An education system using tablets that parents also support

This is a practical project for "Adaptive Learning Utilizing SNS," launched in July 2014 by Ritsumeikan Moriyama Junior & Senior High School and Inolab. It involves approximately 500 new junior and senior high school students, each equipped with a tablet. Through the educational platform "RICS (Ritsumeikan Intelligent Cyber Space)," the project aims to create a new learning environment for both classroom instruction and home study.

Approximately four months have passed since implementation began. As mentioned in the previous column, the system has been accepted by students and teachers and is becoming established. So, what exactly has been the reaction from concerned parents...? This time, we'll discuss parental reactions at the time of tablet introduction and future prospects.

"Education and ICT are inseparable." Parental understanding has propelled RICS forward

In April 2014, approximately 500 new students enrolled at Ritsumeikan Moriyama Junior & Senior High School. The school administration explained their goal of "implementing adaptive learning starting this spring" just two months before the entrance ceremony. It was during the enrollment briefing that parents were first asked to purchase tablet devices.

Typically, requests for tablet purchases are made during pre-exam school information sessions. So, this was an unusual case. Before the session, I worried about negative reactions like, "Why should we buy expensive tablets?" or "What if they get too absorbed in games or social media and stop studying?" But when we opened the door, everyone accepted it surprisingly positively.

Parents of my generation have a solid understanding of the internet environment surrounding today's children. For example, checking grades and study schedules from cram schools online, downloading handouts... They know firsthand how closely children's education and ICT are intertwined. Many families already owned tablets, fully enjoying their convenience in daily life, so they seemed to have little resistance to using tablets for learning in the first place.

Looking outward, private middle and high schools began adopting tablets around 2011. This gained attention for "enhancing the quality of learning," and I believe it helped advance the understanding that "education and ICT are becoming inseparable." Only about two or three families per class lacked home Wi-Fi. Some families had already implemented tablet-based learning before enrollment, while others purchased tablets as a celebration of their child's acceptance. This reinforced the sense that parents are positive about utilizing tablets for learning.

Letting them use it without restrictions is the first step to success

Some may worry: "If we give tablets to every student, won't some secretly start browsing unrelated sites or chatting during class?" Having observed open classes at various schools, I have indeed occasionally seen students visiting unrelated sites (laughs). In those moments, I find myself thinking, "Wow, they've got some nerve doing that with so many visitors here. Impressive, impressive."

But this kind of behavior isn't happening because of the tablets. After all, haven't there always been kids doodling, passing notes, or reading manga under their textbooks during class? These days, there are even daring students secretly playing games or messaging each other on smartphones under their desks (at other schools). Telling them not to do it never changed anything – that's as true now as it ever was. I understand it's challenging to create lessons that captivate today's diverse students, but I believe engaging lessons will naturally solve the "distraction problem."

At Ritsumeikan Moriyama, rather than restricting app or site usage, we adopt a "let them use it first" policy. However, it's true that this is a new endeavor for the school, the children, and their parents, and there is significant anxiety. The basic approach is no restrictions... but naturally, there are requests from parents. Consequently, several SNS-type applications are blacklisted through a device management system called MDM (Mobile Device Management). If a child downloads a restricted app, an alert is sent to the ICT promotion teachers. The teachers then call the child in and directly instruct them to delete the application. Furthermore, the nature of concerns differs between middle and high school students. We are progressing through trial and error, learning how to share, discuss, resolve, and overcome problems and challenges as they arise.

While it is technically possible for teachers or parents to manage RICS to check the sites children are viewing or restrict apps, I don't believe that's what education is about. Now is the time to challenge ourselves to build an ICT-driven educational style together with the children.

Accumulated data enables information sharing and new discoveries!

I sense both parents and students are approaching RICS with anticipation. By visualizing previously hard-to-see aspects like "learning progress and comprehension" and "interactions between teachers and students," schools and parents can now share information. This data will also be utilized in future individual parent-teacher conferences. Schools and parents can now reach out to children or give them a nudge (meaning support... (laughs)) at the optimal time for each. Through RICS, they will be able to notice tendencies and characteristics of their child that were previously unseen.

Furthermore, children have gained a tool to reflect on themselves and enhance their motivation and awareness through interactions with friends.

For children navigating modern life, online communication is a completely natural tool. RICS reveals peer relationships that were previously unseen in real-world settings. Whereas parents' generation tended to "hide their own efforts" from friends pursuing the same academic or athletic goals, today's mainstream approach is openly encouraging friends with "Let's work hard together." Beyond merely improving learning efficiency or grades, we aim to leverage accumulated data to pursue a high-quality learning environment. This involves understanding shifts in mindset, changes in attitudes toward learning, and evolving peer relationships, empowering children to learn more actively and independently.

When discussing ICT education or adaptive learning, the focus often falls solely on facts like "we introduced tablets" or "we developed dedicated apps or platforms." However, embedding these tools is far more challenging than simply introducing them. We aim to thoroughly implement the PDCA cycle, involving teachers, students, and parents alike.