Tade Oyerinde and Teddy Solomon know a few things about building communities that last.
Afterall, Oyerinde is the founder and chancellor of the online school Campus, while Solomon is the co-founder behind the college social app Fizz.
The two spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt this year, breaking down the strategies that helped them scale their companies while retaining consumer interest.
Campus offers associate degrees in areas like information technology and business administration. It also offers certificates in specialities like cosmetology and phlebotomy. There are more than 3,000 students enrolled in Campus, and it employs more than 100 professors on at least a part-time basis, Oyerinde says.
Oyerinde said Campus decided to launch à la carte courses since employers, in particular, have been asking for classes that can teach their employees individual skills like vibe coding.
He’s realized that a lot of people are looking to upskill and believes that in the future, everyone will have some sort of membership or subscription service that helps them develop new skills.
“Everyone in this room, not just two-year degree-seeking people, will be able to go to Campus and learn with us,” he told the audience. “Live, online classes, taught by amazing people.”
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Teddy Solomon; TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Day 3 at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco on Tuesday, Oct 29, 2025. ( Photo By Slava Blazer Photography )Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography / Flickr (opens in a new window)
Oyerinde makes use of the Pell Grant to help keep the school affordable for most people. He also has a team of billionaires on his company’s cap table — like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Discord’s Jason Citroen — meaning he doesn’t feel much pressure to focus on profits above all else, he said.
“They don’t need the money,” he continued. “What they really want is to fundamentally shape the way that education works in this country for the better.”
Fizz, meanwhile, operates on more than 200 college campuses and at one point operated in high schools across the country. It has raised more than $40 million with investors including Owl Ventures and NEA.
Since launching in 2021, Solomon said the company had adopted features like a peer-to-peer marketplace that’s listed more than 100,000 items, and a video element so people can write more than text posts.
Now, the company is looking to build a product called Global Fizz to expand the product beyond the U.S. Solomon spoke more about that on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, where he mapped out the future of the company.
Solomon told the audience that the company is looking at ways to monetize, focusing on ads in particular. “We’ve already worked with companies like Perplexity,” he said.
“There are subscription models that have worked well with apps, but right now we’re focused on our ads business, and we’re focused on building a great product that keeps our users around and makes them happy.”
The European Commission plans to restrict exports of aluminum scrap amid concerns that rising outflows of the resource could leave Europe short of a critical input for its decarbonization efforts.
“We are launching the preparatory work on a new measure to address the issue of aluminium scrap leakage,” said EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic at the European Aluminum Summit on Tuesday.
European Union environment ministers agreed to a watered-down version of the bloc’s 2040 climate goals on Wednesday, bringing the EU one step closer to setting new—if weaker—targets for lowering carbon emissions.
Ministers adopted a number of climate-focused policies, including a legally-binding target to slash the EU’s collective emissions by 90% by 2040 from 1990 levels.
A couple of Thursdays ago, I awoke at nearly 4:30 a.m. to a dizzying Instagram DM.
Rizzbot, a kid-size humanoid robot that’s made by Unitree Robotics and has a massive social media following — more than 1 million TikTok followers and more than half a million followers on Instagram — had sent me a photo: he was flipping me off.
No words. No explanation. Just a robot with its middle finger raised.
Although I was shocked, a sinking feeling meant that I could guess why. A few weeks ago, Rizzbot — or the person who runs its Instagram account — and I chatted about a possible story. I found the account interesting: a humanoid walking the streets of Austin wearing Nike dunks and a cowboy hat. It’s known for roasting, but also flirting and having a good time. The name Rizz comes from the Gen Z slang word rizz for charisma.
I was intrigued by the rising popularity of the account. People are usually uncomfortable with humanoids. There are privacy concerns and job displacement fears. Online, people sling slurs at them, most notably calling them “clankers.” In the robotics world, meanwhile, experts are debating what they will be best suited to do.
I saw Rizzbot as a role model, making people feel comfortable interacting with a humanoid.
Rizzbot agreed to an interview, so I started reaching out to experts to discuss the future of humanoids in preparation for a story. Two weeks after my initial DM with Rizzbot, I told it I would finally send it some interview questions on the following Monday or Tuesday.
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But life happened, and I missed my own deadline. I was finally prepared to send the questions first thing Thursday a.m., and I thought, no big deal.
Too late. In the wee hours of Wednesday night, Rizzbot sent that photo. Message clear: You broke your word, so eff off.
I didn’t give up. I apologized to the robot (or to its human?) for the delay and promised I would send the questions first thing during office hours. But when I tried a few hours later, I was met with “user not found.”
The robot had blocked me.
Did I trigger a fail-safe?
My friends thought it was hilarious that I was flipped off and blocked by Rizzbot, since for weeks, all I spoke about was how excited I was to do this story.
“LOL Rizzbot roasted you,” one friend texted me.
“YOU ARE BEEFING WITH A ROBOT LOLOLOL,” another said. I reached out to Rizzbot on TikTok, a move one friend called desperate. But what else could I do? I had pitched the story to my editor, spent hours researching, and — despite this beef — Rizzbot would still be interesting to TechCrunch’s tech-loving readers.
While my friends were laughing, I entered a state of gloom. Not only was my story dead, but I was also now the girl who got blocked by a dancing robot.
The photo I received at 4:04AM ET (we blurred the background)
My colleague Amanda Silberling offered to help me. She reached out to the Rizzbot account to ask why I was blocked. Rizzbot gave a curt response: “Rizzbot blocks like he rizzes — smooth, confident, and with zero remorse.” It then sent her the same middle finger photo it sent me. I thought: Wow, I wasn’t even special enough for a unique flip off.
But then, one friend offered a terrifying thought I hadn’t even considered. “It wasn’t a human response. I’m scared for you.” It seems I had already made my first robot enemy, and the AI revolution has only just begun.
Or did I? Was I really beefing with a human?
I found out that Rizzbot’s name is actually Jake the Robot.
Its owner is an anonymous YouTuber and biochemist, according to reports. The robot itself is a standard Unitree G1 Model — they’re made in Hangzhou, China — and anyone can buy one for $16,000 to over $70,000.
Rizzbot was trained by Kyle Morgenstein, a PhD student at UT Austin’s robotic laboratory. He worked alongside a team for around three weeks, teaching the robot how to dance and move its limbs. While much of the robot’s behavior is pre-programmed, it’s operated by a remote control, with its true owner, apparently not Morgenstein, nearby commanding it.
If I had to guess how the tech behind the robot works — after talking with Malte F. Jung, an associate professor at Cornell University who studied information sciences — someone triggers the robot’s behaviors, and a picture is taken of whoever is interacting with the robot, run through ChatGPT or some other LLM, and a text-to-speech function is then used to roast or flirt with the person.
“The robot turns the script around of people abusing robots,” Jung told me. “Now the robot gets to abuse people. The product here is the performance.”
Morgenstein told other outlets that the actual owner of Rizzbot just likes to entertain people, likes to show the joy that humanoids are capable of bringing.
It’s unclear who runs the Rizzbot social accounts, though when Rizzbot sent that photo to Silberling, it also sent an error message — probably an accident — about being out of GPU memory. The message indicated that an AI agent is probably involved in running that account and is maybe auto-generating DM responses. It also indicated that Rizzbot only has 48GB of memory.
“What makes you confident it was ever a person?” my coder friend asked me about the Instagram account manager.
In the age of AI, someone capable of training a robot is likely capable of connecting an LLM to Instagram DMs. My block could even have been a fail-safe, my coder friend said, meaning I automatically triggered it myself by DM’ing in the early hours — even if it was a reply.
But there are some clues that a human is involved in running Rizzbot’s social media: There were typos in its initial DM reply to me when I first asked for an interview.
Still, unless Rizzbot tells me if his social media manager is another bot (which seems unlikely given our beef), I will likely never know. Maybe it doesn’t matter.
“If they got $50,000 for a bot and a couple thousand for a 48GB memory machine, I wouldn’t put anything past ‘em,” my coder friend pointed out. “They’re clearly committed to the bit.”
It’s still robot brain rot
Rizzbot’s TikTok page alone has racked up more than 45 million views. One video shows Rizzbot chasing people in the streets, while another sees it running into a pole and falling in the middle of the street. A viral video, presumably altered by AI, shows Rizzbot being run over by a car.
“It seems hilarious, honestly,” one founder friend told me, calling the viral videos “robot brain rot.” He said the AI is rudimentary, but the robot’s premise is a “funny intermingling” of internet dank — or absurdist — humor, and the lightheartedness that much of social media is missing these days. “It interacts with people in a novel way.”
My Rizzbot rabbit hole still had me thinking, though, about the role of humanoids in our society. Every sci-fi movie I’ve ever watched — from “Blade Runner” to “I, Robot” came flooding back to me. How scared should I be now that I’ve made my first humanoid enemy?
“Performance seems to be really the big use case for these kinds of robots,” Jung told me, adding that Rizzbot was “like a modern version of street performance with a hand puppet.”
“Robots will become the primary mass market entertainers, show performers, dancers, singers, comedians, and companions,” Dima Gazda, the founder of the robotics company Esper Bionics, told me, adding that humans will become niche, top talent. “As robots gain grace and emotional intelligence, they’ll blend into performances and interactive experiences better than humans.”
Luckily, right now, dancing robots seem hard to scale en masse, according to Jen Apicella, executive director at the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. So I don’t have to worry about this beef escalating to, say, a legion of dancing, rizzing robots physically showing up at my doorstep. Not that such a thought crossed my mind.
It’s now been over a week since I was blocked, and I find myself reminiscing on the joy I found watching Rizzbot chase people in the streets. My favorite video showed a woman twerking on Rizzbot. A crowd formed around the spectacle; people seemed genuinely entertained, itching, perhaps, for their own moment to twerk on a robot.
I always joked to my friends that I wanted to keep robots on my side in case the revolution came. But even as I wrote this article, I found myself almost in another AI beef — this time with Meta AI, which I had never used before. I accidentally started a conversation with Meta AI while looking for my old conversations with Rizzbot on Instagram.
Meta’s bot replied, “Yoo, what’s good fam? You callin’ me Rizzbot? 🤣 What’s poppin’?”
The Toronto Blue Jays have advanced to the American League Championship Series for the first time in nearly a decade, and the bandwagon is officially rolling.
But those new to the sport might need a primer on how exactly it works, from the sequence of the playoffs to the rules of the game.
Below, we parse through the basics.
WHAT’S THE STRUCTURE OF THE POST-SEASON?
Major League Baseball’s post-season has four rounds. MLB actually used to be two organizations, the National League and the American League, but they have been jointly holding the World Series since 1903 and were formally merged in 1999. Both leagues follow the same playoff format. The Blue Jays are in the American League.
The post-season starts with wild-card rounds, which are a best-of-three series of games played between the four lowest-ranked teams that qualified for each league’s playoffs.
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The Blue Jays won the American League East division title during the regular season, so they got to skip the wild-card round.
After the wild cards, the teams play in the Division Series, where the first team to win three games advances to the Championship Series, which is best-of-seven.
The championships are played between teams of the same league.
Then, the winner of each league’s championship advances to the World Series, which is also a best-of-seven matchup. The Blue Jays have only won the World Series twice: in 1992 and 1993.
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WHY ARE THE BLUE JAYS IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE WHEN THEY’RE A CANADIAN TEAM?
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In the 1970s, the American League wanted to create a geographical rival team to the Montreal Expos, which were part of the National League, so the Blue Jays were born.
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The Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington, D.C., in 2004, leaving the Blue Jays as Canada’s only team.
WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THE GAME?
If you want to know all the details, you can read Major League Baseball’s 192-page rule book. But here are the basics.
Each game consists of nine innings. Each team has a turn at bat during an inning, starting with the visiting team. The defensive team includes the pitcher, catcher, infielders and outfielders.
The offensive team consists of a lineup of nine batters.
The pitcher throws the ball to the catcher, and if the ball passes through the “strike zone,” the hitter can try to swing for it.
The strike zone is the area from the batter’s knees to their shoulders, over home base.
If the ball passes through the strike zone three times and the batter fails to hit it, either because they didn’t swing or because they miss the ball, they’re out. If the pitcher throws the ball and misses the strike zone four times, and the batter doesn’t swing, the batter gets to “walk” to first base.
That’s one of nine ways a batter can become a “runner” and advance to first base. The main way, however, is for the batter to hit the ball into the field.
Once the batter hits a fair ball, he becomes a runner and makes his way to first base. If a fielder catches the ball before it hits the ground, the runner is out. If the ball touches the ground before it’s caught, the person who catches it can try to get a runner out by touching the runner with the ball before they advance to the next base. In some cases they only need to touch the base the runner is headed to.
Each time a runner reaches home base after touching all three other bases, they receive a point, called a “run.”
Once three players on the offensive team are out, that team’s turn at bat is over.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON EACH TEAM?
During the post-season, each team has a roster of 26 players.
There are nine players from each team in the batting lineup, and nine on the field. That’s eight players who are both fielders and hitters, one player who is a dedicated pitcher, and one player who is the pitcher’s substitute when their team is at bat.
Other players on the roster can be substituted into the batting order. Likewise, pitchers who are in the bullpen can be substituted in for the starting pitcher.
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Deciding when to substitute players is part of the strategy of the game.
THE PLAYERS SEEM TO SPIT A LOT. WHY?
Historically, players used to chew tobacco during the game and they’d spit out the excess saliva from chewing. That’s changed over the decades, and now they chew sunflower seeds.
Some players will also chew gum while they’re in the dugout, not playing, or pull pranks on each other. It’s all part of the fun of the game.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2025.
Mastodon, an open source, decentralized alternative to X, is rolling out a somewhat controversial feature by adding quote posts, which will launch next week. The feature, which allows a user to quote someone else’s post and re-share it with their own response or commentary, has contributed to a culture of “dunking” on X, where users often deride other people by responding with snark or insulting humor.
To address this concern, Mastodon says it’s implementing quote posts with safety controls.
These protections are designed to allow quote posts to be used responsibly, to “expand discussions, make new connections, and amplify underrepresented voices,” the platform states.
Image Credits:Mastodon
Mastodon gives users several ways to control how their posts can be quoted. For starters, the platform lets users decide who can quote them through a setting where you can change your defaults. Here, you can set the permissions for who can quote you by choosing between “Anyone,” “Followers only,” or “Just me.” Additionally, you can control the visibility of quote posts by setting them to be visible to the public, to followers only, or a setting called “quiet public,” which makes the quotes public but removes them from Mastodon’s search, trends, and public timeline.
Users will also be able to override their default settings on a post-by-post basis, if need be, by navigating to the “Visibility and interaction settings” within the composer screen. This would be useful if you know you’re about to say something controversial or anything that could attract unwanted attention from those with opposing views, for instance.
Image Credits:Mastodon
Plus, users will have control of their posts even after they’re quoted, the Mastodon blog post about the new feature explains.
When someone quotes a post, the user being quoted is notified in the app, and they can choose to remove their original post from the other person’s quote post. This is accessible through the Options menu (the three dots icon). From this location, users can change the quote settings to address any future quoting of their post going forward. They can also block users to prevent them from seeing and quoting their posts in the future.
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Support for quote posts will first arrive over the week ahead to the larger Mastodon servers at mastodon.online and mastodon.social. It will then become available in Mastodon’s 4.5 software update.
To quote a post, you’ll find the new option under Mastodon’s Boost (similar to X’s repost/retweet feature). Because the fediverse, or open social web, is a network of servers running different software, quote posts may not immediately appear everywhere, and some platforms may not update to use the technical specification enabling quote post support right away.
A new DESSA screener to be released for the Fall ‘25 school year–designed to be paired with a strength-based student self-report assessment–accurately predicted well-being levels in 70 percent of students, a study finds.
According to findings from Riverside Insights, creator of research-backed assessments, researchers found that even students with strong social-emotional skills often struggle with significant mental health concerns, challenging the assumption that resilience alone indicates student well-being. The study, which examined outcomes in 254 middle school students across the United States, suggests that combining risk and resilience screening can enable identification of students who would otherwise be missed by traditional approaches.
“This research validates what school mental health professionals have been telling us for years–that traditional screening approaches miss too many students,” said Dr. Evelyn Johnson, VP of Research & Development at Riverside Insights. “When educators and counselors can utilize a dual approach to identify risk factors, they can pinpoint concerns and engage earlier, in and in a targeted way, before concerns become major crises.”
The study, which offered evidence of, for example, social skills deficits among students with no identifiable or emotional behavioral concerns, provides the first empirical evidence that consideration of both risk and resilience can enhance the predictive benefits of screening, when compared to strengths-based screening alone.
In the years following COVID, many educators noted a feeling that something was “off” with students, despite DESSA assessments indicating that things were fine.
“We heard this feedback from lots of different customers, and it really got our team thinking–we’re clearly missing something, even though the assessment of social-emotional skills is critically important and there’s evidence to show the links to better academic outcomes and better emotional well-being outcomes,” Johnson said. “And yet, we’re not tapping something that needs to be tapped.”
For a long time, if a person displayed no outward or obvious mental health struggles, they were thought to be mentally healthy. In investigating the various theories and frameworks guiding mental health issues, Riverside Insight’s team dug into Dr. Shannon Suldo‘s work, which centers around the dual factor model.
“What the dual factor approach really suggests is that the absence of problems is not necessarily equivalent to good mental health–there really are these two factors, dual factors, we talk about them in terms of risk and resilience–that really give you a much more complete picture of how a student is doing,” Johnson said.
“The efficacy associated with this dual-factor approach is encouraging, and has big implications for practitioners struggling to identify risk with limited resources,” said Jim Bowler, general manager of the Classroom Division at Riverside Insights. “Schools told us they needed a way to identify students who might be struggling beneath the surface. The DESSA SEIR ensures no student falls through the cracks by providing the complete picture educators need for truly preventive mental health support.”
The launch comes as mental health concerns among students reach crisis levels. More than 1 in 5 students considered attempting suicide in 2023, while 60 percent of youth with major depression receive no mental health treatment. With school psychologist-to-student ratios at 1:1065 (recommended 1:500) and counselor ratios at 1:376 (recommended 1:250), schools need preventive solutions that work within existing resources.
The DESSA SEIR will be available for the 2025-2026 school year.
This press release originally appeared online.
eSchool Media staff cover education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to best practices, to lessons learned and new products. First published in March of 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.
It’s tough enough for the average American to navigate through the torrents of mis- and disinformation flooding social media platforms. How about having to guide a classroom full of eighth graders? David Raymond and Eric Gimbi somehow seem to enjoy it. Both are middle school teachers in the swing state of Pennsylvania and well as part of the Bobblehead George geek squad. I was able to trade techniques with them along with Tory Van Voorhis, creator of the non-partisan and data-driven platform, Election Edge, and CEO of Second Avenue Learning, to discuss how and why educators must address the 2024 presidential election in the classroom.
Have a listen:
Kevin is a forward-thinking media executive with more than 25 years of experience building brands and audiences online, in print, and face to face. He is an acclaimed writer, editor, and commentator covering the intersection of society and technology, especially education technology. You can reach Kevin at KevinHogan@eschoolnews.com
Over the last three years, an influx of pandemic aid has been transformative for many schools.
Some were able to hire social workers or give every child a laptop for the first time. Others fixed up old buildings, tutored struggling students, or revamped summer school programs.
But that era is quickly drawing to a close. And this month marks an important stop on the way toward the end of COVID relief.
Schools have to say by the end of this month how they plan to spend the last of their $123 billion from the American Rescue Plan, the third and final batch of schools’ COVID aid from the federal government. Then they have until Jan. 28, 2025 to spend the money.
The deadline at the end of September matters a lot: Schools that have any money not earmarked by then could eventually have to return the funds to the federal government. And some states have said they are concerned that schools may be at risk of not meeting that deadline.
Schools can seek an extension to spend their remaining aid until March 2026. But that won’t give them more time to officially decide how to use it — leaving some scrambling to come up with a plan before the deadline in 11 days.
“We have been in contact, in many cases multiple times, with districts and charters to remind them of their responsibility to obligate these funds,” Tom Horne, Arizona’s state superintendent, said in a news release earlier this week. “Most are showing the ability to do this, but a number of them are at great risk of reverting funds.”
Some Arizona school districts or charter schools had yet to commit any of their funds to a specific purpose, Horne said, and many others have earmarked only a fraction of their aid.
Michigan said it expected some federal aid would be returned by schools, but noted it had left less than 1% of the first two aid packages on the table.
“We do anticipate that some school districts and subgrantees will not be able to obligate funds by the end of the month and may revert funds back to the federal government,” Jeremy Meyer, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Education, told Chalkbeat in an email.
Still, federal officials told reporters on Thursday they were confident that little if any money was at risk of being returned by schools. Schools across the country have already spent and been reimbursed for 87% of their American Rescue Plan dollars, officials said. Much of the remaining money has been spent, too, but hasn’t yet shown up on spending trackers due to record-keeping lags.
Schools can’t use the aid to pay staff salaries after this month. But they can continue using it to do things like pay tutors to work with their students, finish up a construction project, or contract with a community organization to help with attendance outreach.
Federal officials have said they would look especially favorably on applications to spend the money beyond the usual timeline on Biden administration priorities, such as intensive tutoring, efforts to boost attendance, and extra instructional time.
Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Puerto Rico have already applied for and received spending extensions on behalf of some districts and schools. These extensions cover some $1.1 billion in aid, federal officials said.
Several other states, including Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., told Chalkbeat that they intended to apply for spending extensions in the coming weeks or months.
Nationwide, schools have already spent about $1.5 billion beyond original deadlines after getting extensions on their first two aid packages, federal officials said.
Schools have struggled for a number of reasons to spend down their pandemic aid, though often not for lack of need.
In Colorado, some schools had trouble filling certain educator positions amidst national shortages, or they planned to hire a company to provide training and were still waiting for that service to come through, Meyer wrote.
In other cases, not as many students or staff showed up to certain activities like summer school or after-school programs as originally anticipated, so they ended up costing less than expected.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.
In this week’s installment of our Music Career Study Group livestream, we’ll watch and discuss examples of music content that’s getting massive engagement across Reels, Shorts, and TikTok:
And you can weigh in, ask questions, and recommend some of your favorites too.
We’ll learn more about:
The latest trends in social video content by musicians
Why (and whether) certain videos are successful
How you can borrow inspiration from proven approaches to social video
And more
Join us Thursday, September 26th at 2pm EST / 11am PST on YouTube or Facebook.
And be sure to click the notification bell or RSVP button!
Third spaces are public, informal gathering spots — like cafes, parks, or community centers — where people can relax, socialize, and build connections outside of home and work. In a world increasingly dominated by digital interactions, these spaces play a vital role in fostering community and countering loneliness.
“Third spaces” refer to social environments that are separate from the two primary places where people spend most of their time: home (the first space) and work (the second space). These third spaces are informal, public gathering spots where people can socialize, relax, and build a sense of community.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg first introduced the concept in his book The Great Good Place. He argued that third spaces are crucial for fostering social cohesion, civic engagement, and a sense of belonging. They serve as “neutral grounds” where people can engage in casual conversations and form social connections that they might not in other settings. Places like main streets, libraries, cafes, pubs, and community centers are essential to a functional society and can provide avenues for grassroots activism, community involvement, charity and volunteer work, and social support.
One of the most important features of “third spaces” is that they involve interacting with people outside of our typical social circle of family, friends, and coworkers. They introduce the possibility of new connections and new relationships. Other important qualities include easy accessibility, low cost, and an inviting atmosphere that encourages mingling and conversation.
As modern life has shifted more towards digital interaction, the role of physical third spaces has become a topic of renewed interest among psychologists and social scientists, especially in discussions about loneliness and community fragmentation. People are spending less time in third spaces than ever before; and with remote work becoming more common, many people don’t have much of a life outside of home anymore.
This general tendency has led to an increase in atomization, where individuals feel less and less connected to their local communities and society at large. This has far reaching consequences on health and well-being, as well as social trust, cooperation, and group cohesion.
Third spaces play an integral role when it comes to happiness and well-being on both an individual and social level. Let’s mention a few common examples and then explore more on what makes these spaces so important to a healthy social life.
Common examples of third spaces include:
Main streets and public squares
Cafes and coffee shops
Public libraries
Parks, nature preserves, beaches
Bars or pubs
Community centers
Bookstores
Churches and religious organizations
Local food markets
Music venues or dance clubs
Local sports leagues (bowling, basketball, baseball, etc.)
Shopping malls
Co-working spaces
Can you think of any other examples? What are some neutral places where various people can go to meet new people?
Ray Oldenburg argues that the increase of suburbanization and a “car-centric” society has decreased the use of third spaces and is one major cause behind our more atomized and individualistic world. Many adults living in suburbs have a long commute and a busy work schedule, so they rarely have time to spend outside of home or work. They live and sleep in their suburban homes, but they aren’t involved in their local communities in any meaningful way.
Modern living creates a fundamental disconnect between home, work, and community, which can lead to feelings of alienation and loneliness. Third spaces can be a social glue that ties these different aspects of our lives together into a meaningful whole.
As someone who grew up in Levittown, New York – one of the first mass-produced suburbs – I can relate to the feelings of atomization and not having many third spaces to hang out with friends during my childhood. The most frequent spots were typically shopping malls, bowling alleys, or parking lots, but there weren’t many other “public square”-type places where everyone could go on a weekend night. This made it difficult to build social connections or a sense of community outside of school.
In Robert Putnam’s classic book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community, he documents the downfall of community feeling and social cohesion since the 1960s. Key factors behind this decline include changes in mobility and sprawl, family structure and time schedules, as well as technology and mass media. The rise of home entertainment including TVs, internet, and video games has made people less motivated to go to physical third spaces for leisure, socializing, or relaxation.
There are many factors that have led to the decline in community and the use of third spaces. It’s tempting to want to blame only one thing, but the problems we face in today’s world are complicated and multifaceted. There’s no quick or easy fix for improving the use of third spaces, but we can be more aware of the role they play in our daily lives.
Are Buses and Trains Third Spaces?
Public transportation such as buses and trains share some qualities with “third spaces,” such as being neutral ground that anyone in the community can access, a shared experience of commuting together, and the possibility of social connection with locals and strangers. However, these places are typically not seen as “third spaces” because their primary function is transportation and not social connection. The average person on commutes tends to withdraw and mind their own business, so these spaces aren’t very conducive to new conversation or forming new friendships (although it’s definitely possible).
Building Social Capital and Weak Ties
When you frequent any third space (such as a cafe, bar, church, or library), you naturally start to see familiar faces and build light social connections there.
This is what sociologists refer to as social capital, which is just an economic-centric term for relationships that we value, trust, and provide social support.
Third spaces help form casual relationships (or “weak ties”) that can lead to huge benefits. One common example is learning about a new job opportunity or a possible romantic interest through an acquaintance or friend of a friend.
Social capital can manifest itself in many small and hidden ways too.
When I lived in Brooklyn, I would go to the same bodega every morning for my coffee and breakfast sandwich. There were a couple times I was in a rush and forgot my wallet, but since the store owner knew me well and recognized me, he trusted me enough to let me pay next time. That may seem like a trivial thing, but it’s something that can only be accomplished with a minimal level of trust or social capital. If I were a completely random stranger I wouldn’t get that benefit.
Through third spaces, you begin to run into the same people, build a sense of familiarity and comfort, and start connecting with them on a level beyond random stranger, even just the act of seeing a familiar face and saying “Hi” can give a nice boost to your day (learn the power of “10 second” relationships).
Find a Healthy Dose of Third Spaces
No matter how introverted or extraverted you are, everyone needs a healthy dose of social interaction. Third spaces provide opportunities to meet new people, connect with a broader community, and expand our social circle. Often just finding one third space where you feel comfortable and connect with like-minded people can make a big difference in the quality of your social life. Find a third space that works best for you and make it a part of your daily, weekly, or monthly routine.
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Science literacy is a crucial skill for modern students. It equips them with the knowledge to critically evaluate information, understand scientific concepts, and make informed decisions in a rapidly changing world.
In today’s digital age, however, both students and educators are at risk of information overload. Each day, we are bombarded with content from websites, social media, and a hundred other sources that demand our attention and seek to influence our behavior. It’s enough to make the human brain short circuit.
So, how do we prepare our students to navigate this confusing world of digital tools without getting lost in a jungle of misinformation? We start by cultivating a mindset that makes critical engagement second nature, and that fosters the confidence they need to meet challenges head on.
Here are just five simple strategies that can help students navigate science literacy in the digital age:
1.Is It CRAAP?:The CRAAP strategy teaches students to evaluate information sources based on five criteria: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. This teaches students to first ask important questions like, “How old is this information?”, “Is it being published by a reliable source?” and “How does this compare to other research?” This allows students to assess the reliability of the information and helps them discern credible sources from misleading ones.
2.Employ fact-checking websites: It never hurts to call in a professional. Educators should encourage students to fact-check their own information against websites like FactCheck.org and Snopes. Both websites do a great job explaining why something is true or false and what details may have been embellished.
3.Bias Bingo:This activity engages students in identifying different types of bias in texts, advertisements, or media by marking corresponding squares on a bingo card. This interactive exercise helps students develop critical thinking skills and recognize bias, enhancing their ability to evaluate information objectively. There are many free bingo creator sites where educators can create their own cards to use with their students.
4.Data your way: Students can take ownership of their learning by choosing how they represent their data from an investigation. This will stretch their abilities and teach them a new way to graph or chart data. They may also observe other students’ representations and want to learn that method. By sharing different representations with students, educators can allow them to rank them in order of how best they represent the data. As students grow in their data representation skills, they can start providing feedback to their own data representation creations.
5.Data choice chart: As students start learning how to make their own data representations, educators should use this resource to maximize their growth. The flowchart helps students determine what sort of graph representation they might want to make for their investigation. From there, they can use the graphing tips to help them create a representation that can successfully show what happened in their investigation.
Let’s face it–teaching students science literacy is a challenge that won’t be solved overnight. It will take diligence, creativity, and more than a little grit. Still, by using simple strategies and keeping up with the latest digital tools, teachers can create a path forward for students in the ever-changing digital landscape. With the right attitude, students won’t just tackle the problems of today—they’ll create a future where curiosity, critical thinking, and a steadfast commitment of scientific inquiry can flourish.
Cory Kavanagh, Van Andel Institute for Education
Cory Kavanagh is a Learning Specialists for Van Andel Institute for Education, a Michigan-based education nonprofit dedicated to creating classrooms where curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking thrive.
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If you were on your deathbed right now, what would your biggest regrets be? The answer can change the way you decide to live the rest of your life.
Thinking about death can change how we live our lives. Our time on Earth is limited, and this realization can completely shift our perspective. It puts our real values and priorities into sharp focus, causing us to step back and re-evaluate if we are living our current lives in the best way possible.
When I was going through a period of depression in college, I would take the bus to the local cemetery by myself with nothing but my camera. I’ve always been comfortable with solitude and doing things alone, but these cemetery walks were an especially meaningful and humbling experience for me. Walking among the graves and reading the names of people I’d never know showed me that life is much bigger than my ego. The realization that death is a necessary part of life sparked me to reevaluate and see the bigger picture behind my choices and actions.
These cemetery walks were a powerful reminder that I would be dead one day too – but not yet – and that filled me with a sense of power and responsibility so long as I’m still breathing.
How people think about death can have a profound effect on their psychology. Some people face the prospect of mortality by ignoring it and engaging in escapist behaviors driven by materialism (“buy more things”) or hedonism (“seek more pleasure”). Others embrace the prospect of death and recognize that it means they need to make the most of their time here before it’s too late.
In the popular book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, Bronnie Ware documents her experiences in palliative care, working closely with those who had terminal illnesses or were approaching the end-of-life. She identified five main regrets of the dying based on conversations and confessions with those on their deathbeds.
This article will outline her main findings along with my personal thoughts on each one.
Deathbed Motivation: Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
According to Bronnie Ware, the five most common regrets shared by people nearing death were:
“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
It’s cliché but true: you only have one life to live.
Many people cave to social pressures to choose paths in life that are expected of them, such as what school to attend, or what career to pursue, or what types of relationships to cultivate. However, what brings one person happiness isn’t necessarily what brings another person happiness. If we only try to make others happy, we often end up neglecting our own needs, wants, passions, and ideals.
Understanding your core values is one of the most important steps you can take in life. Knowing what you really want will help you make choices that are harmonious with what you really care about, not just what you think you “should do” or “ought to do.” One interesting study published in the journal Emotions found that our most enduring and long-lasting regrets are usually “ideal-related,” such as personal goals and aspirations.
Our biggest regrets are often the things we didn’t do but always wanted to, like starting a rock band, or writing a book, or traveling to a place we always wanted to visit.
“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
Most people don’t lay on their deathbeds thinking, “I wish I spent more time at my job.”
Work is important and it can be fulfilling, but many people in today’s world become myopically focused on advancing in their jobs/careers or making more money by any means necessary (sometimes even in unhealthy, destructive, or unethical ways).
We wrongly believe that wealth is the only real measure of value in life, and thus we get distracted from other important things like spending more time with family, taking care of our health, giving back to our community, or pursuing personal passions.
In our materialistic and consumerist culture, nothing seems more important than “working hard” and “making money,” but as the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you when you die.”
“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
We often have trouble expressing our true feelings toward people because we see emotions as weakness or we don’t want to risk being vulnerable.
This is especially true when it comes to feelings of love, gratitude, and appreciation. There are some families, cultures, and couples where it’s rare to hear the words, “I love you,” or “I appreciate you.” The feelings are taken for granted, but they are never explicitly said.
It’s important that we learn to express love and appreciation toward others while we still can (including toward family, friends, loved ones, or mentors), because we will often regret it if we miss our chance.
Recently I wrote my mom a thank you letter for her birthday. It helped me communicate a lot of feelings that I’ve always had but were difficult to say out-loud. It felt like an emotional weight was lifted off my shoulders once I finally expressed my tremendous gratitude for her and everything she’s done for me.
There are also people I’ve lost in life whom I was never able to tell that I appreciated them. Those are regrets I’ll have to live with – the crucial lesson is don’t miss the opportunity to tell people you love them while you still can.
“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
One common theme in life is that relationships come and go.
Our circle of friends often changes dramatically throughout high school, college, and into adulthood, especially when we move to new places or leave our hometowns. We tend to lose touch with people over time. Those who were once “best friends” we now go years without even speaking to.
In theory, it’s easier to stay in touch with people now more than ever; old friends and family are just a call, text, or email away, yet we rarely take advantage of these opportunities.
It’s never too late to check in on past connections. It can seem awkward at first to reach out to those we haven’t seen in years, but often they will appreciate the gesture and you both will enjoy reconnecting and reminiscing about your shared past.
The simple act of checking in on people on a regular basis (such as holidays, birthdays, reunions, etc.) can preserve our social connections over time and remind us all the positive relationships and social support we have. Each person you stay in touch with is another layer of meaning in your life.
“I wish that I had let myself be happier.”
People are too busy these days to be happy.
We get easily trapped in the hustle and bustle of daily life with work, school, chores, family, and other responsibilities and obligations. In the midst of all this, many forget the simple art of stepping back and finding happiness in the moment.
You don’t need to wait for something life-changing to be happy. Many people don’t realize that happiness is in their control and you can start finding it in little things, like savoring positive experiences, counting your blessings, having things to look forward to, and prioritizing positive activities. These are habits that are available to anyone no matter what their current situation is in life. You don’t need to be rich or famous; in fact, sometimes those people are the most distracted and least happy.
If happiness is a skill, then it’s something that’s worth learning. It isn’t magic, it’s a direct result of how you think, act, and view your world.
The Time That Remains
If you are reading this right now, then you still have power over how you live the rest of your life. Every new breath is a symbol of this power.
Which of the big five regrets do you relate to the most? Living too much by other people’s expectations, focusing too much on work, not communicating your true feelings, losing touch with old friends and family, or simply not finding time for more happiness?
These are important questions worth reflecting on. Take a moment to imagine yourself on your deathbed, which regrets would hurt the most? What can you still do about it?
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APA! has always operated outside of the “typical” role that animal
welfare plays. Our teams and programming have contributed to thousands
of lives saved and as we’ve continued to grow our organization and
lifesaving, we recognized that much more needs to be done for the people
who have given their time, talents and love to the animals who need us
most!
A new commission comprising policymakers, education leaders, business leaders, and education stakeholders from 16 states is tackling AI’s role in education from kindergarten through postsecondary programs, focusing on AI skill readiness and policy development.
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Commission on Artificial Intelligence in Education is chaired by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and is co-chaired by Brad D. Smith, president of Marshall University (WV) and former Intuit CEO.
The commission will review research and industry data and hear from education experts as it develops recommendations for southern states around using AI in teaching and learning, developing AI-related policies, and preparing students for careers in AI.
Top of mind for commission members after the group’s initial meeting was how to ensure AI is thoughtfully infused in K-12 and postsecondary curricula in a manner that equips students for success in a workforce that will demand AI skills and know-how for jobs that largely do not yet exist.
“This isn’t the age of Rosie the Robot taking over jobs–there will be jobs. The question is, are we going to have people equipped to fill those jobs?” said SREB President Dr. Stephen Pruitt during a conference to discuss the group’s first meeting.
The commission’s first meeting generated discussions about what, exactly, AI looks like at different levels of education and how to integrate it in useful and actionable ways for students, educators, and stakeholders.
“We have a blueprint of what it looks like to implement this technology into different fields of education and what types of relationships that creates with the workforce. We have a plan and we’re ready to progress that plan,” said Calvin McNeil, an Advanced Placement computer science instructor with the University of Florida.
Bringing in industry members is a critical part of the commission’s success in outlining what AI skill proficiency looks like at the K-12 and postsecondary levels.
“One of the great things, from education and the legislative side, is having the active involvement of industries and knowing what they’re looking for, so we can get back to schools and know what needs to be taught,” said Charles Appleby, senior advisor to the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.
Ultimately, the group’s common goal is to ensure students aren’t lagging behind a rapidly evolving workforce that is increasingly centered around AI knowledge.
“Everyone here, from diverse perspectives, recognizes the importance and the critical nature of this technology. Our charge is to balance risks and opportunities in the education space,” said Sen. Katie Fry Hester of Maryland. “In thinking about education, you can use AI to tailor education to individual students, to improve mundane tasks, and to look at large data sets and identify trends. But we want to do all that in a really careful way and make sure the AI we’re using is fair and unbiased. We want to make sure student data stays safe. We want to ensure that with our teachers’ jobs, that the AI enhances, rather than replaces, the role of teachers. I think this is the right group to do that.”
“We’re really preparing our institutions to prepare people for a world that’s changed. They say about 60 percent of our jobs will be impacted by AI. Well, how do we use that technology to better prepare students for a world that will be very different from the world we’re currently in?” said Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
“We’re bringing together industry, students, and parents, and we’re going to take advantage of what AI offers, which is a unique tool we can use to improve skillsets for the work environment. Students end up in a position where they can meet the needs of the job market,” said Stanton Greenawalt, professor of Cybersecurity at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in South Carolina.
Ensuring all students have access to AI skill development will play an important role in equity and access if AI skill frameworks reach students across all trajectories, particularly because education is key to economic mobility.
“In Florida, we’ve developed frameworks for learning standards going through our CTE division. In this division, students are learning high-level concepts, allowing them to become employable as we talk about this new Industrial Revolution 4.0, where there are jobs that haven’t been created yet,” said Nancy Ruzycki, an instructional associate professor and director of Undergraduate Laboratories at the University of Florida. “So, what skills do they need to learn, and how do we help them prepare? Helping people get into the AI pipeline provides equity and access for all students.”
Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Or you can chase trends on Reels & TikTok that hurt your music’s reach in the long-run.
How exactly do social trends hurt musicians, you ask? Well…
Here’s one cautionary tale about a friend of mine who had a video go viral — all for nothing:
Why social trends make bad music content
Social platforms have shifted from being follower-focused to recommendation-focused.
It used to be the norm that people who followed you were at least somewhat likely to SEE your posts. If they dug what they saw, they’d stick around and probably see your next post.
Facebook began shifting away from that dependable reach long ago. But the interaction between a creator and their community took a more drastic turn with short-form platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
I’m sure you’re well aware of this change, both as a creator and a user. “The algorithm” is now recommending a constant barrage of curated content, sourced from all the creators on the platform. This has made it more difficult for creators to reach their own following.
As Patreon’s founder Jack Conte said in a recent post:
The impact on creators, in many cases, has been catastrophic. Reaching your fans and building real community on the internet has never been harder.
You might think then, given this difficulty in engaging your community on social, that TRENDS would be the one way to actually reach people — since the trending concept already has proven viral energy, and you’re removing the specificity of your own music from the equation.
But the opposite is true: You need to lean even harder into what makes you unique — both on social and in your music. Every post should emphasize something important, fun, or moving about your artistry.
In other words, you can’t just be random entertainment in search of views and likes.
4 reasons viral trends can hurt your music
As I mentioned in the video above, “success” on social can be counterproductive for your music if what’s going viral isn’t directly tied to your music or musical persona. Here’s why:
1. Trends don’t often yield true fans
The reason the content works might not be the reason you want people to return.
You’re a musician. You want someone to love your music and come back for the music. If you make them laugh instead, or stir up some outrage, or do a crazy stunt (assuming those things have no obvious connection to your music), viewers don’t know who you are.
They’re responding to what you did in the video, nothing else. It’s unconnected to you.
Your social efforts should be about building the right community. Actual fans. So if you have a knack for humor, satire, or stunts, incorporate those elements into content that is, in some way, ABOUT your music.
2. Unfocused engagement “confuses” the algorithm
I don’t mean the algorithm is actually confused.
In fact, if your trend post is gaining traction, the algorithm knows exactly what it needs to know: Your post is great for some quick laughs, outrage, or wows. And it’ll show your post to people who want those things.
But that may also make it HARDER for the RIGHT people to find you, today and in the future.
3. You grow an audience of unqualified leads
If you pay to advertise on any of these social platforms, the wrong kinds of attention can dilute your data, creating more work for you and driving up marketing costs.
A social post succeeding for the wrong reasons may increase the size of the audience you’re advertising to while simultaneously decreasing the percentage likelihood that any of the viewers will click the button, care about your call-to-action, or end up purchasing/converting.
Costs up. Morale down.
4. It’s not what you’re meant to do!
I saved the most important thing for last.
Did you learn to write songs in order to be a content-creator or widget-maker, helping to keep random users glued to an app for another 15 seconds?
No, the platforms should work for you — not the other way around.
And the viewers don’t need trends from you, because they’re already struggling to keep up with the endless supply of trends in their feed every day.
What they need is YOU. And you need your audience to need you.
You have something to offer, something to say, some unique experience, perspective, or sound. Find it, and convey THAT with such focus on social that viewers instantly sense what makes you you.
That’s what true fans will come back for.
Should you NEVER do a trend?
Never say never.
If you can employ a trend to tell part of your story, great! But those posts should be the exception, and they should always relate to your creative life.
Why do so many musicians feel the pressure to hop on social-video trends though? As discussed above, trends can seem like a growth-hack. Again, for all the wrong reasons.
But there’s something else: Because artists wear both hats, we can easily confuse the creator experience with the user experience. When, in fact, those should be VERY different things.
Here’s what I mean:
Conclusion
Have you struggled with this as an artist? I think it’s pretty common.
And there is always gonna be some new trend tempting us to stray off the path.
Hopefully this article gives you a little more confidence to walk the road you’re meant to be on as an artist and person, even if that means your social following and engagement metrics grow more slowly than they might otherwise.
Tortoise and the hare. Quality over quantity. True fans over mere viewers.
CHICAGO – This week, the U.S. Senate introduced a bipartisan resolution designating March 4-8, 2024 as ‘‘National Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Week’’ to recognize the critical role SEL plays in supporting the academic success and overall well-being of students, educators, and families. The resolution was introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
President Joe Biden also recognized “National SEL Week” in a letter this week underscoring the importance of SEL to support the academic, social, emotional, and mental well-being of students that were a critical part of the Biden Administration’s two signature legislative achievements—the American Rescue Plan Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
This second annual “National SEL Week” comes at a critical time for students’ academic recovery and social and emotional development. With COVID-relief funds ending, education leaders are increasingly seeking sound, evidence-based investments in students’ learning and development.
A robust body of evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of SEL on academic outcomes. A 2023 meta-analysis led by Yale University reviewed more than 400 studies and found that students participating in SEL at school had higher “school functioning,” including grades, test scores, attendance, homework completion, and engagement. The research further demonstrates that SEL creates better conditions for learning as it found students saw decreases in aggression and bullying, anxiety, stress, depression, suicidality; felt safer at schools, and reported higher levels of inclusion, connectedness and healthy relationships.
Statement from U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)
“In America, we are facing a national youth mental health crisis, with children facing trauma and significant stress at home, in the community, and in school settings. We must focus on social and emotional learning to help students succeed both inside and outside the classroom. That begins with providing teachers with the tools needed to help students develop life skills. I’m introducing this resolution to designate this week as National Social and Emotional Learning Week and raise awareness around the need to support students’ social and emotional well-being.”
Statement from U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
“Every child deserves a learning environment that is welcoming and enriching. By showing students how to develop their empathy skills, express themselves, and respect others, social and emotional learning can help students achieve academic success, build strong relationships, and prepare for a lifetime of success.”
Statement from CASEL President & CEO Dr. Aaliyah A. Samuel
“We find ourselves in the aftermath of a global pandemic, in the wake of a youth mental health crisis and ongoing academic recovery. Social and emotional learning has never been more important to help address the challenges facing our students, and this bipartisan resolution demonstrates our nation’s shared commitment to the learning and well-being of all students. I want to thank Senators Durbin and Collins for their leadership, and call on leaders across the country to follow the evidence and support students’ academic, social and emotional needs.”
Celebrating National SEL Week 2024
Across the country, there is overwhelming support and demand for social and emotional learning (SEL). Young people, educators, families, business leaders, and others are focused on the critical skills and environments needed for academic success, healthy relationships, and brighter futures. National SEL Week is a time to come together in support of our nation’s students and showcase the powerful combination of support and evidence for SEL, culminating with International SEL Day on March 8.
This year’s celebrations for National SEL Week and International SEL Day focused on Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Leaders. To see how some districts are celebrating, check out this video from North Carolina and this story from New Jersey.
CASEL is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that founded the field of social and emotional learning. Today, we collaborate with leading experts and districts, schools, and states nationwide to drive research, guide practice, and inform policy. https://casel.org/
eSchool Media staff cover education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to best practices, to lessons learned and new products. First published in March of 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.
Online learning has limitless potential for students and teachers, offering the ability to learn from any location and at all times of the day. Let’s take a look at some of the latest online learning trends:
Is online learning really effective?
The short answer: Yes. Flexible, hybrid learning is key to student success. Schools should reimagine the learning processes and leverage in-person and hybrid learning to help students achieve the best possible results. The potential for innovation and student engagement are only scratching the surface when it comes to the advantages of online learning. Having many new, effective tools in educators’ toolboxes, it’s time to cast aside conventional processes and rethink the way we provide services to, and support, our students. Take the first steps toward this innovation.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning?
A student’s motivation in school is a key driver of their academic success. Yet, the demanding nature of high school classes, mixed with a teenager’s natural craving for independence and individual identity, can stand in the way of that motivation. COVID-19 took a toll on student motivation, and 80 percent of educators are still feeling the effects. Following the rapid and sudden shift to online learning, parents and educators remain concerned about keeping online students motivated and engaged. In fact, challenges around online student engagement remain among the most-discussed disadvantages of online learning. As we move past the pandemic and rethink the role of online education, it’s vital to education reform that teachers remain focused on fostering student motivation.
What are the challenges of online learning?
Many often wonder what happens to students’ social skills when they are enrolled in online learning programs–after all, students don’t have in-person interactions with their peers through this learning modality. But students enrolled in online learning don’t have to miss out on social opportunities–in fact, it’s easier to facilitate balanced social growth than previously believed. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for students to foster social connections during online schooling, and there are strong social online learning examples available. Kids who are enrolled in online learning can still connect with their peers in virtual breakout rooms and should be given every opportunity to meet up informally during the school day. Learn how to foster such connections.
How can online learning help you?
There are many online learning platforms for students to connect them with engaging and motivating learning experiences. Online learning can help students who are sick for long periods and not able to be physically in school. It also can connect students to learning opportunities not available in their home districts, such as specialized language learning or advanced courses with no local instructors. Online learning also can help families stay or return to their local public schools–a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach. Families want options for their children’s education, and these options must be of high quality. Partnering with an experienced provider to offer high-quality online learning is one way traditional schools can give students more options—and it’s an important strategy for attracting and retaining families.
What is the future of online learning?
District virtual schools are dynamic alternatives to conventional schooling, ripe for transformation to cater to the diverse needs of 21st-century learners. It’s time to transform district virtual schools from pandemic stop-gaps into pioneering models of 21st-century learning. The sustainability of district virtual schools hinges on whether they can evolve beyond the current versions we see in most districts. Here’s how to ensure online learning is innovative, impactful, and long-lasting.
Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
This worksheet mentions several mental tools and relaxation techniques that are essential for making the most of your anxiety hierarchy. Here are links to learn more about each one.
