Yesterday's Learning of Tomorrow Online Lunch Symposium was titled "Toward a New Form of Learning That Blends the Real World and the Internet: The New Challenges Facing N High and S High."

Apparently, the high school with the largest student body in Japan is N High School, which is now in its fourth year since its founding. Its enrollment, which continues to grow at a rate of 1.5 times each year, has reached 15,803 students—a figure that is nearing capacity. Consequently, the establishment of a new high school, S High School, has been announced.

SUPER, SPECIAL, SHINE, SPECTACLE… We want each student to discover their own unique “S” and create their very own “S.” That’s where the name comes from.

What sets it apart is that it is building the world's first practical VR learning platform. Of its 6,600 video lessons, 2,400 are reportedly already VR-compatible.

It is said that using VR can improve concentration and communication skills. In particular, learning in a VR environment using avatars is said to give students the feeling that they are studying together with others, which helps boost their motivation to learn.

Mr. Kawakami stated, “VR and AI are important technologies in education,” while Mr. Natsuno expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “This is a challenge that only a company with expertise in both technology and education can undertake.”

Principal Yoshimura points out that most of the curriculum consists of PBL-based learning designed to foster 21st-century skills, and that the coursework required to earn the credits needed to graduate from high school can be completed in just one hour a day.

What surprised me about the student support system was hearing that they place a strong emphasis on having a robust team of teaching assistants (TAs). The student-to-instructor ratio (teachers plus TAs) was 67.4 to 1 when the school was founded, but it’s now 27.3 to 1. It really does show how important it is to have teachers and TAs who serve as facilitators and coaches.

The extracurricular curriculum ranges from college entrance exam prep courses to AI classes, web design, programming, and entertainment in general. The lineup of instructors is impressive, featuring courses such as “Special Class on Classical Japanese” by Tatsuya Egawa and “Reform and Decision-Making in Japan” by Heizo Takenaka!

By the way, Soichiro Yoshimura, the principal of S High School, is someone I’ve known since my student days. After I graduated, I was planning to move to the U.S. and was trying to raise funds for a preliminary fact-finding trip. That’s when I took on a project for the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Studies to investigate the U.S. system that fosters university-spun-off startups—and that’s how we met through the organization involved in that project.That brings back memories! And thanks to the connections I made through that research, I was also invited to lead a separate interview tour in Silicon Valley featuring Japanese entrepreneurs (*^^*). I’m still receiving a lot of support from everyone I met there. Thank you very much.

I’ve gone off on a tangent, but I hope that N High and S High will take the lead in shaping the future of education worldwide. I look forward to working with you on various projects.

"N High is changing. Education is changing."