HELSINKI, April 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A record number of 1.54 billion children and youth have been impacted by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, and as of 31st March, 185 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America have announced or implemented school and university closures (UNESCO, 2020). In this trying time, there is a pressing need for the education community to come together and maintain a quality education for all.
On a call on April 2nd, 2020 with 150 HundrED Ambassadors, Innovators and community members from over thirty countries representing a wide array of stakeholders and opinions in education, the organisation shared their final Spotlight selections and discussed challenges and opportunities amidst the current crisis. Some major takeaways from a survey taken on the call includes
1) 87% of the 99 respondents were very concerned (responded between 7 and 10 out of 10) that this pandemic will increase inequality in education.
2) Only 6% of the respondents thought their education system was highly prepared for the pandemic.
3) 17% of respondents believed their education leaders were learning from other countries' responses.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has created immediate and unprecedented challenges in education. Excellence and equity, cornerstones of good education systems, are being challenged in every part of the world. Our greatest concern is that differences in parental involvement and access to technology exacerbate inequality. At the same time, as in every major challenge, this is an opportunity to improve.", says Saku Tuominen, Founder & Creative Director of HundrED, a Finnish non-profit, helping improve education through impactful innovations.
Over a 7-day open call, HundrED received 102 submissions from educators worldwide offering innovative solutions to challenges raised by the novel Coronavirus. Additionally, the HundrED team spent over a month researching hundreds of examples - big & small - on how to help children learn in these extreme times.
In the span of ten days, HundrED has been able to document, package and release a collection of 30 simple, yet effective solutions that help parents, teachers and children navigate through the plethora of challenges facing education during the pandemic. The collection showcases big-scale high-quality resources from the likes of Khan Academy, TEDed & Minecraft Education, high-potential innovations like Outschool, Duolingo and Scratch, as well as community-driven bold ideas like #frommywindow and Bear Hunt to virtually connecting with the world with Link Online Learners and Love for the Elderly as well as reaching children and families in remote locations by connecting them with teachers and lessons in other ways than online. The collection includes ideas from the grassroots level to virtual professional development offerings for teachers and school leaders, system-interventions like Politicians Addressing Children and as well as public-private partnerships, for example, "Kaikille Kone" or Computers for Everyone in Finland.
HundrED has also released a website and a summary report, Quality Education For All During Coronavirus, in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), expanding on the opportunities and challenges for education during this unprecedented time. From the opportunity for teachers to form much stronger connections with parents, students (especially for students with disabilities) to challenges of untrained teachers and lack of access to digital learning resources, the report has plentiful insights and resources.
In the report's Foreword, Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills, OECD, mentions, "These innovators exist, and there are many of them. And while our school systems were sleeping, organisations like HundrED have spent years to mobilise, curate and share the world's most innovative learning environments. Their ideas are now available and ready to use in this moment of crisis. This Spotlight provides an example. It can inspire students to learn better, teachers to teach better, and school systems to embrace more innovative learning environments."
To learn more about thirty selected solutions, and read the summary report, check out
http://hundred.org/covid-19
ABOUT HUNDRED
Finnish based, not for profit, HundrED, discovers, researches and shares inspiring innovations in K12 education. Their goal is to help improve education and foster a movement through encouraging valuable, impactful & scalable innovations to spread, mindful of context, across the world. Since 2016, HundrED has been conducting rigorous research to seek and select 100 inspiring innovations of that year, annually. All of the insights and selected innovations are documented, packaged and shared with educators around the world to easily implement, with free support. For more information, please visit: http://www.hundred.org or follow on social media:
Twitter: @HundrEDorg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HundrEDorg/
ABOUT OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. Our goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all. We draw on almost 60 years of experience and insights to better prepare the world of tomorrow. For more information please visit https://www.oecd.org/ or follow on social media:
Twitter: @OECD
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theOECD/
SOURCE HundrED
Share this article