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Updated: Apr 23, 2020


Many schools and campuses have moved to online Platforms such as Zoom and Schoology for virtual education, but students and staff have been met with more than just the traditional technological difficulties.


Depending on your role, you may have directly or indirectly encountered the same technological barriers to teaching and in some instances, learning.


It is true. The economic hardship for K-20 institutions is grave. Some states are requiring higher education institutions to issue a 90% refund of room, board and fees. Across the nation, students are complaining that online education, is not quite what they signed up for. Harsh budgetary realities will only further impact our educational systems.


While refunds, and other forms of financial resolve for students and their families sounds ideal, what we find all too often, is that the money is not behind the mandate.


What does this mean?


Institutions may be forced to cut the very positions that HELP students succeed. Once thought of as niceties, now more than ever, student success positions will be a necessity to ensure that at-risk students can overcome existing and new obstacles. This is a new opportunity to re-define vulnerability and to take stock of not just what students needs, but also the faculty and staff that are supporting them on their journey across the finish line.


At-risk students should not be defined solely as students that start at a deficiency. Now, at-risk students are all students that cannot work, didn’t study in a pass/fail environment, and are lacking the perseverance and determination to work hard. As students adapt to a new reality of lessened expectations, they are lulled into an environment that dulls the motivation to work hard.


The potential for a widening of the achievement gap is real.

What happens when students return to “in-person” classes? Will they have the knowledge base to survive? Educators will be ready to hit the ground running and many students will be 10 steps behind the course prerequisites. In this time, we must think proactively.


  • What will your institution do to help students catch up?

  • What will your institution do when COVID resurges?

  • What will you do to provide physical distancing for 30 students in a classroom that holds 28?

  • How will you combat micro aggressions related to COVID19 and the attitudes and stereotypes students, faculty and staff may need assistance overcoming?

Reality Check ✅
Microaggressions still exists.
There are disparities in the access and use of technology.
Assigning Pass/Fail grades will further widen the disparities and achievement gap, not close it.





Civic engagement and Problem Based Learning is the answer! K-20 schools need resources to learn about how to make meaningful connections with students and create community in an online environment.


Our resource, "Creating Connections" has been purchased by over 10,000 educators from across the nation. We want to help the community that has supported us as a WMBE business. For a limited time, we are offering a FREE E copy of this book.

Click below to claim your copy.











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Updated: Apr 3, 2020


Digital Download


Digital Download


There's no doubt that the COVID-19 crisis has presented us with unprecedented circumstances that stretch the boundaries of our comfort zone. In what can seem like bleak times, it's also an opportunity to be unique and meet students in their comfort zone - ONLINE. It's critical as we all move forward as virtual educators that we consider how to infuse equity into our work. We know that many students and families are without a device or internet. We also know that one crisis can be the tipping point that creates disaster for under-resourced individuals and organizations. Ask yourself this question:


How are you meeting the needs of students without a device?


How are you ensuring that students continue to have a support system that fosters success?


How will you engage students online - knowing how difficult it is to engage them face-to-face?


An online environment offers students the opportunity to control their learning and educational pace. Some students will thrive in these conditions and others will revert to habits of disengagement and apathy. We cannot wait to respond to student performance. We must act proactively.


You CAN create meaningful connections with students in an online environment, but it requires forward thinking and a new approach to hanging out - virtually. Don't be dismayed if you reach out and hear crickets chirping. When you try to forge a relationship in person, it usually takes time. It can take even more time online. You might also find a quicker response from some students.


We are all stretched for time as we race forward into launching our educational rocket into the unknown galaxy of online engagement. Use strategic equity and inclusion planning as you begin your work.

Include things like:

•Involving students as participants in the planning process. Ask them what they want.

•Encourage students to use their personal gifts to help others (tutoring, supplemental instruction, service projects, educational programs).

•Don't forget cultural competence training for staff. This can be done virtually, too!

•Listen and respond empathically to students and staff.

•Urge forward movement by everyone! It's necessary and will provide purpose and a distraction from the crisis.


Take advantage of resources like "Creating Connections". This E-book will help you craft a plan for success that provides tangible ideas for online events, academic success strategies, strategic planning, and online advising and coaching. You'll also get 32 cultural competency training modules that can be delivered to staff via email. We call this "Inclusion in an Instant". We realize how urgent the need is for this type of resource, so you can download this right now and be ready to implement the information immediately.


This crisis is not a short-term blip on the radar. It is a new reality that will endure for months. How we respond as educators will demonstrate our ability to be nimble, problem solvers that are essential to the future of our institutions. We don't know if students will be able to return to physical campuses in the Fall. The economic reality of refunds, extra expenses, hits on enrollment, and state-wide budgetary realities may necessitate budgetary cuts in the near future. Remain MORE THAN RELEVANT, as you move forward. Be transformative as you create connections in online learning communities and you will ensure student success and solidify your role as a campus leader.

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Updated: Mar 24, 2020


What’s Popping in Education?!


We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a SNACK BREAK !


Read from start to finish or pop around and see what's happening across the nation in education. *



"I am not sure how much longer we will get to meet in person, so I hope we have a good discussion today." - Macalester Law Professor

Dr. Duchess "Miriam Harris" made the above comment in reflection of what might be, her final days teaching her students this semester, face to face. She is not alone. Around the nation, educators are having mixed reactions to course structure and campus life changes as a result of attempts to prevent campus and community wide outbreak of COVID-19.


Our 2 Cents on the Weather


The CDC is recommending that events of 1000 or more be canceled. Major League sports organizations have vetted the idea of delaying the season or risk playing on courts and in stadiums with no fans. China has issued a massive lock-down in an attempt to gain headway and control of the COVID-19 Virus; Italy has now done the same.


Daily, more colleges and universities are converting their coursework to 100% online and distance learning solutions. Massive K-12 districts like Georgia and Washington with 20K+ students, have closed; others are on strike.


Here at Kinect?

We will focus on online resources and training for those who wish to remain current during these troubling times. Most will be working from home and some are required to report to their offices. We are working diligently to convert the products that you know and love to digitally downloadable formats. This will offer reduced pricing, no shipping and handling and instant tools that can be used as you work to ensure equity in learning environments during these uncertain times. They will also provide needed resources for staying in touch with students and not losing momentum on relationships required for student success.

The facts.


In addition to safety, health and wellness for all, our concern is ensuring that the work we have done over the past 3 years with institutions like your own, is not in vain.


Students will still demand support to be successful. Some, more than others.


Educators will still need guidance and support to educate under new restrictions. Some, more than others.


Equity and inclusion are an imperative now, more than ever.



Public Service Announcement


There is a hidden, true cost of attendance for students, but even greater for students from historically marginalized communities (students of culture/color, first-generation, low SES).


This cost of attendance imposes a severe physical, mental, emotional and financial tax on students that has an onset at admission and lasts throughout their academic careers to graduation and beyond.


As you ponder what the future holds...


A gentle reminder of a few daily inequities that students face. During these ever-changing times, these inequities will not go away. They will continue to impose barriers on the academics of students during these times.


Access to Technology. Living on campus provides the opportunity to mask the stark reality that the living conditions of all students, are not created equal.

While transitioning to online only coursework, providing training for educators that ensures that all students have an accessible online experience is a must! Universal design in online course communities remains a gap area for many institutions.


In addition to access to technology, living on campus provides an invisible cloak of privacy for the living conditions many students endure in their primary residence; not to mention, some students do not have primary or permanent residence.


Food and Housing Insecurity.

Students that suffer from food and housing insecurity, have been historically excluded from the narrative of higher education. When considering the implications of "sending students home" or requiring that students not return after spring break, a process to screen and provide support for extenuating circumstances in key!


My financial aid overage is gone. My campus meal plan is my only way to eat.

For students who no longer have access to financial aid funds at this juncture in the semester, consider the implications of losing access to work-study, campus employment and their campus meal plan.


Safety is important but many campus changes have caused very sudden realities for students. Consider implementing a screener to make sure you are proactively addressing inequities students are facing and work from within your means to provide support and resources for students in need.


Many households across the nation, do not have access to internet or the required technology to be successful in an online course format.

This one speaks for itself. Take a poll. Review internal data. How many students rely on loaner books or laptops as their primary course resources? How many students are sharing books because they could not afford their own?



The CDC has provided a list of resources for using best judgement during these uncertain times. A link has been provided for your convenience.


Campus Climate and COVID-19!


Educators nationwide scramble to adjust professional development travel plans amidst decisions to suspend domestic, international and study-abroad related travel for students, faculty and staff.


As news outlets begin to report domestic COVID-19 cases, outbreak fears heighten in as the nation moves into Spring Break season.


For the first time in history, large communal festivals like SXSW have been cancelled, imposing great financial burdens on organizations that rely on revenue from large conferences.



More Popcorn Please!


  • In an attempt to control a potential outbreak of COVID-19, institutions across the nation have taken measures to protect students, faculty and staff. These measures have included the cancellations of classes, indefinite suspension of study abroad and international travel programs and even temporarily relocating courses to online formats.

  • Higher education conferences happening this week and in the coming weeks have released statements, recommending that attendees follow institutional orders and in lieu of mandates, use common sense and make their best judgement about attending.

  • NASPA has issued a statement indicating they will make a final decision regarding cancellation no later than Wednesday, March 11th.




In Minnesota


March 10, 2020, An overnight bargaining session ended at 3 a.m, but without reaching successful terms. Saint Paul educators, go on strike, causing classes to be canceled since Tuesday!



History (In the Past)


February was Black History Month however the opportunity remains to celebrate and encourage the celebration of Black History in every month!




UNCF says: We can’t simply believe in equality in education. We have to create it.

We say: You can't simply believe in equity. You have to create it!




Coming Up: What's in The Forecast!


March is.....


Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

National Women’s History Month


Observing

#Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month


Take the time to learn more about developmental disabilities and women’s history this month. Take it a step further and incorporate history from different nationalities and cultures. Encourage and explore the strength and determination of women and persons with disabilities from around the world!


Document your journey by using a hashtag such as the examples above to post on social media and show the world how you are celebrating!


April is.....


Sexual Assault Violence Awareness Month!


  • Rock Teal to show your support!

  • Host an online webinar promoting Sexual Assault Violence Awareness.

  • Considering doing a passive education campaign for sexual assault awareness.

  • Check out our Sexual Assault Violence Engagement Toolbox that can be used face to face or virtually!


USE CODE ACPASPECIAL at check-out for up to 50% off products like the Sexual Assault Violence Engagement Toolbox site-wide!





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