Education Technology During the Pandemic and Future Emergencies

As average global temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more common, schooling will be interrupted with greater frequency, for longer durations, in places without prior histories of disaster preparedness. Throughout the pandemic, educators developed a range of strategies for maintaining learning even when school buildings were inaccessible. These approaches included using outdoor spaces, supporting home-based learning, facilitating online learning, and adjusting class sizes and schedules. We call these approaches pedagogies of adaptability, and they will become increasingly important in an overheating world. To prepare for an uncertain future, schools and communities should develop local pedagogies of adaptability, ensure universal connectivity, prepare curriculum and policies for interruptions to learning, embrace critical approaches to technology adoption, and invest in social welfare and well-being for youth and families.