Deseret News
Share this story
Steve Griffin, Deseret News
We are in the midst of a serious recession that could have repercussions for generations to come. This isn’t an economic recession but rather a learning recession that deserves the same attention and innovation as economic issues on Wall Street.
Stanford University found that American students lost on average one year of math and reading during the 2019-2020 school year due to COVID-19. Utah students fared slightly better losing 155 days of reading and 307 days of math. These losses are staggering and will likely be compounded by another anticipated learning deficit this year.
Learning how to learn is the future of higher education
The internet makes world-class education available to anyone with a connected device these days, particularly if you want to study technology.
From Harvard’s Introduction to Computer Science to Coursera’s Advanced Computer Vision with TensorFlow, free course offerings run the gamut from beginner to expert.
But where to begin?
Students don’t need more content, they need curation and a framework to guide them through the maze of available courses so that they spend their time wisely, building up useful knowledge that will translate into a career.
That kind of approach is beginning to appear at schools that marshal existing resources into skill-centric programmes designed to help students land a job. At Utah’s Mountain Heights Academy teachers sort through open source materials, align them with state standards and create an open source curriculum to meet student needs.
Hereâs what Tribune readers will keep after the pandemic: Work habits, hand-washing, a new home
(Photo courtesy of the Schaerer family) The Schaerer family â from left: children Catherine and Max; and parents Jennifer and Marc â moved from Draper to Kanab during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  | March 7, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
For Jennifer Schaerer and her family, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a move to southern Utah and an embrace of small-town life.
Other Utahns, responding to a call from The Salt Lake Tribune over email and social media, also shared whatâs changed in their lives after a year under the pandemic. Wearing masks and working from home were recurring topics.
Liberty High School had a lower graduation rate than Liberty Union High District's overall graduation rate at 85.9 percent, according to the California Department of Education