Free Resources for Schools During COVID-19 Outbreak（one）
date：2020-03-25 09:45author：Dian Schaffhausersource：Industry Newsviews：
(Updated March 24; originally published March 13) In response to the number of states, districts and schools that are shuttering schools to students over the next several weeks in response to fears about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), education technology companies have stepped forward to help educators reach students in virtual ways. In many cases, the companies are making their paid services free through the rest of the school year; in other cases, they're lifting limits to services and/or adding premium features to what's free. The following list will be updated regularly as announcements are made. (If you know of a company that should be included on this list, please send details to dschaffhauser@1105media.com.)
The Academy of Active Learning Arts and Sciences and the Flipped Learning Global Initiative have published the "Rapid Transition to Online Learning," a roadmap for making the rapid shift to online learning during school closures. The resources include a checklist for administrators, another for IT managers, a transition plan and video tutorial for teachers and access to an international team of volunteers who have stepped forward to answer questions. The organization is continuing to seek volunteers for the program. http://aalasinternational.org/rtol/
Achieve3000 is offering free access to resources for differentiated literacy instruction. Educators can access three different programs. Achieve3000 Literacy at Home offers access to non-fiction articles at three reading levels with topics covering science, social studies and current events. Premium licenses for Actively Learn, for grades 6 -12, provides thousands of texts, including contemporary and classic literature, with collaboration and discussion tools to facilitate interactive remote instruction for English language arts, science and social studies. For students without internet, the company is offering "Literacy Printable Packets," a set of text sets with 20 printable articles and questions. The company said those text packets add up to a month's worth of content differentiated for students who are at-, below- and above- grade-level in their reading abilities. Lessons can be downloaded and sent home by email or printed out. https://achieve3000.com/community-resources/remote-learning-2020/
Adobe is offering free access to Creative Cloud tools through May for home use by students attending schools that currently only provide lab access through May. https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/covid-19-education-labs.html
Age of Learning is offering families at affected schools free at-home access to ABCmouse, a learning resource for ages 2 to 8; Adventure Academy, is open for students ages 8 to 13; and ReadingIQ, a digital library and literacy platform is available for children 12 and under. https://www.ageoflearning.com/
Amazon's program, Amazon Future Engineer, is providing free online access to sponsored computer science courses in the United States. That's intended for learners in grades 6-12, and teachers who are remotely teaching this age group. Parents can also access this curriculum. Future Engineer typically targets under-represented students to draw them into CS education. Courses include "Computer Science Explorations" for middle schoolers; and "Introduction to Computer Science in Python" and the Advanced Placement-oriented "Computer Science Principles" and "Computer Science A." The company is working with curriculum partner, Edhesive, to grant teachers and students access to these free courses shortly after they complete an online application. https://edhesive.com/amazon/free_access
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