “For me, Google Workspace is an indispensable tool for working. In addition, we use Google Sites to create a portal site for members of the university, and share materials on Google Drive to go paperless. In addition, information sharing across departments has become smoother.”
Teamwork that made construction possible in a short period of time and Cloud Run that achieved high stability
The data analysis environment that uses Google Cloud consists of Toyo University’s official app developed with Flutter, an open-source UI SDK, connected to a data analysis platform built on Google Cloud. The data analysis platform mainly consists of application servers and database servers, and uses Cloud Run as the execution environment. The biggest challenge when building the infrastructure was how to complete the system construction, which started in December 2021, in four months until the end of March 2022, when the Toyo University official app was released.
Masafumi Tadokoro, Manager of the Information Systems Department, said, “It was a race against time because we needed to build the system in a limited amount of time. In addition to the features of Google Cloud, Google Cloud Japan, Accenture, and Toyo University were able to work together as one team, so we managed to meet the deadline.”
Accenture, a Google Cloud global service partner, supported the construction of the system, from the Toyo University official app to the data analysis platform. Takuya Sato, Accenture Associate Director Technology Consulting Headquarters IT Solution Mobile App Studio Japan Manager, has the following to say about building a data analysis platform that uses Google Cloud.
“This time, I was particularly surprised by the high stability of Cloud Run, a serverless container execution platform. At the entrance ceremony in April, we initially set up 10 nodes, but 4,000 to 5,000 new students When a spike occurred due to the simultaneous access of the As I heard, it was a symbolic scene that I was able to actually experience.Because of the short development period, there were various challenges, but Toyo University created an atmosphere where we could work together as a team to achieve our goals. was the biggest factor in the success of the project.We would like to continue to provide higher value by utilizing the ever-evolving Google Cloud.”
Understand what students want in real time with BigQuery and Looker Studio
The data analysis platform built on Google Cloud uses BigQuery for the data warehouse. From Google Analytics data and existing on-premises academic affairs systems, he extracts various types of necessary information in his CSV format and imports it into BigQuery. In addition, student behavior data such as student comments collected from the Toyo University official app, number of information views, and search words are imported into BigQuery and used for data analysis.
Regarding the effects of the data analysis platform, Mr. Yano said, “Previously, we downloaded and analyzed the necessary data from various systems, so we were able to understand what students wanted on campus and what kind of support they expected. It used to be difficult to analyze data to understand the situation of students, which changes on a daily basis.Nowadays, it is easier to understand what students want in real time through the official app.For example, If you use the official app to ask questions (questionnaire) about your interest in and motivation to study abroad, the answers will be collected the next day or two days later. It is a big change that we are now able to consider things and change the way information is provided to students. After getting a response from the customer, we can respond with a sense of urgency, rather than leaving it as it is.”
“In addition, the words searched by students within the official app are shared within the university, so we can immediately understand what information students are looking for. I believe that it will be possible to provide information that is conscious of , and that there will be an increase in awareness of issues related to facilities and equipment on campus.I use Looker Studio for analysis, but Looker Studio is intuitive Since it can be operated easily, we can focus on data search and communication based on data.”
Regarding future efforts, Atsushi Aoyama, General Manager of the Information Systems Department, said, “We still have quite a few on-premise systems, with nearly 2,000 devices and hundreds of servers. Equipment replacement work is required.Managing the creation of specifications, procurement, installation, settings, etc. related to this is a heavy workload with a small number of people.With the cloud, you can move it in a short period of time. It is possible to build a system environment that is more flexible and immediacy, such as stopping use when it is no longer needed.In the future, we would like to promote efficient use of on-premises and cloud and reduce the burden of operation management. I’m thinking,” he said.
Managing Director Nobuyuki Terada said, “At a time when the birthrate is declining, the key to the survival of Toyo University is how to get people to choose Toyo University, including the affiliated junior and senior high schools. In addition, we analyzed various data from entrance examinations to employment and admission to graduate school, including information such as entrance examination methods, course registration status after admission, grades and extracurricular activities, and what was effective educational support. It is necessary to review university management while grasping each time.How to handle such information, what kind of foundation and analysis method to have will be important for educational DX in the future. I have high hopes for Accenture and Google Cloud Japan for the realization and support of a flexible system for that purpose.”
Toyo University
Founded in 1887 by Enryo Inoue based on the founding principles of “Philosophy is the foundation of all learning,” “Independence and self-reliance,” and “Knowledge and virtue.” He has 30,793 students (as of May 1, 2022, total of undergraduate, graduate, and correspondence courses). There are 45 departments in 13 faculties, and 36 majors in 15 graduate schools. It has four campuses and four affiliated schools (as of May 1, 2022). From 2020, we are promoting the medium-term plan “TOYO GRAND DESIGN 2020-2024”, which aims to design a bright future for the global society by creating new value.
Accenture Japan Ltd.
(Google Cloud Partner)
Interviewee (from the left of the photo)
・Toyo University President’s Office President’s Administration Division Higher Education Promotion Support Office University Evaluation Support Office Ms. Tomoko Yano
・Toyo University President’s Office President’s Administration Division Higher Education Promotion Support Office University Evaluation Support Office
・Toyo University Managing Director Emeritus Professor Nobuyuki Terada, Ph.D.
・Takuya Sato, Associate Director, Technology Consulting Division, Accenture Japan, IT Solutions, Mobile App Studio Japan
・Mr. Masashi Tadokoro, Manager, Information Systems Department, Toyo University
・Toyo University Information Systems Department Manager Atsushi Aoyama
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