Quarantine campuses: With dorms shut and class online, students DIY college life

The Pakistani government uses technology, like a state-owned TV channel that broadcasts content for grades 1-12 and apps sourced for free by ed-tech companies, to help the over 50 million school children without broadband internet or digital device access. The TV channel has over 54 million subscribers and there is a text-messaging service that allows its 250,000 subscribers to talk to professional teachers. Despite the digital divide, the use of educational apps has also skyrocketed since the Covid-19 pandemic. However, technology is not a silver bullet to solve the country’s deep education inequalities.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused universities to close campuses and forced classes to transition to virtual formats. While this transition has had its limitations for many – especially those who lack reliable access to the internet, a computer, or a work space – professors are working together and learning from their failures to provide an education for their students while also prioritizing their health and well-being.

As higher education institutions struggle to attract students wiling to pay the exorbitant cost to attend, one subset of schools has had a particularly challenging past few decades -- alternative schools. But some are surviving, by evolving their focus, merging with other schools, and getting creative financially to reduce costs for students.

Through a new partnership, the University of Oregon's bookstore is embracing e-books as part of its inventory. These online alternatives help students to save money they would otherwise be spending on heavy hardcover textbooks.

Although the pandemic brought many difficulties to school across the globe, some institutions saw it as the time to innovate and rethink learning delivery. Cambridge High School Extension Program, "an alternative school for academically struggling students," decided to start school later in the day, schedule one-on-on sessions for students with their teachers, and distributed computers and Wi-Fi hotspots. The result has been nearly a 50% decrease in the number of chronically absent students, and an increase from 20 to 60% of students achieving honor roll.

A school in the city of Port Angeles has been reopened since October 2020, it offers valuable pandemic lessons for other schools that are in the process of reopening. Aside from logistical things like temperature checks, there are other things teachers are looking out for in classroom: mental health, energy levels, and teaching kids how to learn again. “Right now, my priority is less about content, and more about executive functioning — reteaching students how to learn."

In Nigeria, nonprofit organizations are helping to organize and deliver virtual journalism-related training to university students who can't attend classes as normal due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although some students have said that the organizations aren't always transparent about the price of the webinars, many have reported that their writing has improved and they have made connections with others.

A collaboration between Ohio's Wooster City Schools and the College of Wooster has allowed for an enhanced educational experience for many students during the coronavirus pandemic. The partnership not only provides tutoring services to the K-12 students but has also "strengthened the bond between the college and its surrounding community."

Geology professors at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire have found ways to overcome the challenges of remote learning and delivered their students a new, and all-around more accessible, virtual class experience. The two professors leading the course recorded 3D video tours and took high-definition photos for students to virtually tour the city of Hanover, and they mailed students rock kits to supplement the learning material.

Brown Girls Do Gymnastics welcomes Black and Brown youth to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for summer camps that hone their skills and give them the HBCU campus experience. The organization also supports schools working to develop their own gymnastics programs as a part of its efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in the sport.