Learning Remote and
“Adventist education is the longest and largest evangelistic event in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” —John Wesley Taylor V, associate education director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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o say that things have been challenging for PK-12 educators in the Mid-America Union Conference this past year is an understatement. Education overall in the United States faced a crisis again with the looming threat of the coronavirus pandemic forcing schools across the country to develop new strategies for education, provide training for school staff and students in cybersecurity/online learning strategies, and install monitoring/filtering software on school-issued devices. Additionally, many students were not able to fully participate in their school’s education program due to limitations of devices and/or internet access.
Looking back Throughout the school year, teachers continued to brainstorm strategies for keeping students connected and engaged. Students and teachers need to connect countless times throughout the day, whether for class discussions, teacher-student conferencing or just chatting about upcoming projects or
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events. Remote learning can be frustrating given the many interruptions and distractions of “doing the business of school” virtually while in the home environment. Student engagement— both academically and
emotionally—fast became a concern. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the mental health of many students. Throughout the United States, depression, anxiety and suicidal thought rates significantly