Q: What is iFly 2015? A: iFly 2015 is Okinawa International Schools 1:1 iPad learning initiative.

Our aim is to provide a strong learning advantage to all students -- initially in the E2 classroom and at home, and soon all the way up through every year of the PYP, and Grade 8. iFly 2015 is a multi-pronged approach to a) increase both student mastery of foundational skills and b) improve student attitudes toward school and learning. iFly 2015 strategies include the following: PD (professional development) in order to develop the best possible ICT empowered educators personalized and targeted instruction, by teachers, for students powerful instructional apps frequent assessments of the efficacy of iFly 2015 a restructuring of the K-3 classroom (in terms of equipment and also pedagogically) to encourage the individual student along their own unique ICT learning path Q: What are the goals of iFly 2015? Were doing this to give OIS students in grades K-3 (and later all the way up through Grade 8) the ability to fly high! iFly 2015s primary educational goal is to significantly increase student mastery in English literacy, Mathematics, and later, Science. OIS aims to meet and exceed International Baccalaureate standards by the end of the 2015-16 school year. In concrete terms, OIS has set a goal to raise both aggregate literacy and numeracy rates for Grade 3 to XX% (by winter 2015-16) from their current (winter 2012-13) levels of XX% and XX% respectively, as measured by the International Schools Assessment (ISA) . If we help students raise their academic achievement and confidence in their abilities, they will be more successful later on in school, but academic success alone is no longer sufficient for success in life after school. We also need our youth to become extraordinary problem solvers, risk takers, explorers, and innovators. Our goals for iFly 2015 are the following: increase the percent of students meeting the benchmark in reading increase the percent of students meeting the benchmark in math reduce the number of students requiring various remedial services (IELL) increase the number of students who have a positive attitude toward learning increase student problem solving and creativity skills

We cannot achieve these outcomes through business as usual. I n order to be successful, we must transform the classroom experience so every student pursues their own individualized ICT learning path

towards standards mastery, and train and support teachers with ICT pedagogy so they can successfully guide the individual student towards that mastery. Q: Shouldnt we stick with tried and true educational approaches? No, because the tried and true orthodox methods do not work with digital natives. Most OIS students, as digital natives, need something very different in order to succeed. Students who require various remedial interventions (IELL, etc.) are already placing an enormous cost on the school (and thus their parents) in terms of money and time, not to mention the fact that these students impact the classroom English language environment in an adverse way. This situation can be rectified. We are doing iFly 2015 because it works. We have already begun (from April 2012) to succeed in raising student achievement in English literacy and numeracy for a test group of students, who would otherwise be considered as requiring various remedial interventions (IELL, etc.). That group of students is making significant gains in literacy, and they have continued to maintain their gains after the 1:1 iPad-based learning intervention has ended. iFly 2015 can help OIS, parents, and most importantly, students, avoid many of the future costs that would have occurred if we didnt do something different soon! Q: Can Okinawa International School afford the initiative? A: OIS cant afford NOT to implement this initiative. iFly 2015 is an initiative for all our our students, from E2 all the way up to G8. As a non-America and nonreligiously affiliated international school in the heart of Okinawa, we have had a decade long struggle to improve the reading and math level of our struggling students. Despite our best efforts, those levels have recently flatlined, showing little gains for our investment of time, money, and effort. Now we have a strategy with proven gains in which to invest. So this is not spending more money. This is spending money smarter. Q: Is OIS going to test this before they pilot the program? A: Beginning October 2012, kindergarten classrooms will receive classroom sets of the iPads. Teachers in those Exploration Classrooms will work closely with the iPad 2015 Implementation Team (Robert Duckworth and Brandon Porterfield). During this period, teachers will help our Implementation Team identify developmentally appropriate apps, write sample lesson plans determine appropriate expectations and policies for student use (including screen time), and otherwise help the school test and vet our initiative. The lessons learned from the Exploration Phase will shape the direction of the implementation of Pilot Year, which begins April 2013. Of course, the program will continue to be revised and tested during the Pilot year, including at least one research study to examine the programs impact on student learning.

Q: Will iFly 2015 be expanded into other grades? A: Yes. iFly 2015 is a K-8 initiative. New grades will be added each year. Q: Will the iPads go home? A: iPads will go home with all students from E2 up when we have put into place the structured routines and policies that ensure that the iPads will be cared and used in a planned and responsible way for studying. This will involve parents and guardians being actively involved in working with their child at home using iPads, making an effort to mirror the new OIS ICT-based learning environment and English language Environment. When it comes to early learning at OIS, our families have always been a critical partner. Sending iPads home in a structured, routine program will allow the device to support families in their efforts to extend the schools early learning work. It will also mean that the school can set up the iPads with resources that parents might find helpful at home. Parents and guardians will participate in Family Training before students can bring the iPads home. Policies will be developed for home use, to insure that the iPad is well cared for and used appropriately. Many of the apps and family resources for kindergarten can be used without Internet access, so kindergarten families will not have to provide the Internet at home for their student. G1 and up will be recommended to do so. Q: Will students spend all day using the iPads in school? A: No. The iPads are part of a balanced program of developmentally appropriate, blended learning activities based on current IB ICT pedagogy. Our bible for this is The Role of ICT in PYP. As in any developmentally appropriate PYP classroom, our students will engage in a variety of activities with a heavy emphasis on hands-on learning, and social development, as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic basics. We envision that teachers will design learning activities (ICT-based and otherwise) for students that include painting, drawing, and writing, reading aloud, reading books, building models, playing games, practicing skills. Some of these will be done through a combination of apps on the iPad, and some will be done through more traditional modes of activities. Remember, there are no magic bullets in learning, The iPad is simply a tool (and a very effective tool if used properly by all stakeholders) that has its place alongside and integrated with non-ICT based pedagogy. Q: Why is iFly 2015 starting out as a kindergarten (E2) initiative?

A: Because it works! And just as with English language learning we need to begin at the very beginning, or as close to it as possible. Mr. Chinen, the OIS Director, conceived of this full scale, school-wide paradigm shift in 1:1 iPad-based learning, not because of anyones interest in or infatuation with a particular piece of technology (lets remember that even the iPad itself will be obsolete in the blink of an eye), but rather because a small group of OIS teachers have had unprecedented success with a group of challenged language learners. So iFly 2015 will initially be an E2-G3 initiative (later quickly expanding to cover our entire school, all the way up to Middle School G8) to improve mastery of important foundational skills (in lower grades), as well as to build positive attitudes about learning continually. In lower/middle elementary (G1-3), and especially middle/upper elementary (PYP G4, G5, and especially with G6, which gives a PYP exhibition), the iPad will be used extensively for research and presentation related application. Again, the appropriate place to start is at the beginning: kindergarten, but dont worry, we are not planning to stop there. Were going all the way to the top, and waiting or delaying will only mean we have a larger problem to solve later. Keep in mind that even as students enter kindergarten, there are huge discrepancies in the abilities (especially English language) and background knowledge of our incoming students, not to mention the fact that they often are coming from different cultural backgrounds. These gaps simply get larger as students progress through elementary school, as evidenced by the numbers of students currently receiving remedial interventions (IELL) at OIS. But this gap can be bridged in part with strategically integrated 1:1 iPad-based learning in class and at home. So again, and finally, the place to start is when we first get students in kindergarten! All gains achieved from the very beginning will simply magnify over time, creating more successful elementary (PYP), middle school (MYP), and high school (DP) learners. And isnt that what we are all aiming for?