User:WikiWildWest11/sandbox

History:

21st Century:

In the past centuries, education has been labeled a priority for the future of the United States. Therefore, the continuation of learning is crucial no matter the economic standing of the United States. While the United States has questioned the continuation of education in the past, the unexpected introduction of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has proposed a threat to traditional public and private school systems. As of March 16, 2020 more than half of the 50 states in the United States have shut down all of their schools in response to COVID-19. With the rest of the school semester being unclear, school systems have been taking a remote approach. By March 26th and May 27th, schools are transitioning classes to online, homeschool style learning. This transition has challenged the United States Education System to adapt to at-home or home-school style learning utilizing technology. In the 21st Century, technology has been a leading recipe to education, and this pandemic shows just that. Although the global coronavirus pandemic forced United States schools' to depend on technology, studies have proved the success with using technology as an educational tool. Technology offers students high quality, current, and relevant information making it easier to process. While it is important for students to receive the most up-to-date information whether learning from home or at school, teachers can also direct students to trusted and informal sources to prevent confusion or misunderstandings. Over the years, data analytics has become embedded in almost every industry's data management, including education. Data Analytics is the science of collecting and analyzing raw data to come up with conclusions based specifically on the data. Educational platforms use data analytics to pinpoint areas of concern for particular students. Based on the students performance, teachers can alter their teaching styles and strategies to accommodate students based on their areas of concerns. Utilizing technology in and outside of the classroom will make you viable to learning other technological skills. Technological skills can vary from communicating by using text, to communicating information through graphs and charts. The usage of technology for educational purposes has also been presumed to improve student participation. Technology acts as an "engagement booster" for students who would not normally speak or participate in the classrooms. When attempting to ask for opinions, teachers can create polling systems, to assure all students are engaged and participating. Based on the classroom performance, teachers can also exercise their creativity through quiz customizations. Teachers can make polling and custom quizzes more engaging and competitive if they choose. In previous years, teachers would spend majority of their time keeping track of attendance, noting tasks completed, and recording quiz and test scores. With the technology the United States Education System has now, these tasks can be fully automated and noted. Considering attendance and grading being automated, teachers can invest that time into other learning activities or strategies.

cons:

Although technology has displayed positive outcomes, studies also highlight the negative impact technology can have on the United States of America's Education System. One of the issues regarding technology is the issue of speed. While we can receive information at significant speeds via technology, the accuracy of the information is at stake. Media use is subject to modifications that can change the overall representation of a video, photo or text. With technology acting as a learning tool, technology can also be viewed as a distraction. With so many things out there in the world to study, and so many functions available on these technological devices, it is easy for young adults to fall victim to internet browsing. As mentioned before, technology can engage students whom choose not to speak or participate, however technology generates less verbal communications amongst classmates and teacher. In the United States of America, there is a significant gap between students' of privileged and disadvantaged backgrounds. While virtually almost all students in privileged households have laptops or computers in their household, around 25% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds did not have that technology in their households. The effectiveness of online learning does not only vary amongst social class. Studies have proved that online learning can have more of a negative impact on you at younger ages than at older ages. For younger students it is almost required they have a structured environment. Within structured environment, younger students are more capable of growing in discipline and communication skills. It is a challenge for most teachers to make their learning activities fun and engaging to the younger audience.

learning during covid:

In response to COVID-19, many online learning platforms are making their services free due to the high demand. An online tutoring and educational firm, BYJU's, was one of the online learning platforms offering their services free of charge. BYJU's is based in Bangalore, and has seen a 200% increase in the number of students using their services, due to COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the largest "online movement" in the history of education with approximately 730,000 students actively attending classes via the Tencent Online school in Wuhan, China. While online learning platforms have began to transition their service to free of charge, some school districts are forming partnerships to offer local educational broadcasts for a variety of age groups. One of the partnerships formulated include The Los Angeles Unified School District and PBS SoCal/ KCET. This partnership is offering educational broadcasts to users varying in age groups. The Los Angeles Unified School District and PBS SoCal/ KCET partnership is offering separate channels designated to specific age groups.

Grading Scale:

Traditionally, Colleges and Universities tend to take on the formal letter grading scale, consisting of A, B, C, D, and F, as a way to base ones performance. In result to the COVID-19 pandemic, most Colleges and Universities were flooded with petitions proposing pass or fail options for students considering the difficulties with transitioning and managing during a state of emergency. Although most colleges and universities empathized with students expressing their frustration with transitioning online, transfer students implementing the pass or fail option are forecasted to having to retake the class. College credits for pass or fail classes have a low rate of being accepted by other colleges, forcing transfer students to sit through and pay for the same class they have already completed. While some colleges, such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Carnegie Mellon University, and North Carolina are permitting their students from weeks to months, to decide whether they will implement the pass or fail option offered by their college. While Harvard Medical School has previously been opposed to pass or fail grades, they have opened up to accepting pass grades.

Standardized Testing:

Most Universities are eliminating standardized testing due to the unfairness toward the candidates expected to participate in later test dates. According to Harvard College, this year they will make standardized test scores optional, empathizing with students having trouble scheduling exams during the coronavirus pandemic.

Funding for College:

With the unforeseen appearance of COVID-19, colleges and universities are in jeopardy of shutting down for good. Universities are being forced to refund money to students, invest in online technology and tools, making it harder to invest into empty campuses. Schools are defined as being in low financial health if their combined revenue and unrestricted assets will nolonger cover operating expenses in 6 years. Before COVID-19, 13 institutions were in danger of closing within 6 years in New England. With the presence of COVID-19, that number has increased to 25 institutions. Nationwide, because of the financial impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, 110 more colleges and universities are now at risk of closing. This labels the total number of colleges and universities in peril due to coronavirus pandemic to be 345 institutions. While prestigious colleges and universities have historically had financial cushion due to high levels of enrollment, private colleges at a low risk have dropped from 485 to 385. Federal coronavirus relief has assisted students and universities, however it has not been enough to bandage the financial wound created by COVID-19. Colby-Sawyer College located in New Hampshire has received about $780,000 in assistance through the United States Department of Education. About half of this money was dispersed amongst the student body. Colby-Swayer College was also capable of receiving a loan of $2.65 million, to avoid layoffs of their 312 employees.

International Comparison:

Although countries are at different infectious rates with COVID-19,