Kitchener, Waterloo, Sept. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global learning technology leader D2L released a new policy brief today on Supporting Social Emotional Learning to Help Enable Student Recovery. This latest research examines the toll and impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children and their ability to work and learn, and it calls for more resources to support healing and growth.
According to the policy brief, school systems urgently need to provide students with the social and emotional skills and mental health supports necessary to be resilient and grow. In May 2020, 29% of US parents surveyed reported that their children had “already experienced harm” to their mental health because of school closures and social distancing. Perhaps most troubling, for the majority of 2020, the percentage of young children and adolescents admitted to pediatric emergency rooms for mental health problems, such as panic and anxiety, was up 24 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
D2L recommends that systems and administrators:
- Create Social and Emotional Learning standards and guidance
- Provide fair and equal access to technologies that support student wellness and connectivity
- Provide social and emotional learning and mental health support training to teachers
“The policy brief highlights a growing consensus among parents, students, educators, and administrators that for students to learn and educators to teach effectively in this new environment, we must develop student social and emotional learning skills,” says Howie Bender, VP of K-12 at D2L. “As students go back to school – whether at home or in the classroom – resilient education systems that can develop these skills will have a positive impact beyond the classroom and into their communities with students that will be better prepared for the rapidly changing world around them.”
To further support social and emotional learning opportunities, D2L has partnered with the leading provider of social-emotional learning curriculum designed to help students, educators, and families develop emotional intelligence skills for long-term wellbeing.
“Giving children the social and emotional skills necessary to rally from this pandemic and persevere through other challenges must be our priority – and to accomplish this goal will require we prioritize time and financial resources to social and emotional learning and mental health curriculum, support and interventions,” says Sara Potler LaHayne, CEO & Founder of Move This World.
ABOUT D2L’S BRIGHTSPACE
D2L Brightspace is a cloud-based learning platform built for people who care deeply about student success.
It makes it easy to support exceptional student experiences in the classroom or fully online, to build meaningful connections with parents, and gives teachers tools they’re going to love. D2L Brightspace is worry-free with 99.99% reliability. It’s highly accessible and looks beautiful on any mobile device, making it easier for teachers to reach every learner and for every learner to reach their full potential. D2L Brightspace has been built for every grade level and supports non-readers.
D2L Brightspace has won multiple industry awards, including the best K-12 learning platform for the last two years in a row. To learn more, visit D2L K-12.
Move This World is the leading provider of social-emotional learning (SEL) multimedia experiences for PreK-12 students, educators, and families. Each piece of educational content is delivered through short interactive lessons and is grounded in the goal of empowering students to navigate the rapidly changing realities of their world - both in the classroom and throughout their lives. Designed for implementation that is both impactful and simple, the Move This World platform allows educators and families to incorporate SEL into their students’ schedules every day, without planning or prep. The extensive multimedia library provides a robust and engaging daily curriculum- experiences designed to empower students by strengthening the skills that foster wellbeing and establishing a common language among students, educators and families. These multimedia experiences are rooted in creative expression and participatory movement. Move This World has already impacted the lives of over two million students across 42 states. Learn more: movethisworld.com.
ABOUT D2L
D2L is transforming the way the world learns – helping learners of all ages achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with clients all over the world, D2L is supporting millions of people learning online and in person. Our 1,000 global employees are dedicated to making the best learning products to leave the world better than where they found it. Learn more about D2L for K-12, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com.
D2L MEDIA CONTACT
Christine D’Angela
Director, External Strategic Communications, D2L Corporation
pr@D2L.com
Twitter: @D2L
© 2021 D2L Corporation.
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