Episode 91 | Innovations during the COVID‑19 Pandemic around the World

This is a study of educational innovations which emerged during the pandemic, examined through the framework of educational change proposed in the recent UNESCO report on the Futures of Education https://en.unesco.org/futuresofeducation/

The book includes 31 case studies examining innovations in a range of domains, from instruction, to family engagement, to emotional development. All of them demonstrate entrepreneurial use of existing resources, to meet the emerging needs created by the social distancing which was adopted in many jurisdictions as a way to contain the spread of the pandemic. However, the innovations tackle challenges that predated the pandemic and, as such, have value beyond the conditions created during the emergency. For instance, the imperative to support students in their socio-emotional development, predated the pandemic, and will continue beyond the pandemic, the crisis simply made this need more visible. The innovative programs to meet these needs developed during the pandemic will likely have value once the public health emergency has subsided.

Link to the book: Learning to Build Back Better Futures for Education: Lessons from educational innovation during the covid-19 pandemic

Also here is the link to the OECD book: How Learning Continued during the COVID-19 Pandemic

More about our guests below the video

Fernando M. Reimers is the Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative and of the International Education Policy Masters Program at Harvard University. An expert in the field of Global Education, his research and teaching focus on understanding how to educate children and youth so they can thrive in the 21^st century. He is a member of UNESCO’s independent commission on the Futures of Education which authored the report ‘Reimagining Our Futures Together: A new social contract for education’. He has written or edited forty-three academic books on education and several children’s books.

His most recent publications include: Education to Build Back Better.

What can we Learn from Education Reform for a Post-Pandemic World, Primary and Secondary Education during COVID-19, University and school collaborations during a pandemic, An Educational Calamity: Learning and teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic, Leading Education Through COVID-19, Education and Climate Change: the Role of Universities, Implementing Deeper Learning and 21^st Century Reforms: Building an education Renaissance after a Global Pandemic, Educating Students to Improve the World, Audacious Education Purposes. How governments transform the goals of education systems, Empowering teachers to build a better world. How six nations support teachers for 21^st century education. More information about his work is available here https://fernando-reimers.gse.harvard.edu/

Anustup Nayak serves as a Project Director at Central Square Foundation, leading the Classroom Instruction & Practice team. Central Square Foundation is working to transform the school education system in India to improve the learning outcomes of all children, especially from low-income communities

He brings close to two decades of on-ground experience in education reform. As a member of the founding team at XSEED Education (an innovative teaching-learning program impacting learning in 3000 schools), he has played roles spanning advocacy, teacher training, leadership development, assessment, and EdTech. His work has been published in the Harvard Business Review Online, Forbes Magazine and the MIT Journal of Innovations. Anustup holds an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an M.S from the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy.

Leandro Folgar is the president of Plan Ceibal. He has a degree in Education (Catholic University of Uruguay, UCU) and a masters degree in Technology, Innovation and Education from Harvard University. He is a Fulbright alumnus, entrepreneur, and consultant for the corporate sector. He worked as a researcher and teacher at the Human Sciences and Business Sciences departments of UCU. Learning environments of the 21st century is his line of research. He also specializes in Active Teaching Methods and Adult Development. He is also a professor at UCU Business School and UCU Education Department.