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by TeachThought Staff

This is an excerpt from a report, produced by The Open University in collaboration with SRI International, that proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. You can read the full report, with in-depth explanations and examples of each learning strategy in action, here.
10 Innovative Learning Strategies For Modern Pedagogy 1. Crossover Learning
Learning in informal settings, such as museums and after-school clubs, can link educational content with issues that matter to learners in their lives. These connections work in both directions. Learning in schools and colleges can be enriched by experiences from everyday life; informal learning can be deepened by adding questions and knowledge from the classroom. These connected experiences spark further interest and motivation to learn.

An effective method is for a teacher to propose and discuss a question in the classroom, then for learners to explore that question on a museum visit or field trip, collecting photos or notes as evidence, then share their findings back in the class to produce individual or group answers.

These crossover learning experiences exploit the strengths of both environments and provide learners with authentic and engaging opportunities for learning. Since learning occurs over a lifetime, drawing on experiences across multiple settings, the wider opportunity is to support learners in recording, linking, recalling and sharing their diverse learning events.
2. Learning Through Argumentation
Students can advance their understanding of science and mathematics by arguing in ways similar to professional scientists and mathematicians. Argumentation helps students attend to contrasting ideas, which can deepen their learning. It makes technical reasoning public, for all to learn. It also allows students to refine ideas with others, so they learn how scientists think and work together to establish or refute claims.

Teachers can spark meaningful discussion in classrooms by encouraging students to ask open-ended questions, re-state remarks in more scientific language, and develop and use models to construct explanations. When students argue in scientific ways, they learn how to take turns, listen actively, and respond constructively to others. Professional development can help teachers to learn these strategies and overcome challenges, such as how to share their intellectual expertise with students appropriately.
3. Incidental Learning
Incidental learning is unplanned or unintentional learning. It may occur while carrying out an activity that is seemingly unrelated to what is learned. Early research on this topic dealt with how people learn in their daily routines at their workplaces.

For many people, mobile devices have been integrated into their daily lives, providing many opportunities for technology-supported incidental learning. Unlike formal education, incidental learning is not led by a teacher, nor does it follow a structured curriculum, or result in formal certification.

However, it may trigger self-reflection, and this could be used to encourage learners to reconceive what could otherwise be isolated learning fragments as part of more coherent and longer-term learning journeys.
4. Context-Based Learning
Context enables us to learn from experience. By interpreting new information in the context of where and when it occurs and relating it to what we already know, we come to understand its relevance and meaning. In a classroom or lecture theater, the context is typically confined to a fixed space and limited time. Beyond the classroom, learning can come from an enriched context such as visiting a heritage site or museum, or being immersed in a good book.

We have opportunities to create context, by interacting with our surroundings, holding conversations, making notes, and modifying nearby objects. We can also come to understand context by exploring the world around us, supported by guides and measuring instruments. It follows that to design effective sites for learning, at schools, museums and websites, requires a deep understanding of how context shapes and is shaped by the process of learning.
5. Computational Thinking
Computational thinking is a powerful approach to thinking and problem solving. It involves breaking large problems down into smaller ones (decomposition), recognizing how these relate to problems that have been solved in the past (pattern recognition), setting aside unimportant details (abstraction), identifying and developing the steps that will be necessary to reach a solution (algorithms) and refining these steps (debugging).

Such computational thinking skills can be valuable in many aspects of life, ranging from writing a recipe to share a favorite dish with friends, through planning a holiday or expedition, to deploying a scientific team to tackle a difficult challenge like an outbreak of disease.

The aim is to teach children to structure problems so they can be solved. Computational thinking can be taught as part of mathematics, science and art or in other settings. The aim is not just to encourage children to be computer coders, but also to master an art of thinking that will enable them to tackle complex challenges in all aspects of their lives.

6. Learning By Doing Science (with remote labs)

Engaging with authentic scientific tools and practices such as controlling remote laboratory experiments or telescopes can build science inquiry skills, improve conceptual understanding, and increase motivation. Remote access to specialized equipment, first developed for scientists and university students, is now expanding to trainee teachers and school students. A remote lab typically consists of apparatus or equipment, robotic arms to operate it, and cameras that provide views of the experiments as they unfold.

Remote lab systems can reduce barriers to participation by providing user-friendly Web interfaces, curriculum materials, and professional development for teachers.

With appropriate support, access to remote labs can deepen understanding for teachers and students by offering hands-on investigations and opportunities for direct-observation that complement textbook learning. Access to remote labs can also bring such experiences into the school classroom. For example, students can use a high-quality, distant telescope to make observations of the night sky during daytime school science classes.
7. Embodied Learning
Embodied learning involves self-awareness of the body interacting with a real or simulated world to support the learning process. When learning a new sport, physical movement is an obvious part of the learning process. In embodied learning, the aim is that mind and body work together so that physical feedback and actions reinforce the learning process.

Technology to aid this includes wearable sensors that gather personal physical and biological data, visual systems that track movement, and mobile devices that respond to actions such as tilting and motion. This approach can be applied to the exploration of aspects of physical sciences such as friction, acceleration, and force, or to investigate simulated situations such as the structure of molecules.

For more general learning, the process of physical action provides a way to engage learners in feeling as they learn. Being more aware of how one's body interacts with the world can also support the development of a mindful approach to learning and well-being.
8. Adaptive Teaching
All learners are different. However, most educational presentations and materials are the same for all. This creates a learning problem, by putting a burden on the teacher and learner to figure out how to engage with the content. It means that some learners will be bored, others will be lost, and very few are likely to discover paths through the content that result in optimal learning while overworking teachers. Adaptive teaching offers a solution to this problem if the teacher is supported. It uses data about a learner's previous and current learning to create a personalized path through educational content.

Adaptive teaching systems recommend the best places to start new content and when to review old content. They also provide various tools for monitoring one's progress. They build on longstanding learning practices, such as textbook reading, and add a layer of computer-guided support.

Data such as time spent reading and self-assessment scores can form a basis for guiding each learner through educational materials. Adaptive teaching can either be applied to classroom activities or in online environments where learners control their own pace of study.
9. Analytics Of Emotions
Automated methods of eye tracking and facial recognition can analyze how students learn, then respond differently to their emotional and cognitive states. Typical cognitive aspects of learning include whether students have answered a question and how they explain their knowledge. Non-cognitive aspects include whether a student is frustrated, confused, or distracted.

More generally, students have mindsets (such as seeing their brain as fixed or malleable), strategies (such as reflecting on learning, seeking help and planning how to learn), and qualities of engagement (such as tenacity) which deeply affect how they learn.

For classroom teaching, a promising approach is to combine computer-based systems for cognitive tutoring with the expertise of human teachers in responding to students' emotions and dispositions, so that teaching can become more responsive to the whole child and learner.
10. Stealth Assessment
The automatic data collection that goes on in the background when students work with rich digital environments can be applied to unobtrusive, 'stealth', assessment of their learning processes.

Stealth assessment borrows techniques from online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft, in which the system continually collects data about players' actions, making inferences about their goals and strategies in order to present appropriate new challenges. This idea of embedding assessment into a simulated learning environment is now being extended to schools, in topics such as science and history, as well as to adult education.

The claim is that stealth assessment can test hard-to-measure aspects of learning such as perseverance, creativity, and strategic thinking. It can also collect information about students' learning states and processes without asking them to stop and take an examination. In principle, stealth assessment techniques could provide teachers with continual data on how each learner is progressing.

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10 Innovative Learning Strategies For Modern Pedagogy

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by TeachThought Staff This is an excerpt from a report, produced by The Open University in collaboration with SRI International, that proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. You can read the full report, with in-depth explanations and examples of each learning strategy in action, here.

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Integration of migrant and refugee children

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Integration of migrant and refugee children

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Integrating refugee children and youth a scoping review

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Strategic Intelligence | World Economic Forum

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Strategic insights and contextual intelligence from the World Economic Forum. Explore and monitor the issues and forces driving transformational change across economies, industries and systems.

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The future of work is going to look very different, as automation and Artificial Intelligence make many manual, repetitive jobs obsolete.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, robots could replace 800 million jobs by 2030, while the World Economic Forum suggests a "skills revolution" could open up a raft of new opportunities.

"If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now, we're going to be in trouble," said Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, China's e-commerce giant.

The knowledge-based approach of "200 years ago", would "fail our kids", who would never be able to compete with machines. Children should be taught "soft skills" like independent thinking, values and team-work, he said.

"Anything that is routine or repetitive will be automated," said Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of Economics, in a session on Saving Economic Globalization from Itself. She also spoke of the importance of "the soft skills, creative skills. Research skills, the ability to find information, synthesise it, make something of it."

Overhauling our education system will be essential to fixing the fractures in our societies and avoiding a tilt towards populism, she said.

"It's no accident that the people who voted for populist parties around the world are people with by-and-large low levels of education. It's not because they're stupid, it's because they're smart. They've figured out this system will not be in their favour."

If you've read about the rising importance of STEM skills - that's Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics - ad infinitum, here's a refreshing view from Fabiola Gianotti, a particle physicist and the Director General of CERN. She's the woman in charge of the Large Hadron Collider as well as other Big Science projects, but she says music is as important as maths.

"We need to break the cultural silos. Too often people put science and the humanities, or science and the arts, in different silos. They are the highest expression of the curiosity and creativity of humanity," she said in a session on education.

"For me, I was a very curious child, I wanted to answer the big questions of how the universe works. My humanities and my music studies have contributed to what I am today as a scientist as much as my physics studies."

Science studies got a nod from Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who spoke of the importance of education in equipping his country for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

"I don't do a lot of coding as Prime Minister, but understanding how algorithms work, understanding the science is so important," he said.

Stepping back, education has a much bigger role to play than equipping people for the jobs of the future.

"Education is what breaks down cycles of poverty and oppression," said Sinead Burke, an Irish small person and activist who was speaking at a session on Fostering Inclusivity.

If there's anyone who embodies this idea, it's Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and founder of the Malala Fund.

"I'm giving up my days of school because I want to highlight that the education of girls and women is so important." She described meeting a Syrian refugee girl, and asking her what she wanted to be.

"She said, I want to be an architect, because on the day that she left Syria, she saw her country destroyed and devastated. She wants to be an architect to rebuild her country."

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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The future of education, according to experts at Davos

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The future of work is going to look very different, as automation and Artificial Intelligence make many manual, repetitive jobs obsolete. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, robots could replace 800 million jobs by 2030, while the World Economic Forum suggests a "skills revolution" could open up a raft of new opportunities.

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IN 1930, when the world was "suffering...from a bad attack of economic pessimism", John Maynard Keynes wrote a broadly optimistic essay, "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren". It imagined a middle way between revolution and stagnation that would leave the said grandchildren a great deal richer than their grandparents. But the path was not without dangers.

One of the worries Keynes admitted was a "new disease": "technological unemployment...due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour." His readers might not have heard of the problem, he suggested-but they were certain to hear a lot more about it in the years to come.

For the most part, they did not. Nowadays, the majority of economists confidently wave such worries away. By raising productivity, they argue, any automation which economises on the use of labour will increase incomes. That will generate demand for new products and services, which will in turn create new jobs for displaced workers. To think otherwise has meant being tarred a Luddite-the name taken by 19th-century textile workers who smashed the machines taking their jobs.

For much of the 20th century, those arguing that technology brought ever more jobs and prosperity looked to have the better of the debate. Real incomes in Britain scarcely doubled between the beginning of the common era and 1570. They then tripled from 1570 to 1875. And they more than tripled from 1875 to 1975. Industrialisation did not end up eliminating the need for human workers. On the contrary, it created employment opportunities sufficient to soak up the 20th century's exploding population. Keynes's vision of everyone in the 2030s being a lot richer is largely achieved. His belief they would work just 15 hours or so a week has not come to pass.

When the sleeper wakes

Yet some now fear that a new era of automation enabled by ever more powerful and capable computers could work out differently. They start from the observation that, across the rich world, all is far from well in the world of work. The essence of what they see as a work crisis is that in rich countries the wages of the typical worker, adjusted for cost of living, are stagnant. In America the real wage has hardly budged over the past four decades. Even in places like Britain and Germany, where employment is touching new highs, wages have been flat for a decade. Recent research suggests that this is because substituting capital for labour through automation is increasingly attractive; as a result owners of capital have captured ever more of the world's income since the 1980s, while the share going to labour has fallen.

At the same time, even in relatively egalitarian places like Sweden, inequality among the employed has risen sharply, with the share going to the highest earners soaring. For those not in the elite, argues David Graeber, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, much of modern labour consists of stultifying "bullshit jobs"-low- and mid-level screen-sitting that serves simply to occupy workers for whom the economy no longer has much use. Keeping them employed, Mr Graeber argues, is not an economic choice; it is something the ruling class does to keep control over the lives of others.

Be that as it may, drudgery may soon enough give way to frank unemployment. There is already a long-term trend towards lower levels of employment in some rich countries. The proportion of American adults participating in the labour force recently hit its lowest level since 1978, and although some of that is due to the effects of ageing, some is not. In a recent speech that was modelled in part on Keynes's "Possibilities", Larry Summers, a former American treasury secretary, looked at employment trends among American men between 25 and 54. In the 1960s only one in 20 of those men was not working. According to Mr Summers's extrapolations, in ten years the number could be one in seven.

This is one indication, Mr Summers says, that technical change is increasingly taking the form of "capital that effectively substitutes for labour". There may be a lot more for such capital to do in the near future. A 2013 paper by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne, of the University of Oxford, argued that jobs are at high risk of being automated in 47% of the occupational categories into which work is customarily sorted. That includes accountancy, legal work, technical writing and a lot of other white-collar occupations.

Answering the question of whether such automation could lead to prolonged pain for workers means taking a close look at past experience, theory and technological trends. The picture suggested by this evidence is a complex one. It is also more worrying than many economists and politicians have been prepared to admit.

The lathe of heaven

Economists take the relationship between innovation and higher living standards for granted in part because they believe history justifies such a view. Industrialisation clearly led to enormous rises in incomes and living standards over the long run. Yet the road to riches was rockier than is often appreciated.

In 1500 an estimated 75% of the British labour force toiled in agriculture. By 1800 that figure had fallen to 35%. When the shift to manufacturing got under way during the 18th century it was overwhelmingly done at small scale, either within the home or in a small workshop; employment in a large factory was a rarity. By the end of the 19th century huge plants in massive industrial cities were the norm. The great shift was made possible by automation and steam engines.

Industrial firms combined human labour with big, expensive capital equipment. To maximise the output of that costly machinery, factory owners reorganised the processes of production. Workers were given one or a few repetitive tasks, often making components of finished products rather than whole pieces. Bosses imposed a tight schedule and strict worker discipline to keep up the productive pace. The Industrial Revolution was not simply a matter of replacing muscle with steam; it was a matter of reshaping jobs themselves into the sort of precisely defined components that steam-driven machinery needed-cogs in a factory system.

The way old jobs were done changed; new jobs were created. Joel Mokyr, an economic historian at Northwestern University in Illinois, argues that the more intricate machines, techniques and supply chains of the period all required careful tending. The workers who provided that care were well rewarded. As research by Lawrence Katz, of Harvard University, and Robert Margo, of Boston University, shows, employment in manufacturing "hollowed out". As employment grew for highly skilled workers and unskilled workers, craft workers lost out. This was the loss to which the Luddites, understandably if not effectively, took exception.

Take computers. In the early 20th century a "computer" was a worker, or a room of workers, doing mathematical calculations by hand, often with the end point of one person's work the starting point for the next. The development of mechanical and electronic computing rendered these arrangements obsolete. But in time it greatly increased the productivity of those who used the new computers in their work.

Many other technical innovations had similar effects. New machinery displaced handicraft producers across numerous industries, from textiles to metalworking. At the same time it enabled vastly more output per person than craft producers could ever manage.

Player piano

For a task to be replaced by a machine, it helps a great deal if, like the work of human computers, it is already highly routine. Hence the demise of production-line jobs and some sorts of book-keeping, lost to the robot and the spreadsheet. Meanwhile work less easily broken down into a series of stereotyped tasks-whether rewarding, as the management of other workers and the teaching of toddlers can be, or more of a grind, like tidying and cleaning messy work places-has grown as a share of total employment.

But the "race" aspect of technological change means that such workers cannot rest on their pay packets. Firms are constantly experimenting with new technologies and production processes. Experimentation with different techniques and business models requires flexibility, which is one critical advantage of a human worker. Yet over time, as best practices are worked out and then codified, it becomes easier to break production down into routine components, then automate those components as technology allows.

If, that is, automation makes sense. As David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), points out in a 2013 paper, the mere fact that a job can be automated does not mean that it will be; relative costs also matter. When Nissan produces cars in Japan, he notes, it relies heavily on robots. At plants in India, by contrast, the firm relies more heavily on cheap local labour.

Even when machine capabilities are rapidly improving, it can make sense instead to seek out ever cheaper supplies of increasingly skilled labour. Thus since the 1980s (a time when, in America, the trend towards post-secondary education levelled off) workers there and elsewhere have found themselves facing increased competition from both machines and cheap emerging-market workers.

Brave new world

Even after computers beat grandmasters at chess (once thought highly unlikely), nobody thought they could take on people at free-form games played in natural language. Then Watson, a pattern-recognising supercomputer developed by IBM, bested the best human competitors in America's popular and syntactically tricksy general-knowledge quiz show "Jeopardy!" Versions of Watson are being marketed to firms across a range of industries to help with all sorts of pattern-recognition problems. Its acumen will grow, and its costs fall, as firms learn to harness its abilities.

The machines are not just cleverer, they also have access to far more data. The combination of big data and smart machines will take over some occupations wholesale; in others it will allow firms to do more with fewer workers. Text-mining programs will displace professional jobs in legal services. Biopsies will be analysed more efficiently by image-processing software than lab technicians. Accountants may follow travel agents and tellers into the unemployment line as tax software improves. Machines are already turning basic sports results and financial data into good-enough news stories.

Jobs that are not easily automated may still be transformed. New data-processing technology could break "cognitive" jobs down into smaller and smaller tasks. As well as opening the way to eventual automation this could reduce the satisfaction from such work, just as the satisfaction of making things was reduced by deskilling and interchangeable parts in the 19th century. If such jobs persist, they may engage Mr Graeber's "bullshit" detector.

Being newly able to do brain work will not stop computers from doing ever more formerly manual labour; it will make them better at it. The designers of the latest generation of industrial robots talk about their creations as helping workers rather than replacing them; but there is little doubt that the technology will be able to do a bit of both-probably more than a bit. A taxi driver will be a rarity in many places by the 2030s or 2040s. That sounds like bad news for journalists who rely on that most reliable source of local knowledge and prejudice-but will there be many journalists left to care? Will there be airline pilots? Or traffic cops? Or soldiers?

So technological progress squeezes some incomes in the short term before making everyone richer in the long term, and can drive up the costs of some things even more than it eventually increases earnings. As innovation continues, automation may bring down costs in some of those stubborn areas as well, though those dominated by scarcity-such as houses in desirable places-are likely to resist the trend, as may those where the state keeps market forces at bay. But if innovation does make health care or higher education cheaper, it will probably be at the cost of more jobs, and give rise to yet more concentration of income.

The machine stops

Even if the long-term outlook is rosy, with the potential for greater wealth and lots of new jobs, it does not mean that policymakers should simply sit on their hands in the mean time. Adaptation to past waves of progress rested on political and policy responses. The most obvious are the massive improvements in educational attainment brought on first by the institution of universal secondary education and then by the rise of university attendance. Policies aimed at similar gains would now seem to be in order. But as Mr Cowen has pointed out, the gains of the 19th and 20th centuries will be hard to duplicate.

Boosting the skills and earning power of the children of 19th-century farmers and labourers took little more than offering schools where they could learn to read, write and do algebra. Pushing a large proportion of college graduates to complete graduate work successfully will be harder and more expensive. Perhaps cheap and innovative online education will indeed make new attainment possible. But as Mr Cowen notes, such programmes may tend to deliver big gains only for the most conscientious students.

Another way in which previous adaptation is not necessarily a good guide to future employment is the existence of welfare. The alternative to joining the 19th-century industrial proletariat was malnourished deprivation. Today, because of measures introduced in response to, and to some extent on the proceeds of, industrialisation, people in the developed world are provided with unemployment benefits, disability allowances and other forms of welfare. They are also much more likely than a bygone peasant to have savings. This means that the "reservation wage"-the wage below which a worker will not accept a job-is now high in historical terms. If governments refuse to allow jobless workers to fall too far below the average standard of living, then this reservation wage will rise steadily, and ever more workers may find work unattractive. And the higher it rises, the greater the incentive to invest in capital that replaces labour.

Everyone should be able to benefit from productivity gains-in that, Keynes was united with his successors. His worry about technological unemployment was mainly a worry about a "temporary phase of maladjustment" as society and the economy adjusted to ever greater levels of productivity. So it could well prove. However, society may find itself sorely tested if, as seems possible, growth and innovation deliver handsome gains to the skilled, while the rest cling to dwindling employment opportunities at stagnant wages.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "The onrushing wave"

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IN 1930, when the world was "suffering...from a bad attack of economic pessimism", John Maynard Keynes wrote a broadly optimistic essay, "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren". It imagined a middle way between revolution and stagnation that would leave the said grandchildren a great deal richer than their grandparents.

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Skills children need for the 21st century

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Skills children need for the 21st century

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Skills Every Child Will Need to Succeed in 21st century | Dr. Laura A. Jana | TEDxChandigarh

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6 problems with the current education system 

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6 problems with the current education system 

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6 Problems with our School System - YouTube (360p)

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About a year ago COVID-19 caused a huge disruption in the field of education and training. Educational institutes and teachers were forced to provide online education and training in a short time. This was quite a shock, even for organisations and teachers who were used to applying different forms of blended learning. What are the important lessons that we have learned from this kind of education?

In my opinion there are seven main lessons.

Digital divide is a persistent social-economic gap

In the Netherlands, internet is ubiquitous. Furthermore, nearly every household has its own computer. If you have to use a computer sometimes, it is enough to own one device. During the corona crisis we have realised that this is not enough if complete families need to work and learn from home all day. Not all learners have the same facilities for online learning at home, like several devices and high-quality internet connections. This depends mainly on the family's income. Therefore, local governments and schools often provided laptops to families who did not have sufficient facilities for home learning.

Online learning needs different ways of scheduling

Several schools did not adjust the schedules, when teachers had to switch from face-to-face to online. Instead of face-to-face lessons of 50 or 60 minutes, students had to attend live online lessons for the same duration. However, in general, live online lessons in Zoom or Teams of 50 minutes can be exhausting. We cannot schedule lessons in the same way as we normally do. Teachers and students need more space in the daily program. It is not healthy if we get stuck behind our computers all day, and are not moving around much.

Application overload can be a problem

Especially in the beginning of the pandemic, several teachers were looking for applications to facilitate online learning. Not all educational institutes have appropriate learning technologies and policy in selecting learning technologies. Teachers did not always discuss the use of applications among themselves. As a result, students could be confronted with an excess of applications. This may lead to cognitive overload, since students have to learn how to use all the functionalities.

Synchronous online learning is widely used

Since March 2020, applications for synchronous online learning, like Zoom, are used massively. However, the question is if teachers use the affordances of these applications adequately. These applications can be used for interaction, collaboration and immediate feedback. Instead, applications for synchronous online learning are mainly used to provide information.

Improve 'Emergency remote teaching'

When teachers were forced to provide online education, there was no time and not always support to develop different learning designs. The one-to-one translation of classroom teaching to online education is called "emergency remote teaching". Therefore, from a pedagogical point of view, there is a lot of room for improvement. In addition, when students were able to attend school in small groups, 'simultaneous teaching' was also introduced. In this concept half of the students attend lessons face-to-face, while the other half attends the lessons online. Simultaneous teaching is a complex approach that demands a lot from the organisation (e.g. large screens to view online students), pedagogy and engagement. There is a risk of treating students unequally, since online students experience a larger psychological and communicative distance than students who attend lessons face-to-face.

My advice: use learning technology to apply and enhance building blocks for effective teaching and learning. I wrote twelve blogposts in which I describe how to use learning technology to foster these building blocks.

Foster social connectedness

During online education in corona times, we have learned how important and complex it is to promote social connections online. Nevertheless, the more we learn online, the more essential it is to invest in online activities that promote relatedness and a sense of belonging. This can be done by using assignments that require collaboration, by creating opportunities for non-task related interactions (e.g. online tea time) or by using brief online videos in which teachers stimulate students to learn.

Stimulate self-regulation

Online learning requires an appeal to the self-regulating capacity of learners. During the pandemic we have realised that not all learners are able to regulate their own learning very well. Therefore, we have to invest in the development of this metacognitive skill. Students need to learn how to plan, how to manage their time, how to set goals and how to avoid distraction. Self-regulating should be part of every curriculum (implicit or explicit).

Author
Wilfred Rubens

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Seven lessons learnt from teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

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About a year ago COVID-19 caused a huge disruption in the field of education and training. Educational institutes and teachers were forced to provide online education and training in a short time. This was quite a shock, even for organisations and teachers who were used to applying different forms of blended learning.

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Snapshot of Good Practices for Integration of Migrant Children 

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Our migrants and refugees are Generation Alpha

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Our migrants and refugees are Generation Alpha

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Wellbeing in schools is getting a lot of attention right now. To be fair, the last two decades have seen a steady rise in chatter, research and application of wellbeing strategies in learning environments, but mainly as an added component- an additional thing to consider when designing learning plans and support structures.

What if wellbeing for children was the priority? Not a priority but the priority. Not just as a temporary response to the COVID19 pandemic, but enshrined in the culture, values and strategy of the learning environment?

Wellbeing for children is now well and truly on the map, but shackled most often to strategies of recovery from the isolation and upheaval of 2020-1. The UK government, for example, has about prioritising wellbeing for children in education for "up to 3 years", but doesn't say how exactly, and there is only vague talk of what comes afterwards.

Time to get specific. It is a shame that it took a global pandemic to put wellbeing for children at the top of the agenda in so many countries, when we have known definitively for so long what our learners need from us to help them flourish.

It is also lamentable that action on this is more reaction than response, but there is clearly an opportunity for more enduring change. Why calling for wellbeing as the number one foundational priority in any learning environment should be considered in any way avant garde is beyond our understanding.

A broader understanding of wellbeing for children

Wellbeing for children is not just "feeling happy", though happiness or satisfaction with your life is important. Happiness helps us learn better. Feeling happy in childhood and adolescence is the biggest predictor of satisfaction with our adult lives, and happiness fuels success more than anything else.

Wellbeing for children also means how in control you feel of your own emotions, responses, and reactions. Learning to accept, vocalise and reflect on our emotions -so called emotional competence - will help our learners with the lifelong skill of self acceptance and self regulation. When the next global challenge rolls around the corner, learners who can express their feelings and work through them are more likely to be resilient and adaptable in difficult times.

An aspect of wellbeing for children that is often sidelined in discussion, is the sense of purpose. If you know Learnlife, you will know that supporting our learners to find their is at the core of our own purpose. While there's plenty of on how a clear sense of purpose in life promotes more positive health and wellbeing, it really is quite logical.

If you feel connected to something bigger than yourself, you feel less anxiety about what is going on around you. Life takes on more meaning, and there is more of a sense of control over where you are headed, rather than feeling that life is something that happens to you.

If we can agree that prioritising wellbeing for children will give them a better chance to become happier, healthier, more successful, less anxious and more resilient, why would we even be discussing where this sits on the to-do list?

Wellbeing for children and the window of opportunity

We're not finished there. Wellbeing for children is so critical to get right because of how we function and interpret the world as children and young adults. A little stress here and there is a , but toxic stress , when we simply do not have the tools to cope with or understand it, can affect us for the rest of our lives. As Harvard researchers put it " Toxic stress weakens the architecture of the developing brain, which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health ".

As this very plainly written research paper discusses, the world for today's teenagers is more complex than it was for their parents. The strong need for belonging and acceptance is fragmented by the type of interactions around social media that we see on a daily basis. The same paper reminds us that teenagers, while not children as such, still have more difficulty in regulating or understanding their own emotional responses than adults do.

Embedding wellbeing for children in the learning culture

Talking about mental and emotional health should be normalised. The responsibility of wellbeing for children goes beyond parents and learning environments, and needs to be a priority at community level. But good emotional wellbeing comes from recognising what we can and cannot control and starting with what is possible now.

Social change takes time, but within our learning environments we must do everything in our gift to support our learners to better understand what wellbeing is and how we can work towards improving it for ourselves and others around us. That does not mean a "session" on wellbeing here and there, but embedding it as a holistic approach.

A supportive environment where learners feel able to share, and know how and where to seek help. A modelled approach where the learning team embody positive practice in their own lives, and share vulnerabilities and insight with colleagues and learners alike. Opportunities to reflect, and to learn how to nourish oneself- heart, body & mind. Make unequivocal statements about the commitment to wellbeing for children, and bring in the parents and wider community to the discussion and activity around this wherever possible. Foster and create space for the development of strong and positive relationships among learners; belonging and mutual support through collaboration and empathetic communication, not competition and exclusion.

There is so much to say and do, and we can't (and shouldn't) try to fit this all in here. We will return to this topic and explore it further, but we wanted to stop for a moment and say this clearly: wellbeing for children is everybody's business. It should be the fundamental priority of any learning environment; permanently, holistically and unequivocally.

Join the global Alliance that aims to improve the well-being of learners and their ability to thrive in the learning process at https://alliance.learnlife.com/.

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Wellbeing for children is not a priority, but THE priority.

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Wellbeing in schools is getting a lot of attention right now. To be fair, the last two decades have seen a steady rise in chatter, research and application of wellbeing strategies in learning environments, but mainly as an added component- an additional thing to consider when designing learning plans and support structures.

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It's hardly news to anyone that many successful entrepreneurs "dropped out" of formal education. Their stories keep the clicks coming, and high-profile figures from to Mark Zuckerberg consistently personify the famous Mark Twain quote "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".

It must be said that for every Richard Branson, there are 10,000 whose business never made it out of the basement, and 100,000 who never learned to believe in themselves at all. Why have schools let down so many of us? Why do we allow this idea of "success" in such narrow terms to obscure what value creation actually is? Why is the term entrepreneurial too often tied explicitly with pure commercialism, and left out of learning environments until the Business Schools step in?

Entrepreneurship can teach mainstream education a whole lot

Mainstream education has been very much missing the point. Entrepreneurial thinking is within projects, companies, in communities, in charities and public bodies. It may be called intrapreneurship or social entrepreneurship or whatever the next thing might be, but the core skills set and mindset remain essentially the same. If entrepreneurial thinking was to be explored and embedded well before university level, how might things change?

Readers may very well be nodding heads at the idea that the skills which got them where they are today, were not developed at school, or at least, not in the classroom. The "F" on that assignment did not mean fail forward or find another way. Learning in lockstep with others, regardless of the rich diversity in every learning environment, was not the way to find your pace, passion and purpose.

The risks were externally motivated, as were the successes; pass or fail determining your next spin of the wheel. Contact with the "real world" was simulated, feedback was about effort and never direction, and always handed down to you, rather than elicited from you. You learned to write 1000 words minimum in the world of the elevator pitch and the 1900 character InMail.

Embracing uncertainty, iteration, collaboration, cognitive flexibility, creativity, self-reflection, and failing forward- these are all things that the changemakers in education are now starting to promote as essential skills and abilities. Entrepreneurship in its broadest sense has been associated with these things for well over 30 years.
We need more than a Minimum Viable Product
So here's our pitch. Any learning environment that does not foster and support those things is not preparing us for a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous future. To the entrepreneurs and innovators out there, perhaps education didn't listen to you when it should have, but it is finally learning the lesson. We need to build momentum.

You see, times are changing; when the lines between educator and entrepreneur are blurring, and new learning paradigms are beginning to emerge. Spiralling outward from their points of inception, the lights of progress are flickering into existence across the map. Education is not a gadget or a linear process, so it does not scale; It spreads, ignites, evolves.

Whether working 9 to 5 or building a startup, the shockwaves of 2020 showed us that our environment can change very quickly, and the ground beneath is anything but stable. In a world of gig economies, liquid working, climate change, horizontal structures, global fluidity and fast-evolving technology, who do we want our children to be?

Asking the right question

The question, perhaps should be: who do our children want to be? At Learnlife, our learning paradigm seeks to help learners answer that fundamental question, and to support them in building the skills they will need to show up in their world on their terms. No subjects, no abstract test, no standardisation. Iteration, exploration , passion, collaboration, 360-degree feedback and learner-directed pathways that empower the next generation.

We do not need the OECD to that connecting education and entrepreneurial thinking is "extremely promising", because that has been clear to some of us for a generation; especially those of us the system failed to embrace. So many of us only began to learn when we left our schooling behind.

The walls of our learning environment are , with the free flow of learning shared among our programmes and the living, breathing ecosystem of the city and around us. Real life does not begin after "school". Learning is no longer siloed, and the door is open.

To the entrepreneurs, creatives, idealists, leaders and believers, we need you. For your children, who deserve to play, discover and value themselves for who they are, there is a place for them at Learnlife. For your passion, your support, your ideas and your insight, there is an open welcome for you in our movement.

We cannot do this alone. To positively change the model of education, and transform it from one designed for the industrial revolution into one that values the individual, we need to be bold and we need our brightest lights on board. Future generations should not have to take that uncertain road to find their way, or to slip between the headlines in telling themselves that they failed. We cannot change our own experiences of education, but we can change theirs. Will you ?

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Education has broken down. Let's start it up together

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It's hardly news to anyone that many successful entrepreneurs "dropped out" of formal education. Their stories keep the clicks coming, and high-profile figures from to Mark Zuckerberg consistently personify the famous Mark Twain quote "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".

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When we train as "teachers", we often emerge as products of that system. Though the learning methodologies we explore are certainly changing for the better, we often still emerge with antiquated thoughts of "classroom management" and "covering content" as we brandish our certificates of completion. It is at this point, however, where the journey to unlearn is just beginning. Leslie Owen Wilson puts it like this:
I came to grow, Unknowingly To shed my false, new scholar's skin And metamorphose Into to something new And strange -Something far beyond the shadows of my old instructive self. I came to teach but was changed in other ways, And now remember that life is still a two way street. These were lessons I needed to commit to memory, again. Perhaps it is enough to say, I came to teach but learned instead.
To those who emerged into institutions where they were told their ideas were "too much work", "too impractical", not "pedagogical", or "too idealistic", we get you. "You'll soon learn" we were told, and we did, though it was a different lesson.

To those who held fast against cynicism and chose to listen instead of talk, reflect instead of project, we salute you. You are the vanguard, and the role must now change in your wake. Here is why.

An educator used to stand in front of a class, instructing. Learners had to listen, behave, memorise, regurgitate. Though some fared better than others, it taught us to be compliant, that we had no voice or choice in what and how we learned, and that our career was better funnelled and recommended than discovered.

The in front of us needs adaptive, diverse learners who can think for themselves. The why of the educator now must be in supporting and guiding learners to be the best versions of themselves, by embracing that same fluidity and diversity in the learning environment. The role of educators is no longer there to stand in front, for that can only create followers in a world that craves leadership.

Do you remember not being able to sleep because you couldn't remember the name of the capital of Madagascar? If it wasn't in your encyclopedia and your parents were sleeping, you were done for. Generations that grew up depending on educators as gatekeepers to knowledge may find it difficult to relinquish that role, but it is already long gone.

Information can be accessed at the touch of a button, and so any educator trying to simply transfer or convey information is pointless. The age of access to information means that the role has shifted now to one of information literacy and cognitive skills. What does one do with all of this information? How do we know it is true? What are the applications of this knowledge?

Knowledge is not fixed. Information is not siloed in "subjects". The future is not predictable. Critical and transversal thinking are skills that must be developed around that overwhelming access to knowledge; explored by learners who can choose to apply it to building their ikigai and identities. For that to happen, the modern educator must learn to let go, and understand that leadership that empowers does not come from the front.

The world was always complex, but that was often masked through colonialist revisions of history, linear constructs of identity, the weight of stereotypes and cultural narrative in populations that were largely distant from one another. This was very convenient for those writing the rules and building the structures to maintain control, but it was always a fiction.

A new generation of learners have grown up connected. The virtual world knows none of these artificial boundaries and as populations and cultures increasingly evolve, connect, move and merge, there are questions of equity, identity, diversity and inclusion. Everyone's voice can now be heard.

The modern educator has a responsibility to listen. To learn and grow in humility as these dialogues unfold and come to the fore. The moment we shut off and say "this is too much" is the moment we fail our learners. How can we encourage the joy of learning when we ourselves remain static?

The educator beyond the gates

Part of learning to let go as an educator, is to also recognise that learning is not only within the walls and gates of the learning environment. Learning happens every single day in myriad ways, and we can support this. By exploring the growth mindset , lifelong and lifewide learning strategies, and helping learners grow in confidence and self efficacy, they leave us not as raw products to be absorbed by the linear economy, but as global citizens who embrace the journey behind and ahead, and know that the choices in front are always theirs to take.

The role of an educator is changing . Many of our Learning Guides speak of unlearning from their previous environments, and that is still largely the norm. We also see this in learners who arrive from mainstream education, and observe as they adapt to an environment which asks them to discover their why. The role is changing, and to those who seek to change with it, there is a place for you.

Be part of the global tribe of educators, thought leaders, innovators, learning leaders, and learning practitioners from around the world, uniting to activate a new learning paradigm and redefining the role of an educator.
Join the Alliance today.

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How the role of an educator must change to suit the 21st century

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When we train as "teachers", we often emerge as products of that system. Though the learning methodologies we explore are certainly changing for the better, we often still emerge with antiquated thoughts of "classroom management" and "covering content" as we brandish our certificates of completion.

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#13 Christopher Pommerening, Learnlife: A future of education without teachers, classrooms or schools - The Learnit Podcast

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With a map of global learning innovations and a Learning Hub in Barcelona, Chris aims to give educators a vision of what the future of education might look like, as well as a plug and play toolkit to

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If you have time, listen from about min 13:40

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#5, Liz Robinson: What will school leaders do with this new rebellious streak? - The Learnit Podcast

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As head of Surrey Square Primary School at 29, Liz was the youngest headteacher in England. She has continually championed values as a route to achieving positive impact, for the children but also the

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#4, Pia Pakarinen: The case of Finland: When you build an equitable system, it performs in a crisis. - The Learnit Podcast

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Today we talk to Pia Pakarinen, Deputy Mayor for Education, City of Helsinki.Finland has long been viewed as an educational success story, and appears to be the outlier during COVID-19; teachers had t

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#31, Alain Guy Tanefo, CEO, Omega Schools: A Low Cost, Pay As You Go, Private School Model - The Learnit Podcast

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Omega Schools is a network of 35 low cost, pay as you go, private schools in Ghana, serving 8,500 students. Joining as interim CEO in 2014, Alain Tanefo was brought in to turn around the business. Las

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In recent years, the American workplace has increasingly invested in remote and digital work. Not surprisingly, the ongoing pandemic has hastened this embrace. According to EisnerAmper LLP's executive survey, 70% of executives now say that "productivity either increased or stayed the same in a virtual work setting" during the pandemic. And 60% of executives plan to allow their employees to continue working remotely after Covid-19.

It's clear that everything from the American office cubicle to the conference room to the boardroom has been reimagined and repositioned for the 21st century. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the American classroom.

Despite the advances we've made in online learning over the past 20 years, many parents, school leaders and educators are still not exposed to nor understand this model. In my experience as the executive chairman at an online learning solutions company, many are unaware of the effectiveness and advantages of combining in-person and online classes, commonly called blended or hybrid learning. However, if leaders in education give schools and families the right tools and the right resources, online or blended learning - when done right - can be a solution that works.
Implement experience, not "emergency" programs.
The first step in adopting a widespread online or blended learning approach is acknowledging the difference between "emergency" online programs and experienced ones. I believe the crisis-induced online school that many students across the country have experienced thus far simply hasn't worked. But the online learning experience that's been largely implemented and widely reported on is not an accurate representation of what tried-and-true online and blended learning methodologies offer. To be clear, online schools and programs aren't created equal. Experience counts.

One important way school leaders can determine a program's effectiveness is by examining its online platform and curriculum delivery methods. Are they interactive and personalized? Do they foster engagement and quickly adapt to students' changing learning needs? Can parents and caregivers glean any insights from real-time dashboards that demonstrate whether students are keeping up with tasks? Do teachers have access to the training they need to deliver an online curriculum? If the answer to any of these questions is "no," then it might be time to look for another program.

It's worth noting that it can take many months, and even years, of preparation and professional development to implement an effective online learning program. This process simply can't be imitated or replaced with a recording of a teacher at a whiteboard.
Provide benefits for students through online programs.
However, innovation isn't enough. The industry also needs buy-in from educational leaders. The year 2020 taught us what happens when we don't have it. When schools, programs and teachers don't have the digital resources or the specialized support they need for the online or blended learning environment to work, success is harder to achieve. That's why the second step must include creating beneficial digital learning.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that online and blended learning can help level the playing field for students - particularly those from underserved and rural communities - by providing access, options, and training for the kind of opportunities that aren't available in their home districts. For example, online learning should also help advanced learners gain access to advanced courses that their school can't offer. This is especially true for rural and inner-city schools.

Leaders in education should use these technologies to give more learners the space and time to become more involved in their local communities through volunteerism and service. Incorporating online activities can also foster more active learning in the classroom and a sense of community among students and their peers. For example, some students are trying their hand at online clubs in robotics and creative writing, gaming and agriculture. At the same time, the online and blended learning approach should help prepare students for the future of work, one that's increasingly competitive and largely digital. Students and working professionals can learn new skills to pursue new opportunities in growing, in-demand fields like IT and healthcare.
Make the teacher's role the most important one.
Ensuring that teachers remain the center of the online and blended learning model is a critical part of this endeavor. A report by the Christensen Institute indicates that many approaches to online and blended instruction mimic the conventional classroom experience. Additionally, the report states that "only 16% of teachers report using online learning 'a lot' pre-pandemic."

This data proves that our country's third step to online or hybrid learning success must include investing more in teachers by providing them with more online-specific learning tools, more professional development opportunities that focus on digital resources and innovative ways to engage educate students. New modalities of learning shouldn't exclude or reduce a teacher's role in learning; in fact, they can and should increase the tools, approaches and reach of great teachers. Teachers can become the leaders of the learning process, helping a greater number of students get excited about using technology for learning and not just games and entertainment.
The future requires a new mindset for educational leaders.
This past year's reckonings - with our shared history, culture and approaches to healthcare and education - demand that we accept the possibility that many students can learn and sometimes perform better in an online learning environment. A blend of online and in-person instruction could encourage every student to learn in ways that work best for them. I believe students' abilities to thrive during this unprecedented time depend on figuring out how online and blended learning can meet their needs instead of operating from the assumption that it will never work.

Soon, online and blended school might just be called normal instead of the "new normal." As the world continues to innovate in ways we expect and don't anticipate, corporate leaders, parents and others in education must commit to doing the same.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

... Read More

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Council Post: How The Education Industry Can Use Online Programs Effectively

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In recent years, the American workplace has increasingly invested in remote and digital work. Not surprisingly, the ongoing pandemic has hastened this embrace. According to EisnerAmper LLP's executive survey, 70% of executives now say that "productivity either increased or stayed the same in a virtual work setting" during the pandemic.

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Education: from school closure to recovery

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After the historic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, most schools are back open worldwide but education is still in recovery assessing the damage done and lessons learned. The pandemic affected more than 1.5 billion students and youth with the most vulnerable learners were hit hardest.

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Effectiveness of digital learning solutions to improve educational outcomes - A review of the evidence

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Recommend you focus on Chapter 6

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Save the Children Effectiveness of digital learning solutions to improve educational outcomes - A review of the evidence

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Policy Brief - Education of migrant children.pdf

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Education solutions for migrant and displaced children and their host communities

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ICT solutions - Education of migrant children 

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ICT solutions - Education of migrant children 

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ICT solutions - Education of migrant children 

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ICT solutions - Education of migrant children 

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Intercultural crossings in a digital age ICT pathways with migrant and refugee background youth

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Challenge

How can the U.S. address the long-term care needs of its aging population?

How RAND Is Meeting the Challenge

Studying problems in the current long-term care system, such as fragmentation, high costs, and inefficiency

Assessing the physical and mental health toll of caregiving and identifying solutions

Exploring ways to integrate informal caregiving into the formal health care system

More than 12 million Americans need the help of caregivers for daily tasks, such as eating, bathing, or managing medications. By 2050, people needing such help will more than double in number, and the United States is woefully unprepared.

The U.S. caregiving system is fragmented, costly, and sometimes insufficient. Most efforts to date have been done in isolation: some focusing on family members who provide care; some on the formal caregiving workforce; and some on one population in need of care. Promising approaches to getting effective and affordable care to people in the setting they desire are being developed and tested. But most have not been well integrated into the broader health care and social systems, reducing their potential impact.

To address long-term care and caregiving issues, RAND created the Caregiving Initiative. The initiative has begun:

studying problems in the current system, such as fragmentation, high costs, and inefficiency

evaluating solutions for effectiveness, cost, and feasibility

developing simulation models to project future care needs and evaluate the effects of interventions and policy solutions

testing solutions using a network of senior centers, nursing homes, and local communities

Learn More About the RAND Caregiving Initiative

Trending Caregiving Research and Events

Our Experts in the News RAND's Caregiving Research in the News

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How can the U.S. address the long-term care needs of its aging population? Studying problems in the current long-term care system, such as fragmentation, high costs, and inefficiency Assessing the physical and mental health toll of caregiving and identifying solutions Exploring ways to integrate informal caregiving into the formal health care system More than 12 million Americans need the help of caregivers for daily tasks, such as eating, bathing, or managing medications.

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ICT solutions - Education of migrant children 

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ICT solutions - Education of migrant children 

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Amid a growing global forced displacement crisis, refugees and the organizations that assist them have turned to technology as an important resource in solving problems in humanitarian settings. This report analyzes technology uses, needs, and gaps, as well as opportunities for better using technology to help displaced people and improving the operations of responding agencies.

Research Questions

1. What are the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in engaging with technology in refugee settings?

2. How is technology currently used in humanitarian settings by both refugees and aid agencies, and what are the needs, gaps and opportunities for using technology to solve problems in such settings?

3. How do refugees perceive technology as tools for meeting their needs during displacement?

4. How is technology developed in humanitarian contexts, and how can such development be improved?

5. What are the ethical, security, and privacy considerations for using technology in these settings?

6. How can technology be more strategically used and developed in humanitarian settings?

In the past two decades, the global population of forcibly displaced people has more than doubled, from 34 million in 1997 to 71 million in 2018. Amid this growing crisis, refugees and the organizations that assist them have turned to technology as an important resource, and technology can and should play an important role in solving problems in humanitarian settings. In this report, the authors analyze technology uses, needs, and gaps, as well as opportunities for better using technology to help displaced people and improving the operations of responding agencies. The authors also examine inherent ethical, security, and privacy considerations; explore barriers to the successful deployment of technology; and outline some tools for building a more systematic approach to such deployment. The study approach included a literature review, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, and focus groups with displaced people in Colombia, Greece, Jordan, and the United States. The authors provide several recommendations for more strategically using and developing technology in humanitarian settings.

Key Findings

There are promising technology solutions for refugees and aid agencies, yet there should be better coordination of investment in, and use of, technology in refugee settings, which may provide more opportunities for private-sector engagement.

There are multiple actors with complex and interdependent relationships engaged in technology in humanitarian settings, and technology is changing their roles and responsibilities over time by creating new roles and simplifying or altering long-standing roles. These actors include refugees, aid agencies, host countries, donors, technology companies, consortia, and universities and research organizations.

Although most refugees and aid agencies rely mainly on mainstream technology applications developed for more-general audiences, there has been sizable investment in creating applications specific to refugee settings, most of which fizzle out over time.

In the refugee context, technology can provide internet connectivity and access, support communication with family and friends, provide education and employment opportunities, facilitate distribution of housing and other resources, enable financial access, and provide a record of information about a displaced person's identity, among other uses.

Investment in technology in refugee settings is often made without preparing for the full system development life cycle, from project initiation to system retirement.

Technology in humanitarian settings is being implemented in advance of needed ethical, security, and privacy frameworks. Ethical frameworks and safeguards to address technology risks are underdeveloped and fragmented. Data responsibility issues-including protecting data from misuse and respecting refugees' data-related rights-are growing more urgent and complex as aid operations create and collect increasing amounts of personal data.

Recommendations

Focus private- and humanitarian-sector technology investments more strategically, weighing risks and benefits and considering the full technology life cycle.

Invest in sustained and mainstream platforms, data standards, and digital infrastructure.

Plan for technology scale and phaseout.

Invest in internet connectivity, not new smartphone apps, for refugees.

Improve the strategic organization of the technology ecosystem through a wedding registry approach.

Improve technical capacity in the humanitarian community.

Improve effectiveness and security in data management.

Develop an ethical framework for technology in humanitarian settings.

Develop legal frameworks governing technology, digital identity, and financial access in humanitarian settings in host countries.

Develop an improved evidence base for technology in refugee education.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Introduction

Chapter Two

Roles and Responsibilities of Entities Involved in Using or Contributing to Technology in Refugee Settings

Chapter Three

Uses of Technology in Refugee Settings

Chapter Four

Refugees' Perspectives on Technology

Chapter Five

Business Models for Developing and Deploying Technology in Refugee Settings

Chapter Six

Ethical, Security, and Privacy Issues Related to the Use of Technology in Refugee Settings

Chapter Seven

Conclusions and Recommendations

This research was sponsored by Schmidt Futures and conducted in the Community Health and Environmental Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

Citation

Format:

Culbertson, Shelly, James Dimarogonas, Katherine Costello, and Serafina Lanna, Crossing the Digital Divide: Applying Technology to the Global Refugee Crisis. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2019. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4322.html. Also available in print form.

Culbertson, Shelly, James Dimarogonas, Katherine Costello, and Serafina Lanna, Crossing the Digital Divide: Applying Technology to the Global Refugee Crisis, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, RR-4322-TSFF, 2019. As of September 08, 2021: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4322.html

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How Technology Could Better Serve Refugees and Those Who Help Them

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There are 71 million forcibly displaced people in the world, many of whom live in developing countries. Refugees and the agencies that assist them have turned to technology as a vital resource, but gaps remain. How can tech be developed and used more strategically in humanitarian settings?

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The Emergency Education Response Programme aims to provide public and supportive education to Syrian refugee children in Jordan. RAND's evaluation identified significant successes as well as longer-term challenges, related to access, quality and coordination of services. Key recommendations concerned developing medium-term thinking, expanding public education, improving double-shifted schools and targeting gendered challenges, among others.

Research Questions

1. To what extent has the Emergency Education Programme achieved its objectives in providing formal education in camps and host communities, alternative programmes, supportive programmes and systems, and in minimising the impact on the Jordanian host community?

2. Did the Programme provide equitable access to appropriate education and promote quality learning environments, meeting the needs of vulnerable Jordanians and Syrians?

3. Did the Programme maximise efficiency in the planning, coordination and alignment of activities, and deliver value for money?

4. Were cross-cutting issues, such as gender, protection, health, nutrition, WASH and child rights, successfully integrated into Programme planning and delivery?

The Emergency Education Response Programme (EER), launched by UNICEF, the Government of Jordan and partners in 2012, aims to provide free public formal education, as well as safe and appropriate supportive educational services, for Syrian refugee children living in Jordan. RAND's evaluation identified significant successes as well as longer-term challenges, related to education access and quality and programme planning and coordination. The Programme's first responses to the Syrian refugee crisis were designed to meet immediate education needs, enabling many children to enrol in school. However, as the crisis has continued, medium-term, strategic efforts and planning have lagged behind events on the ground. Although the EER has successfully provided access to public education for 130,000 Syrian children, at least 97,000 remain out of formal school. Increasing Syrian access to formal education, as well as ensuring high-quality schooling for both Syrian refugees and Jordanian host communities, will require more attention. The Programme has also provided NGO-managed alternative education to 35,000 Syrian children. While they were reported to provide quality, child-centered, flexible education, they have lacked a full-time, structured curriculum and a coherent quality monitoring, and clear pathways for entry into formal education. Effective planning and coordination has been strengthened by improved data on implementing partners' activities. However, little evidence was found that planning decisions were being made on the basis of evaluating and comparing options. Key recommendations based on evaluation findings concern developing medium-term thinking, expanding public education, improving double-shifted schools and targeting gendered challenges, among others.

Key Findings

The Emergency Education Response Programme has achieved considerable successes.

The achievements of the EER are considerable, including large scale, multi-stakeholder mobilisation to provide access to formal education for 130,000 Syrian children within Jordan's public system and informal and non-formal education for 35,000 children.

Significant and urgent challenges remain related to access and quality.

Some 40 per cent of children (97,000) still do not have access to formal education, and many of those who do experience difficult classroom environments. Overcrowding, decreased instructional times in double-shifted schools and inadequate teacher training all inhibit learning.

Alternative education programmes are valued, but require standardisation and pathways for progression.

While alternative programmes delivered by NGO partners provide flexible education to 35,000 Syrian refugee children, they lack a full-time and structured curriculum, standardised measures of quality and a clear pathway into formal education.

Gendered challenges persist for boys and girls.

Efforts around gender mainstreaming and capacity building, enhanced coordination and disaggregated reporting, show that gender is a priority. However, crucial gaps remain: programmatic focus is still overwhelmingly on outreach and support for girls, undervaluing the severe challenges boys face, such as high rates of child labour and low classroom engagement.

Moving out of the 'emergency' phase.

Focusing on immediate education needs has enabled significant successes in terms of education access and roll-out of services, however as it becomes clear that the EER will have a continuing role over the medium term, the question of its sustainability is more urgent.

Recommendations

Build upon significant accomplishments, in terms of Syrian access to public schooling and stakeholder expertise.

Develop and implement a medium-term strategy (including funding), with emphasis on building Jordanian government capacity to manage into the future.

Expand public formal education, with provision at scale for children who have missed years of school.

Improve the performance of double-shifted schools to meet the needs of both Jordanians and Syrians.

Improve the quality and safety of school learning environments.

Target the different gendered challenges facing girls and boys.

Ensure planning involves options analysis and takes uncertainty into consideration.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Introduction, background and approach

Chapter Two

Findings: relevance

Chapter Three

Findings: effectiveness

Chapter Four

Findings: efficiency

Chapter Five

Findings: cross-cutting issues

Chapter Six

Findings: sustainability

Chapter Seven

Recommendations

Annex One

Evaluation questions and summary findings

Annex Two

Further detail on methodology

Annex Three

Summaries of challenges, effective practices and remaining needs in key areas of the evaluation

Annex Four

Comparison (where possible) of budgeting requirements between 3RP and RRP6

The research described in this report was prepared for UNICEF and conducted by RAND Europe.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

Citation

Format:

Culbertson, Shelly, Tom Ling, Marie-Louise Henham, Jennie Corbett, Rita T. Karam, Paulina Pankowska, Catherine L. Saunders, Jacopo Bellasio, and Ben Baruch, Evaluation of the Emergency Education Response for Syrian Refugee Children and Host Communities in Jordan. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2016. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1203.html.

Culbertson, Shelly, Tom Ling, Marie-Louise Henham, Jennie Corbett, Rita T. Karam, Paulina Pankowska, Catherine L. Saunders, Jacopo Bellasio, and Ben Baruch, Evaluation of the Emergency Education Response for Syrian Refugee Children and Host Communities in Jordan, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, RR-1203-UNICF, 2016. As of September 08, 2021: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1203.html

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Evaluation of the Emergency Education Response for Syrian Refugee Children and Host Communities in Jordan

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The Emergency Education Response Programme aims to provide public and supportive education to Syrian refugee children in Jordan. RAND's evaluation identified significant successes as well as longer-term challenges, related to access, quality and coordination of services. Key recommendations concerned developing medium-term thinking, expanding public education, improving double-shifted schools and targeting gendered challenges, among others.

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Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

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Since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, more than 11 million Syrians have been displaced. More than 4.5 million have fled to three neighboring countries: Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Lebanon has taken in over a million Syrian refugees, swelling its population by 25%. Jordan has accepted over 600,000 refugees, increasing its population by 10%. The two million Syrian refugees now in Turkey have increased its population by 3% nation-wide, and between 10-20% in some local areas. These numbers are considered conservative as they include only registered Syrian refugees. This massive influx of refugees has created an education crisis for the host countries, as a large proportion of these refugees are school-aged children. However, this increased educational demand is not being met. As economic, political, and social influences continue to shape responses to the crisis, both host and wealthy countries in the region must recognize the permanency of refugees within their borders and work to develop sustainable long-term education services to refugee children.

Efforts to provide such services to refugee children have fallen short in two respects. First, more than half of school-aged refugee children are not attending formal education programs at all. Second, those who are enrolled generally receive substandard services. The governments of the host countries have worked diligently to provide education services to refugee children, but the political, economic and social structural realities of their respective countries have constrained their options and shaped responses, often in ways that shortchange refugee children.

The economies of the host countries are weak. Lebanon and Jordan had been struggling to provide high quality education to their own citizens even prior to the arrival of Syrian refugees; the refugee influx has further strained capacity. In Lebanon, the most seriously impacted of the three receiving countries, the number of Syrian refugees has expanded the number of students in public schools significantly. However, education budgets have not grown accordingly. Even with the support of international organizations, governments have found it difficult to find adequate space, facilities, and qualified teachers. In Lebanon and Jordan, most Syrian refugee students are concentrated in a small fraction of ministry schools. To accommodate these students, these schools have implemented a second, afternoon shift. In Turkey, the government relies heavily on international organizations to open separate schools for the refugee children. However, many cannot be served because of resource and facilities shortages.

Furthermore, the quality of education provided to refugee children in host countries continues to be a concern. Studies of Syrian refugee education in Jordan and Lebanon have found that second shifts tend to offer less instructional time and larger classes than first shifts. In addition, second shift teachers tend to have less teaching experience than first shift teachers, are paid less, and lack training to address issues specific to refugees. The differences in the educational standards and quality of the two shifts result in inferior education for those in the second, weaker shift.

The political conditions in these countries also influence how education services are structured and delivered. Despite the fact that it takes refugees an average of 20 years to return to their homelands, the host countries will not publically acknowledge that the Syrian refugee crisis is a long-term issue. Leaders fear that conceding this would foment public discontent against the refugees or the government. Such discontent would fuel existing religious and cultural differences between host and refugee populations. In Lebanon, for example, most refugees are Sunni and many are settling in Shi'a areas, which raises fears of increased violence between Muslim sects. Christians in Lebanon feel threatened by the dramatic increases in the Muslim population; this perceived threat increases if Syrian refugees are being integrated into the population on a long-term basis. Similarly, in Jordan, where Palestinian refugees now make up more than half the population, and in Turkey, where nationalism is an enduring theme, integrating Syrian refugees might raise hackles. Given these fragile political balances, it is politically safer to provide Syrian refugee children with a separate education in their own schools or through second shifts. Integrated education might be perceived as a first step toward providing refugees with citizenship, and such a perception could have a de-stabilizing effect on host countries.

The social sentiment in the host countries also affects school climate and structure. Syrian refugees are sometimes derogated because of the circumstances from which they come. Studies have found that principal and teacher perceptions of refugee children affect their level of empathy and, in some instances, have led to discriminatory treatment of refugee children. Such studies also report instances of bullying of Syrian refugee students by host country students inside and outside schools. Furthermore, disadvantaged host country families feel resentful when they see or perceive refugee children receiving education services from international organizations that are not available to their own children. These social sentiments have encouraged separate education for refugee students.

Host governments and international organizations have been addressing refugee education issues with a short-term focus given limited resources and political concerns. But past experiences with other refugee groups strongly suggest that the Syrian refugees are not likely to return to Syria anytime soon. Education planning in the host countries should take a longer- term and more realistic view, which requires courage and sensitivity to the political, economic, and social conditions of each host country.

Irrespective of the actions host countries take in dealing with the possibility of permanency, they should stress to the public that this crisis is long term and that better-educated Syrians will benefit the host country, whether or not they are offered citizenship. Education will enable refugees to develop skills needed to contribute to the national economic development of host countries, while at the same time improving their impoverished situation. These skills are transferable, and, upon return, would be critical to the development of their own county. To more effectively address the long term education needs of Syrian refugees and the burden placed on local school systems, host country governments could spread Syrian refugee children across more public schools instead of concentrating them in a small area. This might enable more effective integration of Syrian refugees, and provide better education services to both citizens and refugee students. Although language might be a barrier initially, many successful instructional models could be adopted to ensure the transitioning of students from instruction in their home language to the language of instruction of their host countries. Integration in schools might also promote unified identities and intergroup social cohesion that would benefit the host countries in the long run. Re-distributing Syrian refugee students might require transportation services. It might also mean that families would need to be re-located. Thus, student re-distribution would need to be discussed within a broader and longer-term context of dispersion with refugee family livelihood as a main consideration.

The political and social realities will no doubt limit what host countries can do to address Syrian refugee education. But the dimensions of this challenge call for a much wider response to help the host countries. Wealthy regional governments could share more of the responsibility of supporting refugee education with the current host countries so that an entire generation of Syrian children is not lost. This support should include more financial support to host countries and acceptance of more Syrian refugees. These resources would increase refugees' access to education and enable them to contribute to the creation and growth of the economies in the region.

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Educating Syrian Refugees: Challenges Facing Host Countries - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

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Since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, more than 11 million Syrians have been displaced. More than 4.5 million have fled to three neighboring countries: Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Lebanon has taken in over a million Syrian refugees, swelling its population by 25%. Jo

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The COVID-19 pandemic has upended school systems around the world. The pace has been frenetic as systems have had to stand up remote learning overnight, plan whether and how to reopen schools amid changing epidemiological circumstances, and support students academically and emotionally. The scope of the challenge has thus far left little time for deeper reflection.

Insights to Impact

Yet crises often create an opportunity for broader change, and as education systems begin to make decisions about investments for the new school year, it's important to step back and consider the longer-term imperative to create a better system for every child beyond the pandemic.

The process starts with a key question: What are we trying to achieve, for whom, by when, and to what standards? Our research shows that top-performing school systems can vary significantly in curricula, assessments, teacher behaviors, and even desired outcomes. What unites them is a focus on excellence for every child, regardless of race, gender, income level, or location. That core value should inform the areas to keep in our current systems and where to innovate to create more effective and equitable education for all.

While greater use of technology in education may be inevitable, technology will never replace a great teacher. In fact, a single teacher can change a student's trajectory.

While we mustn't lose sight of what we have learned through decades of research and education reform, the COVID-19 pandemic is driving educators to accelerate new models of learning and innovate beyond the classroom. Lockdowns forced students around the world to learn from home, resulting in a dramatic increase in the use of online tools, such as videoconferencing, learning-management platforms, and assessment tools. In a month, Google Classroom doubled its number of users and Khan Academy saw a 20-fold increase in parent registrations. At the same time, the pandemic has highlighted and even exacerbated many of the inequities in the school system, from the learning environment at home to access to devices, internet, and high-quality education. There is now both the political will and a sense of urgency to take on the challenge of fixing long-broken delivery models. We applaud that instinct.

In this article, we suggest that school systems recommit to four basic principles and consider eight ideas for innovation (exhibit). Although it may seem overwhelming, the time to start reimagining the future of education is now.

Recommit to what works: Get the basics right

Will the COVID-19 pandemic completely disrupt global K-12 education and usher in a fully virtual, all-inquiry-based, 21st-century-skill, insert-buzzword-here future? No, actually. We know from decades of study that every school system must first get these basic elements right:

Core skills and instruction. Students need a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy. You can't code if you can't do math. You can't communicate effectively if you can't read or write. You can't innovate without knowledge. Yet UNESCO estimates that 60 percent of children around the world aren't meeting basic standards. Other studies show that US students who can't read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. Research has identified the curricula, instructional materials, and teaching methods that are most effective in helping children learn. And the earlier that children get exposed to those skills,in prekindergarten or other programs, the better. Systems need to ensure that the knowledge is being adopted in both remote and in-person environments and evaluate new ideas against those benchmarks.

High-quality teachers and teaching. Research backs up what many of us know to be true: children learn best from people, not programs. While greater use of technology in education may be inevitable, technology will never replace a great teacher. In fact, a single teacher can change a student's trajectory. High-performing school systems understand that andinvest in both recruiting and helping top talent become effective teachers. Every system must do the same by developing and supporting teachers, especially as they learn new skills for remote and hybrid learning.

Performance measurement. It's hard to achieve excellence without data on current performance and benchmarks to aim toward. However, data should be used primarily to inform-to direct support to the students, teachers, and schools that need it most-not to punish. Instead of eradicating tests altogether, systems need better assessments and better tools to help each student succeed. Formative assessment becomes even more critical and must thus be more intentional when the teacher is not teaching in person.

Performance level and context. School systems at different levels of performance, from poor to fair to good to great to excellent, require different sets of interventions. Poor performers may need central control to build up basic infrastructure and provide motivation, scaffolding, and scripted lesson plans for teachers. Stronger performers may need more decentralized innovation, peer-led learning, and collaborative planning to engage students and staff. In the context of remote-learning design, that might mean mass TV and radio programs in some countries to reach all students; in others, it may involve ensuring better connectivity and access to devices to close the digital divide.

Those are basic table stakes, but they aren't enough. Progress in educational outcomes seems to have stalled in recent years. Beyond the basics, the COVID-19 crisis is a signal that school systems around the world need to move beyond existing approaches to embrace more radical innovation, rethinking some fundamental elements of how we have educated students for generations.

Harness technology to scale access

Research demonstrates that just handing out devices to students doesn't lead to improved learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that giving lectures on a video call is rarely a substitute for face-to-face learning. The challenge isn't just to adopt new technologies but also to incorporate them in ways that improve access and quality.

That's especially important in the areas of the world that struggle with limited resources and significant shortages of qualified teachers. Imagine Worldwide has worked with partners to develop high-quality, tech-enabled literacy and numeracy programs that cost less than $25 per student per year. With supervision from any adult, students use solar-powered tablets preloaded with research-based, self-paced math and literacy software for up to 60 minutes a day. That enables every device to support the learning of four to five students, all without requiring an internet connection. Randomized control trials in Malawi have shown learning gains of 5.3 months among users over a control group in a single school year. For less than $5 billion-less than 1 percent of the US public-school budget-that technology could be scaled across sub-Saharan Africa.

Move toward mastery-based learning

Personalized, mastery-based learning has been around for more than a decade, but the best solutions still reach a minority of kids. Technology has made the model even more compelling, enabling personalization at a level that's impossible to achieve in the traditional classroom. Smart adaptive-technology programs can integrate instruction, practice, and feedback to allow students to work at their own pace, only moving on when they have fully grasped the material. Those programs have shown particular promise in mathematics. They can also make formative assessments more efficient, immediate, and fair, reducing teacher bias while freeing teachers up from the half day that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports they spend each week on grading student work. As school systems invest in software solutions for remote and hybrid learning, they can plan for a future of blended personalized learning in the classroom.

Support children holistically

Previous research has outlined the correlation between mindsets and academic performance, but the shift to remote learning has put it into stark relief. Students with high levels of self-motivation, persistence, and independence have thrived, while others have struggled. Similarly, the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the need to address anxiety, depression, and other mental-health issues as a precondition to helping students learn. It's a reminder that schools need to address the whole child, helping them develop skills and awareness that go beyond what they need simply to find work. Educators play a critical role in helping children learn how to become effective citizens, parents, workers, and custodians of the planet.

A model that has long won accolades is the International Baccalaureate, which was designed to educate international-minded students to be "inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective." Meanwhile, KIPP Foundation charter schools have developed a character framework featuring the seven character traits most predictive of academic success: zest, grit, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity. KIPP Foundation schools outperform peers in both test scores and college enrollment. For schools that haven't yet integrated those lessons, the upcoming semester would be a great time to start. Whether teachers are using remote, hybrid, or fully in-person models, starting the school year with relationships and socioemotional check-ins will ensure that students are mentally ready to learn.

Help students adapt to the future of work

The COVID-19 pandemic has likely accelerated workplace automation as employers continue to automate tasks to reduce costs and minimize the spread of infection. School systems need to help students adapt to rapid changes in the workplace and other impacts of rapid digitization, from ethical standards and cybersecurity to the impact on health, forensics, and many other parts of the economy.

In the digital era, educators need to expand their understanding of what it means to be literate in the 21st century: not replacing traditional learning but complementing it. Computer programming and digital literacy are becoming core skills. For example, England has integrated computer science into all levels of primary and secondary education, so students start learning about coding and internet safety from the age of five.

With the speed of change in the digital era, business leaders can also be critical partners in helping students develop job-ready skills. A model of this is P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School), which launched in New York City in 2011 as a partnership of IBM, the City University of New York, and the New York City Department of Education. During the six-year program, students earn a high-school diploma and an associate's degree while gaining work experience with industry partners. The model has since expanded to include 220 schools and 600 industry partners in 24 countries. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, IBM announced the launch of Open P-TECH to expand the reach of the program further, enabling students aged 16 and older to register individually for classes in topics such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

Invest in new models of teacher preparation and development

Although most education experts recognize the importance of great teachers, teacher preparation and development still falls short in many systems. That has to change, starting with creating more linkages between teacher training and local schools, much like the linkages between medical schools and hospitals to anchor learning in real-world practice. In more advanced systems, there is an opportunity to reimagine teacher training and development more fundamentally by leveraging advanced technology. Corporate learning programs successfully use simulations to train workers before getting in front of a customer or patient. Given how much teachers improve in their first two years, simulations could provide teachers a valuable learning experience before they spend their first day alone in a real classroom of children. While some early products are emerging in that space, the power lies in customizing and applying them at scale.

In the digital era, educators need to expand their understanding of what it means to be literate in the 21st century: not replacing traditional learning but complementing it.

Teachers need continued support in the classroom and often struggle to receive effective professional development. Here, too, technology has a critical role to play. In less developed systems, simple, robust technologies can provide scaffolding for teachers with little experience. Bridge International Academies is an example of a school system that uses scripted lesson plans on tablets to help teachers cover core areas. In a large-scale trial in Liberia, students who attended Bridge International Academies schools for a three-year period under that system achieved results equivalent to an additional two and a half years of learning.

Unbundle the role of the teacher

School systems can examine the areas in which teachers spend their time and free them to spend more time on high-value activities that require deep teaching expertise and relationships. The stress of remote and hybrid learning is already catalyzing some systems to rethink teacher roles and allocation. In the short term, such reimagining may involve teams of teachers, with some providing remote and others providing in-person learning. It might also involve new roles, such as learning navigators to help students adapt to remote learning.

Longer term, systems might consider a more radical unbundling of the role of the teacher, enabling individuals to take on more differentiated roles that play to their strengths, preferences, and areas of expertise. For example, the Opportunity Culture multiclassroom-leadership model creates teams that consist of a multiclassroom leader and several teachers, teaching associates, and residents. More students are reached by excellent teachers, expert teachers are provided a career ladder without having to shift into administration, and newer teachers get coaching to improve. When placed into that type of teaching team, teachers who were, on average, at the 50th percentile in student learning achieved learning gains equivalent to the 66th to 85th percentile in student learning. Another model uses expert teachers to coach and support other teachers to improve their craft.

Allocate resources equitably to support every student

Many education experts argue that the current methods of allocating funding, teachers, and resources to schools are fundamentally unjust. Globally, there are significant inequities among countries, yet donor funding is insufficient to close the gap to universal enrollment, let alone the gap to universal high-quality education. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal number four-to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all-will require a significant increase in investment for the students most at risk of falling behind.

The stress of remote and hybrid learning is already catalyzing some systems to rethink teacher roles and allocation.

Within countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the racial disparities in public health and the economic impact of the crisis. It has also laid bare the inequities of access to high-quality education. The Black Lives Matter movement in the United States is a reminder of the deep-seated racial inequities that are partially rooted in educational segregation. Those inequities emerge even before school attendance begins.

Instead of helping low-income and disadvantaged students catch up, the current funding mechanisms in many countries widen the gap. In the United States, the average high-poverty school receives $500 less per student each year than the average low-poverty school does. It doesn't have to be this way.

From proposals to redraw district boundaries to innovative collaborations, there are many ways to help create a more equitable education system. In the Brazilian state of Ceará, for example, the top 150 high-performing schools are partnered with low-performing schools. For the top performers to access additional funds, they have to help the low performers achieve certain targets. Could systems around the world incentivize top schools to offer all their advanced classes and electives, along with mentors, resources, and other forms of help, to high-poverty neighbors? Could that start with the remote-learning instruction currently being rolled out?

Rethink school structures and policies

Education systems now have an opportunity to rethink the school structures that were forged in the 18th century. It's increasingly clear that school calendars organized around a long summer break aren't ideal for learning. For students who struggle with remote learning through the COVID-19 pandemic, a long summer hiatus could be devastating. In some countries, existing policies on sorting students too early can preclude opportunities for students sorted into different pathways or tracks. Other systems rely overly on repetition, which can label and demotivate students.

Perhaps the COVID-19 crisis can be a catalyst for innovation. For example, Cleveland schools are considering scrapping grade levels altogether to promote proficiency-based learning. Schools in Australia and India have temporarily shifted their school calendars. As education systems work out how to catch up on the lost learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps summer school in 2021 could be the first step toward a more equitable school calendar going forward.

The list of educational innovations and possible interventions is long, and many of those changes are untested or associated with only emerging evidence. We don't wish to experiment with our children's futures. But equally, we don't want to be held back by inertia or continue with failed experiments. Where should school systems start?

Bold education systems can take an agile and research-based approach, running opt-in pilots in small pockets to test parent appetite and student outcomes. Smart systems will also expand their partnership networks, collaborating with academia to bring the best of learning science, with employers to create linkages to the workplace, and with philanthropists to access funding. All school systems must challenge themselves to reshape their models to deliver a better education to every child.

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Reimagining a more equitable and resilient K-12 education system

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The COVID-19 pandemic has upended school systems around the world. The pace has been frenetic as systems have had to stand up remote learning overnight, plan whether and how to reopen schools amid changing epidemiological circumstances, and support students academically and emotionally. The scope of the challenge has thus far left little time for deeper reflection.

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AAP - Voices of recent DAWERE/EP graduates