As the pandemic intensified in March, Sophia Joffes school in Toronto nimbly transitioned to remote learning. Even so, Ms. Joffe, then an 11th grader, had trouble coping with social isolation and focusing in virtual class.
She assumed Canadian and American school systems would have supplemental resources for online learning, but found few, and the ones she did find lacked quality and variety. I realized that there was an opportunity sitting right in front of me, she said.
So Ms. Joffe created eLearn.fyi, a database of more than 300 online learning tools, including a civics curriculum founded by Sandra Day OConnor, the former Supreme Court justice, and engineering lessons on how to build a robotic arm. Her goal was to collect enough resources, she said, that students or parents would be able to find learning sites and lessons that would meet their education needs.
She spent $19 to host a website and contacted software companies for free licenses. It took her a few months to compile the resources, but once she did, students responded. By October, Ms. Joffes database included over 500 unique visitors from more than 40 countries.
Among those visitors were Ms. Joffes own friends and teachers, who found subject-specific tools through her site.
It was confirmation for me that what I had done was really successful, she said.
And though she is proud of her achievement, Ms. Joffe wonders: Where are the adults? Our governments need to be working in partnership with tech companies to put the Netflix of online learning into action, she said. I dont understand why that isnt happening now.read more
The Learning Bulletin Board
