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Education Dive
Online camps, added choice key to slowing summer slide amid coronavirus
Lauren Barack
June 10, 2020
Dive Brief:
As social distancing rules continue and most camps and pools are
closed, students are starting their summers indoors and online.
Interactive, live esports games and tools can help students make social
connections with peers while providing an educational boost, too,
according to two University of California, Irvine professors
interviewed by District Administration.
Online esports camps have instructors and high school volunteers who
guide students through the games. They can also help quell parents'
concerns about their children, especially those in younger grades,
being in a multiplayer digital space.
Children mostly direct their own learning — by building in Minecraft,
for example — as they learn about subjects from astronomy and business
to coding and engineering.
Dive Insight:
Summer slide, even before COVID-19, is a genuine concern educators face
every year. With students at home for the past few months learning
remotely, finding ways to engage them this summer may be even more
challenging.
One way is to allow students to select their own summer projects,
including options that dovetail with their interests and can help boost
their engagement and motivation to learn, notes a 2016 study from the
Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.
Some students may choose to write a paper or produce a portfolio or
poster that showcases research they’ve focused on during the summer
months. Minecraft, as the District Administration article notes, can
also be adopted as a learning tool, allowing students to collaborate
with each other inside the digital space on academic assignments in
subjects such as U.S. history.
Students shouldn't need to spend money in order to complete the
projects — a factor that, in the current economic environment, may be
an additional stressor for families. And administrators can help make
sure teachers have adequate resources, especially time to prepare,
follow and support students.
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