TECHNOZONE October 2002 Page6 "A web site to offer ideas for MIC-D users"

OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.55 2002-10

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A web site to offer ideas for MIC-D users



	Satoko Hirano

----How was the web site developed?

Hirano:

We created the web site with other departments. My main task was to supply the images and text to be included. I used the MIC-D to observe things that I found interesting or attractive. I was looking at various objects.

Osa:

The web site plays a very important role. As manufacturers we can create this great product and tell users with confidence that they can see anything they want with it. But unfortunately we cannot impart that message solely through the product. We also need to suggest the types of things that will be interesting to observe, which is why we are developing the web site.

Hirano:

I did not use microscopes much in the past, but after becoming involved in this project, I started to read books about the microscopic world, some of which are like works of art. I worked to develop my own perceptions so that I would be able to suggest what others would enjoy observing through the MIC-D.

I feel rewarded when the images on our web site give people ideas that they actually apply to their observations using the MIC-D. I'm even happier when children contribute their own ideas about interesting things to observe.



	Don't forget to visit the MIC-D's official web site "The Digital Connected to the Minute World" for useful suggestions on how to enjoy the MIC-D to the full.

----I hear that you actually met with science teachers.

Hirano:

That's true. Before the launch, we asked a number of school teachers to try out the MIC-D and they showed great interest in it. They were very impressed by the fact that there is no limit on the thickness of the specimen. They thought that children would love the MIC-D because they could put anything on it and see it immediately. And because the MIC-D is connected to a computer, they also can learn about computers and science, so they are killing two birds with one stone. The teachers who acted as monitors for the MIC-D told us that they printed out the images on color printers for the children to paste into their notebooks. Others said that they displayed them through projectors during a presentation.

Children start to study microscopes in their fifth year of elementary school, so we assumed that the MIC-D would be used by children aged 10 and older. However, some schools apparently use the MIC-D with children in their third year of elementary school. We learned that third-grade children were able to use computers and the MIC-D without any problems. Teachers told us that the children were so interested that it was difficult to stop them from taking too many pictures.

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