No bookstores, no cram schools! Adaptive Learning Tried on an Isolated Island in Shimane Prefecture

The Open Innovation Lab (InnoLab) at Dentsu Inc. International Information Services Inc. (ISID) is also challenging itself with ICT-driven educational reform. For the eighth installment of this series, we continued our interview with Senior Consultant Akie Sekijima, who is also a mother of two. We heard about the ICT education pilot project conducted on the remote Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture.

Distributing iPads to high school students attending the island's public cram school! What is this proof-of-concept experiment changing education?

――In our previous interview, you mentioned aiming to realize "adaptive learning." What steps did you take to start achieving that?

Sekijima: We started by gathering information. There's an organization called the Digital Textbook and Teaching Materials Council (DiTT) working toward an environment where "all elementary and junior high school students have digital textbooks." We joined them to exchange information... It was incredibly valuable to discuss education with such a diverse group of people – not just education-related companies, but IT firms, general businesses, and truly varied organizations. I'll never forget the time DiTT members and I visited South Korea, a leader in digital textbooks, for an inspection tour.

Under InnoLab's policy of broadly engaging people from different industries to create new services through IT, we launched "Edu-cation," a discussion forum on education. We invited people from publishers, cram schools, IT companies, and various other industries, and each time, we had candid discussions about education (laughs). What emerged from this was a proof-of-concept experiment conducted in collaboration with a public cram school in the Oki Islands, aimed at transforming high school students' learning.

――What kind of experiment did you conduct?

Sekijima: We received paper textbooks from a publishing company supporting the experiment, which we digitized and uploaded to the cloud. Simultaneously, we distributed one iPad and a mobile router per student. We created a system where the public cram school teachers selected materials tailored to each student and delivered them via a dedicated SNS platform. When a child turned on their iPad, they'd see a list of learning tasks just for them. Completing these tasks accumulated results. If they made a mistake, a notification went to the teacher, who could immediately follow up with, "Where did you go wrong?" This started a conversation, enabling learning anywhere, anytime, regardless of location or time.

――Oki is an island off Shimane Prefecture, right? I believe it takes about two and a half hours by ferry...

Sekijima: That's right. There are no bookstores or cram schools. When it came to university entrance exams, everyone would head to the city and never return. They wanted to transform that entire structure for the island.

――I see. How did the actual pilot test go?

Sekijima: The kids gave great feedback: "It was helpful to be able to ask questions right when I needed to," and "It took away the loneliness of studying alone." Many also said, "It's just like paper textbooks, in a good way." Some teachers still insist, "Textbooks must be paper!" But I think we gained material to persuade those conservative teachers (laughs). At the same time, we realized teachers' roles need to shift from "teaching" to "facilitating."

Teachers embracing ICT with enthusiasm is key to success

――I heard that during the pilot project in the Oki Islands, you implemented an initiative called "Dream Seminars" to shape children's aspirations. What exactly were these Dream Seminars?

Sekijima: This was an initiative already run by Oki's public cram school before we got involved. They invited "pros" from various occupations to talk about their work, and based on that, the children developed their own career visions. We supported this project via SNS.

That said, it was simply a matter of asking the teacher in charge of "Dream Seminar" to post updates on lesson themes, progress, and outcomes... Reports indicated that doing this encouraged students to reflect on their experiences. Furthermore, having the teacher-student interactions documented in writing significantly strengthened their awareness: "I must follow through on what I declare on SNS" and "I must strictly honor promises and deadlines." Initially, it was only for seniors, but more underclassmen started saying, "We really want to join," and we felt a definite positive response.

――That's wonderful to hear. What do you think were the key points of success?

Sekijima: I think it's the close alignment between teachers and students. If teachers adopt a top-down approach, dictating how things should be done, adaptive learning will never succeed. The key is to try various tools together and support students in proactively finding learning methods that suit them. I believe it's crucial for teachers to embrace ICT with a flexible, enthusiastic attitude and create a fun atmosphere.

(Continued in Part 9)