Grade Three students from Cromer Public School in New South Wales and Kansai University Elementary School in Osaka will receive weekly language and culture lessons using a range of tools such as high-definition video conferencing and interactive whiteboards.

The first of its kind, Global Classroom is a joint initiative between Kansai University and the global Panasonic Education Foundation. 

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Students from the schools will share one joint class per week, and communicate with each other during a 15 minute connection each morning. The program will be extended to other students at the two schools in the following years.

Greg Jones, Principal, Cromer Public School, said the initiative will be of huge benefit to students. He said: "Primary schools do not always have access to language specialists and distance learning programs such as this one can help overcome this."

Cromer's futuristic classroom, comprising some of the most advanced teaching and teleconferencing tools, is expected to be completed in November, with Panasonic donating products, installation and support both in Australia and Japan.

Technologies to be used include interactive whiteboards that can instantly transfer data and teacher notes between classrooms, high definition video conferencing equipment and plasma screens.

Mark Deere-Jones, Director, Business Systems Group, Panasonic Australia, said it will be the first time that many of the technologies will be used in Australia.

Kansai University has also been working with the Department of Education to develop a curriculum that would enrich the multicultural knowledge of Japanese and Australian students.