The Website That Tells Kids To Go Out And Play

As demand for career and technical education grows among high schoolers looking for alternatives to costly college degrees, companies like Stride Inc. have expanded online career training programs across the country, offering virtual career academies, hands-on practice kits, job shadowing, and live instruction in career tracks ranging from business to agriculture.

A Ukrainian community transformed a rural high school biology classroom into a fully-equipped research lab with field stations and youth training programs, enabling students to conduct real scientific experiments and inspiring career choices in environmental fields. The broader community's relationship with nature has also shifted from resource extraction to ecosystem stewardship.

With school shut down due to the spread of coronavirus, distance learning has become the norm in many cities and parents have largely had to adjust their roles to include teaching and supervision. To help with this adjustment, teachers have begun offering online homeschooling classes that teach parents how to facilitate learning for their children.

To help students access the resources they need while schools are closed due to the coronavirus, administrators in China are utilizing "a national cloud learning platform," as well as broadcast television. While both supplement online lessons, the e-learning approach equips students with tools to learn 12 different subjects.

The "maker" movement is a growing trend in education that allows students to learn in a creative, hands-on, project-based way that develops an idea in real time using tools and technology. The annual Maker Faire in Queens brings together people who utilize this strategy in the classroom, and educators testify to how it is getting students engaged in a way they hadn't before.

Mat-Su Central is a hybrid homeschool that provides a flexible, personalized learning environment for both students and their families. Each student receives an individual learning plan that takes the student’s strengths and weaknesses into account, while still ensuring they’re meeting course requirements for graduation. As a result of the pandemic and increased rates of bullying and anxiety among students, enrollment in this hybrid homeschool option has quadrupled over the past 20 years.

New Jersey schools are working to make climate education widespread by implementing general education standards that include climate change education in every grade and subject. These new education standards have been inspiring students to brainstorm solutions to climate-related issues like reducing food waste and increasing coastal resiliency. The state has also earmarked $5 million to help local teachers attend professional development sessions to teach them how to create new climate change-focused lesson plans.

LEAP Africa is a Nigerian-based NGO that has helped thousands of students (in 26 Nigerian states and 8 African countries) develop leadership skills through a series of programs in partnership with various universities. Many program graduates have gone on to solve problems in their local communities by implementing their newfound skills, but some students struggle with limited internet access.

A number of state corrections departments are using virtual reality to teach inmates a range of basic skills they might've missed the chance to acquire while incarcerated. The VR programs have helped reduce aggressive behavior, facilitate empathy with victims, and drop recidivism rates. A short-term pilot initiative in Alaska, for example, incorporated mindfulness techniques through VR that resulted in decreased reports of depressive or anxious feelings and fewer disciplinary write-ups.

The Nature Conservancy's Wings & Water program allows fourth graders to explore Utah's Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve with educators in an effort to teach them the value of protecting nature.