Author: Jun

Professor Satoko Yasuno of Chuo University has created and shared a short guide to giving a smooth, confident self-introduction. Feel free to use it in your COIL classes!

The SMILE project, which began in 2020, is now in its seventh year. Seven years can seem like a long time, yet it also feels like it has flown by in the blink of an eye. I have been supporting the project through the development and operation of Dialogbook. This fiscal year, we released Dialogbook…

WILL is proud to announce the launch of a new map feature in Dialogbook that visualizes the schools participating in the SMILE project. The map shows the locations of participating schools, with a slider that lets users explore when each school participated in the project. Explore the map here:https://dlb.kotoba-kobo.jp/school_map.html

On the evening of August 25, 2026, the “Thai SMILE Evening 2026” event was held at Thammasat University in Bangkok. The event brought together Thai teachers participating in the SMILE project to share updates on this year’s activities and to foster closer relationships. The event began with a video message from Professor Spakorn of Thammasat…

The SMILE Project generally charges a participation fee of approximately 3,000 yen per person. We asked Gemini to assess whether this price is reasonable for the services provided. Below are Gemini’s analysis results. Based on the available materials, we will present an analysis of the SMILE Project’s pricing relative to typical online educational exchange services…

On 17th April 2026, Jun Iio, the director of WILL, gave a talk entitled “The SMILE Project and the Dialogbook: Building and Deploying a Web-Based Learning Support System” at China University of Geosciences (CUG). He explained the SMILE project concept and the use of Dialogbook. Furthermore, the Web apps developed in his laboratory and their…

From 15th to 18th March, Prof. Waka and Prof. Jun visited several institutes in Taiwan to discuss preparations for the next SPICE and I-WIT 2027. On the 16th morning, they visited Mingdao High School in Taichung, then, in the afternoon of the same day, they had a meeting with Prof. Stano Kong of Tunghai University….

On 18th February, Prof. Jun Iio provided his lecture on developing and operating the Dialogbook system at Chiang Mai University. He gave his talk to sophomore students studying software engineering at the university’s Courage of Art, Media, and Technology (CAMT). He gave an overview of the SMILE project, how the dialogbook supported it, and its…