Supporting Remote Learning During COVID19 Crisis: A Note from our friends at iCivics
This is a time that is testing our mettle, our civic spirit if you will. Just when our country is extremely polarized, we are asking our nation to come together for the common good. In the sacrifices families are making every day, we see great strength and a sense of civic duty.
Most American schools are now closed, possibly for the rest of the school year, and iCivics has been working non-stop, and in close collaboration with our partners, to support educators, parents and students during this period of uncertainty.
To help teachers and parents, we’ve launched a new Teaching from Home Toolkit. iCivics’ free online games are a great way to engage and motivate kids, help them continue to build important civics skills, and provide much-needed structure in their day. We suggest starting with their free online games available in their School Closure Toolkit. Each game can be played in 30-45 minutes: www.icivics.org/toolkit
We have also announced the first in a series of topical webinars and online forums for teachers hosted by our Curriculum team.
To address concerns about equitable access to iCivics’ resources, particularly for the millions of students without access to the internet in the home, we have prepared detailed advice about pre-loading iCivics games on devices without internet access. We are also working with partners to identify additional opportunities to bridge the digital divide.
And we understand that millions of parents have become home-school teachers overnight (many may be reading this right now) – often in addition to working remotely. iCivics’ Director of Social Engagement, Amber Coleman Mortley, who is also a former teacher, varsity coach and parent blogger, recently shared advice in a love letter to educators and parents during school closures.
Through our leadership of CivXNow, a national coalition of civic education organization, we are organizing a cooperative effort to address the needs of school administrators, students, teachers, and parents. We’ve assembled an incredible rapid response team that includes leadership from: iCivics, the National Constitution Center, the Bill of Rights Institute, Generation Citizen, Mikva Challenge, and Facing History and Ourselves. We are working hard on organizing a meaningful field-wide response. Stay up-to-date on what’s happening by visiting www.CivXNow.org. | 
