A WORD ON COVID-19
A NEW MODEL FOR EDUCATION
As we write this, the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has created chaos for schools across the USA and around the world. As a result,"distance learning" (also called distance education, e-learning, and online learning) has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight as school administrators, teachers, parents, and students re-imagine how education happens.
While distance learning takes place in many homes, that's not the case in some communities. The rapid shift to a new mode of education has forced us to recognize disparities in student access to personal computers and broadband Internet, calling into question how online learning can be equitable and not contribute to greater inequities in education and opportunity.
At Explorer At Large, we have always planned to offer access to our ecosystem of learning beyond the Partner Locations we select and partner with. It was our intention to add a much broader online community with specific portals for students, teachers, and parents to facilitate and reward online participation. As a result of COVID-19, we are now accelerating that plan, planning to launch an online version of Explorer At Large in Spring 2021 in a new initiative for NASA called Project Ianos. This will allow us to bring curiosity and courage to people all over the country and the world, giving us greater reach and impact.
Like so many aspects of our world, education in the future will be different from what it was before the pandemic. More classrooms will find value in a hybrid model blending both classroom- and distance-learning. Explorer At Large seeks to play a role in that new reality, as we feel the world is, now more than ever, in need of generations of students who have an explorer's mindset and an explorer's skillset.
We invite funders who would like to support our mission to please contact us for more information.