Schoolofthe futureplus

Education Beyond the 21st Century:

Establishing a Sustainable Heritage at International School Songdo, Korea

Dr. Jorge O. Nelson

Founding Headmaster

International School Songdo

Korea

September 28th, 2007

Seoul, Korea



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Table of Contents

VISION OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................................. 3

PART I. INSTRUCTIONAL FOUNDATION.................................................................................................................... 4

1. SELF-CONSTRUCTED LEARNING (NOT INSTRUCTED, LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS) ....................................................... 4

Flow Diagram: DIEP processes.................................................................................................................................... 7

2. DIGITAL INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN (DIEP).................................................................................................. 8

3. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ISS LEARNERS......................................................................................................................... 8

Image: LDD .................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4. USING DIEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH CAMPUS LIFE .............................................................................................. 11

5. RATIONAL BASIS FOR THE ISS EDUCATIONAL VISION............................................................................................. 14

Diagram: Mind map of the five components for 21st century learning.................................................................... 15

5.1 CREATIVITY ..................................................................................................................................................... 15

5.2 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ....................................................................................................................... 16

5.4 BALANCED CURRICULUM ........................................................................................................................... 16

5.5 WORLD VIEW................................................................................................................................................... 17

5.6 TECHNOLOGY................................................................................................................................................. 17

6. NEXT STEPS TO REALIZE THE VISION AT ISS ........................................................................................................... 17

6.1 The NEED.......................................................................................................................................................... 18

6.2 The TIMELINE .................................................................................................................................................. 18

Chart: Timeline for ISS Opening................................................................................................................................. 19

6.3 The FUTURE..................................................................................................................................................... 19

PART II. INSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION.................................................................................................................. 21

1. SCHOOL DESCRIPTION................................................................................................................................................ 22

2. SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY ................................................................................................................................................. 22

3. SCHOOL LOCATION..................................................................................................................................................... 23

4. SCHOOL COMMUNITY................................................................................................................................................. 23

5. SCHOOL GOVERNANCE............................................................................................................................................... 23

6. SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND LEARNING ATMOSPHERE............................................................................................... 24

7 FACULTY, STAFF AND LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................................................ 25

7.1 Planning Team................................................................................................................................................... 25

7.2 Enrollment/Student Body .................................................................................................................................. 26

7.3 Facilities ............................................................................................................................................................ 26

7.4 School Faculty ................................................................................................................................................... 27

CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................................... 27

Image: SIMS & DNS working models ......................................................................................................................... 29

APPENDIX A – TWELVE STEP PROGRAM FOR EDUCATION @ THE SPEED-OF-THOUGHT .................................................. 31

TABLE OF HYPERLINKS ....................................................................................................................................................... 33



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Vision Overview

A bold and purposeful new educational model is being initiated for students at Interna-

tional School Songdo (ISS) in Songdo International Cityi, Korea. The model will dwell

on a pragmatic, and yet, humanistic approach to education; thus, learners at ISS will be

bound to become functioning knowledge workers through a well-planned process de-

signed to enable and support individualized achievement by monitoring and assessing

self-paced progression methodologies with the aid of a modern computer system. The

computer system known as Studentlife Information Management System (SIMS) will be

specifically designed for ISS learners to plan, create and work on their individual educa-

tional career goals by a) assessing their continuous achievements as indicated in their

ubiquitous Digital Individualized Education Plan (DIEP) and b) accessing the available

required resources for their daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semester, annual and life-

long builds in all educational content areas in and around the school community.

This knowledge-worker educational model enables flow, choice, personal responsibility,

milestones, myriad multimedia assets, spontaneous human interactions with knowledge

resources, and ultimately - hot cognitionii/felt meaningiii. This is the logical direction re-

quired by ISS to ensure that learners are highly motivated by having access to all the

available tools needed to achieve what is desired from a professional as well as humanis-

tic approach to education.

In this paper, I present the philosophy and working profiles of ISS education in two parts:

Part I, the instructional foundation that accounts for the core of educational philosophy

and Part II, the institutional foundation that describes curricular, personnel, and physical

environments.



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Part I. Instructional Foundation

The instructional foundation of ISS is based upon constructivist/constructionist visions of

John Dewey, Seymour Papertiv and others. This model allows for students to create their

own learning experiences – becoming self-motivated learners themselves. Education is

no longer bound by the limits of the teacher, textbook, classroom nor the limited selection

of books in the school library. Instead, it is limited only by each student's interest, imagi-

nation, and ingenuity.

The model enables the teacher to serve as a learning facilitator, mentor and guide for sub-

jects that do not always require students to spend time in a classroom. Moreover, the In-

ternet offers all students far more information than any single traditional library. In short,

technology has greatly expanded the boundaries of the "traditional" student. Using the

SIMS ensures that accountability is achieved by assessment on the fly, at anytime, ob-

served at any appropriate level by everyone involved in the process of learning.

1. Self-Constructed Learning (not Instructed, like the good old days)

International School Songdo's mission is to enable all learners to use multiple intelli-

gencesv in solving complex challenges to serve the world. ISS is being purposely built to

engage learners to increase their own achievement through tailoring individual learner

interest to local, state, national and global education standards and benchmarks integrated

in a core curriculum through leveraging ubiquitous access of the SIMS in a constructivist

approachvi to learning. Access to the SIMS will enable:

a). learners to become knowledge workers, who create, innovate and follow their own to-

do lists and personal calendars seamlessly interwoven with required standards and man-

dates in an integrated core curriculum guided by the DIEP,

b). learning facilitators to act as a ‘guide by the side’, not a ‘sage on the stage’; as they

assist and encourage learners individually and in teams to achieve DIEP milestones with

success, and



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c). an ubiquitous digital spinevii – the SIMS - to seamlessly connect the DIEP to infinite,

disparate document/media-storage learning systems ensuring Just-In-Timeviii/Speed-of-

Thoughtix (JIT/SOT) educational processes as determined by the agreed-upon paths that

learners (with the support and guidance of the learning facilitators, leadership and par-

ents) choose in their individualized DIEP.

This process is described in the following flow diagram of the DIEP framework. In the

beginning, the learner has a choice from literally thousands of career paths to follow. If

they know which path is their path of choice they only need to get permission to continue

on this path from their facilitators and parents. As soon as the permission is granted the

DIEP has filled out all of the advised steps to graduation (and beyond). The information

used in the DIEP comes from three major sources: 1). College and university admissions

requirements for the career of choice, 2). Local, state, national and international standards

as determined by zip code or other geographic indicators given, and 3). School standards

for graduation requirements.

The DIEP is then used as a daily guide for all knowledge worker skills such as to-do lists,

task completion time-lines, class scheduling, recording assignments and assessments,

communication between faculty and parents, accessing digital online resources, collabo-

ration among teams and classes, content generation, etc. The learner posts completed

tasks indicated on the DIEP and the facilitator checks off as well. Progress is measured

JIT and everyone knows how the learner is gaining achievement SOT, minute-by-minute.

If learners are having difficulty passing assessments, they have the option of self-help or

getting assistance from the facilitator, depending on the need. The process repeats until

the assessment is satisfactory. If, for some reason, the learner would like to choose an-

other career path they simply enter the new career path into their DIEP and the process is

repeated, getting permission and accessing the new set of data points in the DIEP.

What needs to be done to ensure that education properly prepares children to grow up and

become successful adults who will thrive, not just survive, throughout the 21st century is



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being created right now in Songdo, Korea at International School Songdo. This need has

been recognized by the visionaries of ISS who are driven by zeal for setting up an educa-

tional institution that is based upon constructivist visions of educational reformers.

Hence, ISS is being modeled after and built for the ideal knowledge-worker educational

model by offering a rigorous academic program based upon an exemplar American cur-

riculum with appropriate supplements of the most innovative curriculum materials avail-

able in the international educational arena.

We salute the though-provoking and penetrating study undertaken by the National Center

on Education and the Economy that pointed out pitfalls of decades of the US education

systems in the past. We strongly support the NCEE’s compelling recommendations for

educational reform by way of improvement in five major educational components: 1)

creativity, 2) emotional intelligence, 3) balanced curriculum, 4) worldview, and 5) tech-

nology.

In this paper I addressed key issues and concerns on each of these five components, re-

flecting and arguing for those concerns in the design of the ISS proprietary Digital Indi-

vidualized Education Plan as the building blocks which are required to make a great in-

ternational education program; hence, ISS learners are expected to face the forefront of

provocative yet pervasive contemporary ubiquitous education designed to support access

to the highest degree of digital literacy. This equates the Just-in-time/Speed-of-Thought

learning model in the digital business world that has been widely acclaimed by Micro-

soft’s Bill Gates. The Digital Nervous System and its interface, Digital Dashboard, are

analogous to the Studentlife Information Management System infrastructure and its intui-

tive user interface, Learner Digital Dashboard, for accessing their continuous educational

achievements via the individualized DIEP by the ISS learners. This analogy and the

working model of the SIMS are depicted in the diagram below.



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Flow Diagram: DIEP processes



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What do you want to do after college? Be a world-class ballet dancer? Well, here – let’s

push a button. There, the DIEP filled in backwards the necessary (and suggested) mile-

stones along the 20+ year path as displayed on your digital device and you can now see

your up-to-the-second progress in Math, Science, Social Studies, English, World Lan-

guage, Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Physical Education, Service Learning, and the myriad co-

curricular activities we offer – especially Dance! Don’t forget to check your progress

also in Creativity, Worldview, Emotional Intelligence and, oh yes, Technology.

Click herex to listen to a pod cast of a 4th grade student living in such a world.

2. Digital Individualized Education Plan (DIEP)

Schools are unique, service-oriented institutions where the end result - student achieve-

ment - is measured traditionally by homework grades, report cards, tests, quizzes, stan-

dardized achievement and aptitude tests - all of which have lag time inherently built in to

the processes.

Learners who are engaged in the ISS program, built on the SIMS infrastructure, will have

the opportunity of knowing, JIT/SOT, what educational standard they are working to-

wards in each academic and co-curricular content area, how far have they come in

achieving that standard, and how much more they have to do to complete the standard in

question. Picture a Learner Digital Dashboard (LDD), where learners are in touch with

what standards they have to master, when those standards are to be mastered, and how far

they have come in mastering said standards.

The LDD will allow for detailed analysis of exactly where the learner stands in regard to

the milestones pending. This accuracy and availability of pertinent information stems

from the SIMS responding, through the LDD, to stakeholder needs JIT, at the SOT.

3. A Day in the Life of ISS Learners

Looking at the LDD we can see that this learner, let’s call her Maja, has her daily sched-

ule pretty much set as she logs on at home, before leaving for school. Maja can see that



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her homeroom/Math learning facilitator, Mr. Smith, has posted suggested Internet re-

sources for her lesson for the day on her schedule, as have Ms. Cortez and Ms. Gardon

for Science and English. She is going to have lunch with Susie and Min Yu in the court-

yard and will order her lunch in homeroom (automatically debiting her parent’s school

account at the business office) to be prepared fresh in the cafeteria before hand so she can

pick it up JIT. Maja has joined the Global Issues Networkxi and is currently collaborating

with learners in Anaco, Venezuela at an international school there to study the depletion

of the forest due to developments around the school building. She has a 2:30 pm real-time

videoconference to report back to Anaco her findings as well as download theirs. She

also is going to band practice after school and will download on her tablet PC sheet music

and MP3 files that her band learning facilitator has sent via RSS feed to her DIEP.

Image: LDD



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Maja has an inbox of several categories listing her daily messages and contact resources,

in-house and throughout the world. Since she completed her homework last night she has

cleared her inbox of all messages and starts fresh this morning, except . . .

…on Maja’s LDD she has a to-do list of her own set of standards that are in various

stages of mastery. One of the standards, Language Standard 7.3.22, has not been com-

pleted by the milestone she has set-up. An automatic reminder popped up to tell Maja that

she is behind in her completion date. An RSS feed was automatically sent to her parents

notifying them about the situation. Her Language learning facilitator has posted a bright

red “!” message in her to-do list, also reminding her about this situation. We can’t tell

from this situation why Maja is behind, but we can be assured that all stakeholders know

about it, and have known about it since the very first moment, JIT/SOT, when Maja

missed that desired milestone. This ‘early warning’ system helps her, her learning facili-

tators, the leadership and her parents know that something is amiss. Maja might want to

reschedule her classes today to finish Language Standard 7.3.22 because when she gets

home her parents will want to talk to her, if they haven’t already emailed her already.

And the building principal, who logged on at 5:30 am from his 4G cellular connection in

his car, on the way to work, saw Maja’s LDD results (automatically sent as a text mes-

sage to him as well as the learning facilitator when the milestone was passed by, unmas-

tered), has already fired off an email to the Language learning facilitator asking him if he

needs help with Maja’s milestone completion issue.

At the bottom right hand corner of Maja’s LDD we can see the 9th grade 1999/2000

school standards [Author’s note: I created this prototype DIEP almost a decade ago so

apologies for the dated version of MS Outlook™ (especially Clippyxii ;-) – though I still

think a Clippy-type character is an appropriate and fun way to remind younger learners

who fall behind in their milestones) - JN]. This link takes all stakeholders immediately to

the entire educational program that Maja is working on right now. This program has been

developed, edited and published as Maja’s DIEP.



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4. Using DIEP All The Way Through Campus Life

As all the stakeholders use the LDD/SIMS appropriately throughout the entire school

community, improvements happen because all stakeholders know exactly how learners

are achieving, even if the learners are not making the deadlines for the required and de-

sired standards. The DIEP places the impetus in the learner’s hands and from that point

on everything changes, in very positive ways, for everyone.

The question of what set of standards are to be used is answered in the DIEP process. At

ISS, with the learning facilitator/learner relationship improved by a more efficient

method of instructional delivery, value-added time will be available to custom-tailor a

DIEP for each learner, no matter what ability level or talents/differences they exhibit. Pa-

per IEPxiii’s have been, traditionally, reserved for only Special Needs learners, creating

mountains of bureaucracy and consuming huge amounts of time and money in the selec-

tion process. I don’t know about you . . . but my kids are special, if only to me.

The DIEP captures and depicts a digital reverse engineering process of the results of what

the child will need to receive along the educational path towards graduation. This process

defines in detail the desired goals and objectives that meet all mandated standards by

means of a contractual agreement directly tied to a scope and sequence of curriculum

content areas supporting those desired outcomes. The process takes into account differ-

ences in future interests after secondary school: technical or community college, Ivy

League or state universities, direct-to-work programs, travel, etc. The DIEP also will al-

low for changes to be made at anytime when interests wax and wane, as they surely will

as the learner develops. (In creating a great international school curriculum, the ISS plan-

ning team will use a similar process based on a well-respected program titled

Understanding by Designxiv from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Devel-

opment.)

For example, Maja, along with her parents, regularly meet with the learning facilitators

and guidance counselors - in person the first time and increasingly online thereafter - to

go over a vocational interest survey that she has completed in her career jukebox, before



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the initial DIEP meetings. This data set indicates what her interests currently are and

points to the set of standards and milestones necessary to achieve the goals derived from

the interests.

Maja’s DIEP, that she is successfully following right now (except for the Language is-

sue), has been tailored to meet her goal after graduation, with the blessing of her parents,

of studying music at the Juilliard School in New York City. Maja’s interests were noted

and she met face-to-face with her parents and learning facilitators and guidance counsel-

ors to talk about, plan, and publish a set of standards that is designed to exceed all of the

entrance requirements for matriculation at Juilliard. There are no guarantees that she will

be accepted, because she has to pass a live audition as well as meet the other standards,

but she has a good handle on what it takes to enter the school so her confidence grows

over time and she does inherently better than without the DIEP.

Susie and Min Yu, Maja’s friends, on the other hand, have other goals that have been ad-

dressed in their DIEP’s. Susie wants to become a registered nurse and her DIEP reflects a

more technical, direct-to-work group of curriculum content standards that exceed the

minimum requirements for entrance into a local community college close to her parents,

for she also does not want to leave town or get a liberal arts degree. Her personalized pro-

gram is as challenging as Maja’s, but in other areas of interest. She does not attend the

Global Issues Network session or band classes as she leaves school early and works as a

‘candy striperxv’ to learn more about nursing through volunteering at the local hospital.

Since she leaves school early she works at home on her elective nursing survey courses,

through her Internet connection to the DIEP. After graduation she will enter the commu-

nity college as a sophomore from all of the extra coursework she completes in her DIEP

in high school.

Min Yu’s program is designed to exceed the entrance requirements for pre-medicine at an

Ivy-league university and her standards reflect inclusion of advanced Maths and Sciences

(using Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate course outlines) as well as SAT

preparation courses she will have to master to pass the muster. Her skunk works group is



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involved in an ‘Odyssey of the Mindxvi’ project that, they hope, will win at the regional

level and take them to the national competition later in the spring. This program looks

great on her transcript to round out her academic experiences with a more creative, ‘out-

side the box’ approach to problem solving. She knows that the university admissions of-

ficers look for well-rounded candidates for pre-med, not just brainy Math and Science

types, so she prepares and distributes food for the homeless on the weekends.

As Maja, Susie and Min Yu develop physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually,

their interests will probably evolve and the set of standards they have previously been

using might no longer be appropriate for desired outcomes. With this in mind the stan-

dards database of the SIMS automatically integrates the already-mastered standards with

the newly desired direction and updates the DIEPs JIT/SOT.

Therefore, getting an SIMS to run DIEPs via a LDD interface is the key element in get-

ting learners what they need when they need it. JIT/SOT learner assessment/access en-

ables and empowers the learners to know where, on a continuum, they are right now -

today - in the quest for learning and how much more do they have to do so they can plan

their calendar and to-do list accordingly. It will be a common occurrence to hear in the

ISS hallways, “What are you working on today?” (with the emphasis on you).

Almost a decade ago, in his thought-provoking book, “Business @ the Speed-of-

Thought”, Bill Gates outlined a blue print for preparing business for the future. He de-

scribed twelve key steps in building a Digital Nervous System (DNS) for business solu-

tions. I can relate my educational vision for ISS to his vision for the business community;

hence, I modified his list to specifically adapt to the learning paradigm at ISS (see Ap-

pendix A). These twelve educational steps can be thought of as the blueprint for the crea-

tion of the SIMS needed at ISS by which the interface for the LDD is called the DIEP.

With this DNS (via the Digital Dashboard) and the SIMS (via the Digital Individualized



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Education Plan) in parallel for utilizing information technology in business and education

respectively, now is the time for introducing my rationale for innovatiove learning pro-

grams at ISS.

5. Rational Basis For The ISS Educational Vision

Thomas Friedman observed in “The World is Flatxvii” that the human family is going

through yet another paradigm shift through global disambiguation, similar to changes ex-

perienced globally from the advent of the Industrial revolution or the personal computer.

Take the classic example of the outsourcing of e-commerce labor to the software engi-

neer in India - annual salary being approximately 1/10th of her Western-world counter-

part - as well as the ubiquitous, cheap and robust computing power world-wide and mas-

sive digital storage capabilities (e.g., 1 terabyte hard drives for $319.99 now available at

NewEgg.comxviii) as some examples of why a shift in how we now and will continue to

do things is required if we are to thrive in the new economy. Friedman’s advice to his

daughter today is to “…do your homework as people in India and China are starving for

your job” versus the peas and carrots version her grandfather gave Dad.

A recent study by the National Center on Education and the Economy - Tough Choices,

Tough Timesxix - brings to the forefront how education is not taking advantage of the flat

world and, subsequently, schools are falling behind. The study is quite compelling and

there are many voices crying out for the study to be taken seriously:

“Anyone who hopes to hold a job in the next several decades should read - if not memo-

rize - this extraordinary report.” - Norman R. Augustine, Retired Chairman and CEO,

Lockheed Martin Corporation

“This penetrating, scary analysis and these astute, far-reaching recommendations amount

to A Nation at Risk for the next generation.” - Chester E. Finn Jr., President, Thomas B.

Fordham Foundation



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“This proposal is radical? Yes. Hard to achieve? Of course. Essential? Absolutely. Our

nation's schools are failing to educate our children, and that has to stop—else we con-

demn our own kids to ever-lower incomes. We must act—now!” - William E. Brock,

Former Secretary of Labor, Reagan Administration

Though the study is provocative in nature, after reading the report the author finds that

international education has most of the components inherently in place. Many interna-

tional educators are already going in the advised direction - or can easily adapt method-

ologies to meet the growing need for a competitive work force to leverage flat world re-

alities.

Five major components addressed in the NCEE study can be thought of as the building

blocks required to make a great international education program. These components are:

1) creativity, 2) emotional intelligence, 3) balanced curriculum, 4) worldview, and 5)

technology.

Diagram: Mind map of the five components for 21st century learning

5.1 CREATIVITY

Teaching creativity will help learners see patterns in their chaotic world today and in

those patterns they can generate new ideas. To become competitive they must also have



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opportunities for true innovation and that must be taught. They also need to be able to

make connections across the interdisciplinary combinations of subject matter. Take a

look at how just a couple of folks created Microsoft, eBay, and more recently YouTube

and you will see how creativity combined with innovation pays off.

During a recent conversation with Jean-Francois Rischardxx I showed him a draft frame-

work for school curriculum, based on my first experimentation of adapting the compo-

nents of the NCEE report into international education. His initial comments were simple

and direct as he reminded me that what was obviously missing in my framework was

creativity. He emphasized that creativity is the most compelling educational component

for the future of schools, as identified in the NCEE report. I since revisited the report and

creativity is the first priority for the school curriculum.

5.2 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotional intelligencexxi is getting a lot of press lately and, according to the NCEE re-

port, rightly so. Getting along with others, from all walks of life, is now situated squarely

in the middle of the flat world reality facing us. Though we do not have to teach large and

small group collaborative skills due to the lack of educational standards needed to hold

the hand in the fire, it is a most desirable skill that will surely become an educational

standard.

5.4 BALANCED CURRICULUM

A balanced curriculum speaks for itself - if we still believe in the philosophy of the lib-

eral arts program that most of us have experienced and touted as good practice and wor-

thy of study towards the completion of a four-year degree. The International Baccalaure-

ate Diploma (IBD) programme, the Advanced Placement International Diploma program

and other varieties of the same have the components necessary for a well-rounded core of

traditional subject matter. Along with the need for traditional core subject matters comes

a need for both meta-analytical skills vis-à-vis Theory of Knowledgexxii courses taught in



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the IBD and portable skills such as critical thinking, making connections and learning

how to keep on learning.

5.5 WORLD VIEW

The mindset of an observable and explainable view of the world is also needed. Learners

will need to become globally literate and only then will be able to work across the imagi-

nary borders and myriad time zones online and face-to-face. More importantly, the 21st

century learner must become literate in global issues facing the Earth and find ways to

bring about necessary changes to protect the human family (see J.F. Rischard’s High

Noon: Twenty Global Issues, Twenty Years to Solve Themxxiii).

5.6 TECHNOLOGY

Technology is the tool to leverage the Internet and digital resources learners must use in

this Web 2.0 reality we find ourselves. All learners must be trained to learn online. They

must also be able to discern valid and reliable information sources from bunk. They must

also be ready to take high stakes tests online as that is the way Educational Testing Serv-

ices and others are going. Last year Advanced Placementxxiv (AP) Japanese and AP Chi-

nese were piloted for online testing services and others will soon follow.

6. Next Steps To Realize The Vision at ISS

International School Songdo is being built, staffed and supported to fully implement the

five components described by the NCEE to prepare the 21st century learner for success

after graduation as well as become empathetic global citizens. We will create opportuni-

ties for learners to become as Richard Buckminster Fuller envisioned in the 1960’s -

anticipatory design scientistsxxv - trained to be creative, innovative, well versed in the lib-

eral arts, technology literate and, as Rischard urges, also have developed the mindset that

they will be global citizens first, national citizens second and local citizens third. The

National Association of Independent Schoolsxxvi has recently adopted Rischard’s call for



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action and learners around the world are becoming involved, enabled and engaged in cre-

ating solutions for the twenty global issues.

6.1 The NEED

The desired SIMS including the ensuing LDD interface component with DIEP options is

being designed to enable international school learners - empower international school

learners - to learn how to craft their own creative solutions. These solutions are necessary

not only for the life-long successes of international school graduates but also for crafting

solutions for the immediate and sustainable future of the world. With their position as

children of some very influential people - trans-national movers and shakers - graduates

from international schools that adopt/adapt the ISS SIMS technologies created here will

prove to be solution providers to our seemingly impossible challenges awaiting us as we

speed through the universe, riding in a finite system Fuller called spaceship Earth that

Rischard says we have approximately 17 more years to clean up – or else.

6.2 The TIMELINE

The start-up timeline of ISS has sufficient time embedded to enable the planning team

and partners to work on the DIEP infrastructure, test and refine the digital toolset before

students actually enroll in the program of studies. With such lead-time there is plenty of

work to do and plenty of time to get it done. A piloting of the DIEP before full imple-

mentation is also to be considered, as the students will have input as to the DIEP experi-

ence. It would be of great value to consider their input before a full rollout of the com-

pleted product takes place.



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Chart: Timeline for ISS Opening

6.3 The FUTURE

The International School Songdo project is simply a beginning for a new system of inter-

national education. Additional schools are already being planned in ten key cities around

the globe: Bostonxxvii, London, Singapore, etc. There are many benefits from creating

such a network of integrated international schools. One example comes to mind: learners

who attend these schools will be expected to take advantage of exchanging places with

their peers in sister schools. Middle school students will spend up to one month in an-

other ISS-style school and their high school counterparts will enjoy up to a full year away

from home. These unique, global experiences will help ISS learners stay confident in the

fact that they are: 1). still on the exact same path they choose back home, yet, at the same

time, 2). gaining a true world-view from their personal experiences abroad.



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Sustainable education is one of the goals for ISS and her sister schools and the DIEP

technology that binds them together will help keep learners focused on career paths and

on track whether they are in Asia, the Americas, Europe or beyond. ISS learners will be

able to move around the globe, attending schools that support their dreams with detailed,

organized and scheduled plans for success – in each of the ten planned school communi-

ties vis-à-vis International School Songdo.



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Part II. Institutional Foundation

In July 2001 Gale International negotiated a joint venture agreement with POSCO E&C

and the City of Incheon, South Korea, for the master planned development that is Songdo

International City. Located at the site of General MacArthur's 1950 landing, Songdo will

be the first "new" city in the world designed and planned as an international business dis-

trict. Songdo is rising as the "Gateway to Northeast Asia," a geographical hub just 40

miles southwest of Seoul and 25 miles from the North Korean DMZ industrial area.

Built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land and soon to be connected to Incheon International

Airport via a new bridge, Songdo is the most ambitious undertaking of its kind. Currently

under construction, this Master Planned city will offer an unsurpassed Quality of Life -

including a 100-acre Central Park, International School, International Hospital, Eco-

tarium, and Museum amongst its many amenities.

The city's plan includes fifty million square feet of office space - including a landmark

65-story Tower and Convention Center, thirty million square feet of Residential Space,

ten million square feet of Retail, five million square feet of Hotel Space and ten million

square feet of green space. Because of its central location within the Yellow Sea Eco-

nomic Basin - which comprises an economically active population of more than 200 mil-

lion with a GDP of USD 1.3 trillion - Songdo will act as the business hub for multina-

tional companies in Northeast Asia.

Songdo International City is a city designed around one thing: the people who will live

and work here. People will experience an unparalleled Quality of Life as technology, re-

sources and innovation all come together to create the ideal environment. The project

brings together the top industry leaders to enrich and build the world's most beautiful,

functional and environmentally friendly city. Its scope, beauty and vision embody the

heart of its developers and sets a new level of excellence on both the local and global

scale (text taken from the official Songdo International Cityxxviii website).



22

1. School Description

International School Songdoxxix is a central element in the newly created Free Economic

Zonexxx named Songdo International City. The school is fully designed and is being built

in its entirety on a seventeen-acre site. Construction is underway and will be completed

by June of 2008. The organizers of International School Songdo have announced that the

opening of the school will be phased in from September 2008 to August 2009.

The phased opening of International School Songdo is scheduled to begin in late sum-

mer/early autumn 2008 with open houses for the community and informational sessions

for potential learners and their parents. There is the opportunity during this period for lec-

tures by elite foreign university faculty, as well as short courses in adult, continuing, and

executive education for members of the community from the surrounding areas of

Songdo, Incheon, and Seoul. International School Songdo can provide test preparation,

English language training, and computer courses afternoons, evenings, and weekends co-

ordinated around periods of heavy construction. The formal PreK-12 academic year

scheduled to begin in August 2009 will coincide with the Incheon Expoxxxi 2009.

2. School Philosophy

The International School Songdo has hired Dr. Jorge Nelson to be Headmaster beginning

July 2007. He is now dedicated full-time to planning the phased opening of the school.

He is also assembling an expert planning team over the next 12-18 months that will hire

the most qualified faculty and staff, refine the curriculum for an international and 21st

century education, and admit learners to International School Songdo. He has been tasked

to build a state-of-the-affordable art “high tech/high touch” world-class international

school as he describes in the previous section. There is no desire to build an international

school of this caliber with a program that is based on a “More Of the Same” approach to

education. ISS is a purpose-built facility that is designed to the highest educational, archi-

tectural and technological standards.



23

ISS will be an independent, not for profit, coeducational day school operating under the

umbrella of a nonprofit Foundation established in Korea by International Schools Serv-

icesxxxii. The program will start with approximately 500 learners in Pre-Kindergarten

through grade eight. In successive years the high school program will be added and the

school will grow to its capacity of 2100 learners. At the appropriate time the school will

apply for full accreditation and will offer recognized international curriculum such as the

International Baccalaureatexxxiii and Advanced Placementxxxiv diploma programs.

3. School Location

ISS occupies over half a million sq. ft. on eighteen acres of prime urban real estate in the

heart of Songdo International City. The location enjoys modern amenities of city life as it

is close to Central Park, Convention Center, Cultural Center, Museums, Hotels, Golf

Course, Theaters, and transportation centers including water transport on canals. The city

is located just south of Incheon and less than 15 miles away from the Incheon Interna-

tional airport when the new bridge connecting the airport and the city opens.

4. School Community

Due to its strategic location in the heart of a Free Economic Zone it is expected that the

learners will come from families in an international and diverse business community with

representation from around the world. While SIC will contain a large number and variety

of new residential units it is expected that students will come from the surrounding areas

as well, including Incheon and Seoul.

5. School Governance

ISS will be a proprietary not-for-profit international school accredited by U.S., European

and International education bodies, and operated by a qualified foreign school operator.

The ISS Advisory Board is comprised of leading international educators who have held

headmaster and senior roles at some of the world’s best education institutions and inter-

national education organizations. Tasked with guiding the development of ISS as the



24

leading international school in Asia, the ISS Advisory Board brings exemplary education

expertise and advice to the school. This appointed Board representing the operating foun-

dation, international business leaders, educators and parents will provide school over-

sight.

6. School Curriculum and Learning Atmosphere

The school had a unique opportunity to design the facility so that every space can pro-

mote learning. There are learning opportunities, materials, displays, and technology

throughout the building in passageways, cafeterias, offices and other public spaces in ad-

dition to instructional space. These non-classroom learning areas are designed to be

changed several times throughout the academic year at intervals that coincide with learn-

ing mastery. In addition there is an emphasis on learning in what are generally considered

nonacademic areas such as the school lunch program, transportation, athletics and activi-

ties.

ISS will be offering a rigorous academic program based upon an American curriculum

but containing or being supplemented by the best curriculum materials available in the

international educational arena. The curriculum will be put into place by the planning

team after careful research into the best material available. This curriculum will be re-

viewed and updated on a rotating schedule once a teaching staff has been selected.

Planned curriculum will include the International Baccalaureate program as well as Ad-

vanced Placement.

The school has been designed so that class sizes will remain relatively small at all grade

levels. With small class sizes learning facilitators will be able to focus on individualizing

learning. A major focus will be on the development of higher-level thinking, problem

solving skills and mastery of core concepts.

The language of instruction will be English but there will be a comprehensive English as

a Second (or other) Language component for a limited number of non-English speaking



25

learners. A cap on the percentage of non-English speaking learners will assure that lim-

ited English proficiency will not negatively impact the overall academic program.

The Korean language and culture will be an integral part of the elementary program. Sec-

ondary learners will be offered a variety of subjects with a Korean emphasis. Field trips

to historic and cultural Korean sites will be encouraged.

Once in operation, ISS will be applying for accreditation through the New England Asso-

ciation of Schools and Collegesxxxv (NEASC) and the European Council of International

Schoolxxxvi (ECIS).

7 Faculty, Staff and Leadership

The leadership team members and professional faculty at ISS will be selected from the

world-class level of international educators currently working in accredited international

schools across the planet. The highly competitive offers of employment will be awarded

only after a thorough search and selection process to be conducted over the next 18

months. ISS will work with International Schools Servicesxxxvii, The International Educa-

torxxxviii, the Association for the Advancement of International Educationxxxix, East Asia

Regional Council of Overseas Schoolsxl and other agencies in recruiting the finest faculty

in the world.

7.1 Planning Team

The organizers of ISS will have the unique opportunity to put a planning team into place

for the 2008-2009 academic year. The School Headmaster, Dr. Nelson is a key leader of

this planning team. Other members of the planning team will include, but not necessarily

be limited to, a School Principal, Information Technology Coordinator, Media Cen-

ter/Library Director, Business Manager/Support Services Director, Admissions Direc-

tor/Registrar/Marketing, Facility Operator and Special Assistant to the Headmaster. The

planning team will be responsible to put into place all of the elements of a high-level

functioning school program.



26

7.2 Enrollment/Student Body

There is already significant interest in the creation of ISS and inquiries about require-

ments for enrollment. During the 2008-2009 academic year the school will be soliciting

and processing applications for enrollment. It is expected that the school will begin op-

eration in fall of 2009 with a learner body of approximately 500 learners in pre-

kindergarten through grade eight. As ISS continues to be developed the enrollment will

grow within a few years to full capacity of 2100 learners.

7.3 Facilities

The facilities for ISS have been designed by Kohn Pederson Foxxli under the leadership

of James vonKlemperer. Working in collaboration with the Harvard Advisory Group,

Ray Bordwell from of CSO Schenkel Shultzxlii created a non-traditional method of pro-

gramming by leading the effort with a team of well-known, former International School

Headmasters and current private school administrators who were specifically brought to-

gether for the task. “A series of programming sessions was convened to create a vision

for the school and establish it's initial operational policies. The outcome was a Facility

Design Guideline that established a series of flexibly designed elements arranged as Ele-

mentary School, Middle and High School, and shared facilities buildings. The shared fa-

cilities building included facilities for Food Service, Central Administration, Art, Theater,

Music, Physical Education and Competitive Athletics.” (CSO website)

The end result is a school facility that is second to none. Sitting on an eighteen-acre site

the campus-like arrangement includes separate elementary and secondary buildings.

There is a spine of joint-use facilities, which includes a swimming pool, auxiliary gymna-

sium, main gymnasium, exercise room, theatre, a variety of fine arts rooms and the cen-

tral administration. The well-landscaped grounds include multiple courtyards, a reflecting

pool, bell tower, amphitheatre, soccer field and tennis courts. The central kitchen serves

separate elementary and secondary dining facilities. Both the elementary and secondary



27

buildings contain state of the art media centers with technology spines that are fully inte-

grated with the rest of the buildings as well as a TV production studio.

The facility was designed with security and transportation flow in mind. There are sepa-

rate areas for learner drop off and visitor access. Elementary and secondary programs are

separated other than in shared facility areas.

7.4 School Faculty

ISS will recruit and retain experienced and successful educators from North America and

around the world. The educational professionals at ISS are not what are commonly re-

ferred to as "sages on the stage". Their role is to be “guides by the side”, working as

learning facilitators to promote individual learning experiences and personalized instruc-

tional activities. These Learning Facilitators will be committed to ensuring that students

learn and succeed in their academic programs. A key element of ISS’s commitment to

education is to ensure that the School actively supports the ongoing professional qualifi-

cations and development of its most valuable resource -- its learning professionals.

The goal of all ISS Learning Facilitators will be to first help facilitate the education of the

whole child. The ISS staff will seek to nurture and mentor students not only in the class-

room but in extracurricular activities such as athletic, the arts and community service.

Conclusion

What needs to be done to ensure that we properly prepare children to grow up and be-

come successful adults who will thrive, not just survive, throughout the 21st century is

being created right now in Songdo, Korea at International School Songdo. This need has

been recognized by the visionaries of ISS who are driven by zeal for setting up an educa-

tional institution that is based upon constructivist visions of educational reformers.

Hence, ISS is being built as the ideal knowledge-worker educational model by offering a

rigorous academic program based upon an exemplar American curriculum with appropri-



28

ate supplements of the most innovative curriculum materials available in the international

educational arena.

We salute the thought-provoking and penetrating study undertaken by the National Cen-

ter on Education and the Economy that points out pitfalls of decades of the US education

systems in the past. We strongly support the NCEE’s compelling recommendations for

educational reform by way of improvement in five major educational components: 1)

creativity, 2) emotional intelligence, 3) balanced curriculum, 4) worldview, and 5) tech-

nology.

In this paper I addressed key issues and concerns on each of these five components, re-

flecting and arguing for those concerns in the design of the ISS-proprietary Digital Indi-

vidualized Education Plan as the building blocks which are required to make a great in-

ternational education program; hence, ISS learners are expected to face the forefront of

provocative yet pervasive contemporary ubiquitous education designed to support access

to the highest degree of digital literacy. This equates the Just-In-Time/Speed-Of-Thought

learning model in the digital business world that has been widely acclaimed by Micro-

soft’s Bill Gates. The Digital Nervous System and its interface, Digital Dashboard, are

analogous to the Studentlife Information Management System infrastructure and its intui-

tive user interface, Learner Digital Dashboard, for accessing their continuous educational

achievements via the individualized DIEP by the ISS learners. This analogy and the

working model of the SIMS are depicted in the following image.



29

Image: SIMS & DNS working models

I am proud to point out that planners of Songdo International City prioritized the estab-

lishment of ISS as the central element in the City. Construction is underway and will be

completed by June of 2008. As shown in the timeline (see Section X), ISS will be open in

phases.

The phased opening of the ISS is scheduled to begin in late summer/early autumn 2008

with open houses for the community and informational sessions for potential learners and

their parents with an eye towards filling about 500 learners in Pre-Kindergarten through

Grade Eight initially and adding high school grades in successive years until the school

grows to its capacity of 2100 learners. ISS will be readily and quickly recognized by

soon-to-settle down communities for its strategic location to accommodate multicultural



30

standards from families representing multinational communities. The recognition will

lead to discovering a noble educational philosophy in the humanistic and constructivist

approach; excellent school governance comprised of leading international educators who

have held senior leadership roles at some of the world’s best education institutions, world

best-in-class educators on the faculty, education-aware school staff members on the

ground, and modern facilities designed to foster learning atmosphere that encompasses

convenience-driven modern construction for nonacademic areas such as the school lunch

program, transportation, athletics and activities.

As the founding school headmaster, I welcome you to peruse our world-class learning

institution where self-constructed learning that models tomorrow’s knowledge workers’

education is facilitated by leading educators with the aid of the world’s best digitalized IT

system in the community of u-culture in the great u-city called Songdo International City.

All aboard!



31

APPENDIX A – TWELVE STEP PROGRAM FOR EDUCATION @ THE SPEED-OF-THOUGHT

1. Insist that communication flow through the school community over e-mail so that

stakeholders (i.e., students, parents, learning facilitators, and leadership) can act on news

with reflex-like speed.

2. Study student achievement and interest data online to find patterns and share in-

sights easily. Understand overall student trends and allow personalized learning for indi-

vidual students.

3. Use PC’s for student performance analysis, and shift learning facilitators into high-

level thinking work about coherent curriculum, and improved projects/lessons designed

to increase student achievement.

4. Use digital tools to create cross-departmental/cross-grade level virtual teams that

can share knowledge and build on each other’s ideas in real time, worldwide. Use digital

systems to capture student academic achievement for use by the stakeholders, when

authorized.

5. Convert every paper process to a digital process, eliminating administrative bottle-

necks and freeing stakeholders for more important tasks.

6. Use digital tools to eliminate single-task jobs or change them into value-added jobs

that use the skill of a knowledge worker.

7. Create a digital feedback loop to improve the efficiency of physical processes and

improve the quality of educational delivery and student achievement assessment. Every

authorized stakeholder should be able to easily track all of the key achievement indica-

tors.



32

8. Use digital systems to route complaints immediately to the stakeholders who can

improve the educational delivery.

9. Use digital communication to redefine the vision and the boundaries around the

school community. Become larger and more substantial or smaller and more intimate as

the student population situation warrants.

10. Trade information for time. Decrease systemic lags in knowledge-of-results time by

using digital transactions with all stakeholders, and transform every lesson into Just-in-

Time delivery.

11. Use digital delivery of knowledge-of-results to eliminate the learning facilitator from

the student self-assessment of achievement. Learning facilitators use digital tools to add

value to student achievement.

12. Use digital tools to help students solve problems for themselves, and reserve more

personal contact to respond to complex, high-value student needs.



33

TABLE OF HYPERLINKS

i http://www.songdo.com/default.aspx ii http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11057 iii http://www.focusing.org/ecm_iiia1.html iv http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/john_dewey/index.html v http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences vi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory) vii http://www.songdo.com/page1601.aspx viii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_In_Time_%28business%29 ix http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/books/default.mspx x http://web.mac.com/dr.jorgenelson xi http://www.global-issues-network.org/gin/home.html xii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Assistant xiii http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html xiv http://www.ubdexchange.org/web_resources/UbD_Overview/learn_more.cfm xv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_volunteer xvi http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/ xvii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_is_Flat xviii http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822204022 xix http://www.skillscommission.org/ xx http://www.theglobalist.com/DBweb/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=18 xxi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence xxii http://www.bu.edu/wcp/MainTKno.htm xxiii http://www.theglobalist.com/DBweb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=2653 xxiv http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf xxv http://www.grunch.net/synergetics/synintro.html xxvi http://www.nais.org/resources/index.cfm?ItemNumber=147262 xxvii http://www.songdo.com/page1812.aspx xxviii http://www.songdo.com/default.aspx xxix http://www.songdo.com/default.aspx?p=1596 xxx http://eng.ifez.go.kr/main.asp xxxi http://www.incheonexpo2009.org/ xxxii http://www.iss.edu/ xxxiii http://www.ibo.org/ xxxiv http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/program/initiatives/2155.html xxxv http://www.neasc.org/caisa/caisa.htm xxxvi http://www.ecis.org/ xxxvii http://www.iss.edu/ xxxviii http://www.tieonline.com/preview1.cfm xxxix http://www.aaie.org/ xl http://www.earcos.org/ xli http://www.kpf.com/main.asp?fullscreen=no xlii http://www.csoinc.net/portfolio/prog_plan/songdo

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