Denver, CO, March 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As of this week, 46 states across the country have mandated statewide school closures to slow the spread of COVID-19. As a result, schools across the nation - pre-K through college - have scrambled to implement distance learning capabilities so that academic work can continue.
mindSpark Learning, a Denver-based national nonprofit dedicated to empowering educators with industry-oriented professional learning experiences, has launched its free Distance Learning Online Toolkit to provide educators, families and all school partners opportunities to support remote teaching and overcome the challenges it brings, from technology needs to shifts in teaching practice to social and emotional support for all.
The online toolkit will provide valuable resources and educator networking communities, including:
- Online Professional Development (PD): live experiences (and access to recordings of each live PD) and community networks from mindSpark Learning’s ignite platform to upskill educators in a variety of topics, including AI with IBM AI Education, social emotional learning with ECHO
- Spotlight Courses: live and on-demand that are focused on online teaching and leading remotely
- Coffee Chats: “office hours” of sorts to build a community of educators that can lean on each other and mindSpark Learning for resources and support
- Parent Resources: resources and ideas to engage students with relevant content
- Distance Learning FAQ: created by real educators to navigate remote teaching challenges with expert answers and strategies
“This is an unprecedented situation we’ve found ourselves in and we’re here to foster collaboration among schools, community and industry partners to make this journey easier for educators and students,” said mindSpark Learning CEO Kellie Lauth. “Our team is committed to sharing mindSpark Learning’s core principles of resilience, empathy, problem solving and innovation to guide schools though our new reality of teaching and learning.”
Over the next few weeks, mindSpark Learning will also launch a leadership series for principals and school leaders, host Twitter polls and listening tours and broadcast daily how-to videos and chats for educators. The mindSpark Learning team is also providing real-time remote support for any educator with basic distance learning questions.
mindSpark Learning’s free Distance Learning Online Toolkit can be found at www.mymindsparklearning.org/online-toolkit.
About mindSpark Learning
mindSpark Learning, a Denver-based national nonprofit founded as Share Fair Nation in 2007 and rebranded in 2017, is the catalyst and intermediary between education and industry. It empowers educators with industry-oriented professional learning experiences, resulting in more students prepared for the modern workforce. It does so by leading programs and services designed to help schools understand workforce development, participate in work-based learning experiences, foster career literacy and directly connect students to mentors and authentic opportunities at a young age. Its core areas of focus are critical to today’s education landscape and include problem-based learning (PBL) STEM, EdTech, Social-emotional learning (SEL) and Equity-centered Design Thinking. These lay the foundation for skills that are inherently necessary for career success.
mindSpark Learning is re-engineering education by incorporating the voice of community leaders in a variety of fields - from education, to industry, to government. To date, mindSpark Learning has impacted more than 15,401 educators in 1,041 schools across 41 states. For more information, please visit www.mymindsparklearning.org.
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