In some cases, students’ community-engaged work may be able to shift in ways that still meet community needs and learning outcomes. Here are a few ideas:
- conducting background research or gathering best practices or other information requested the partner(s)
- taping, recording, or streaming performances or workshops to benefit community partner(s)
- creating digital and other social media content, print program materials, or other methods for information-sharing
- undertaking assessment, evaluation, or feedback via phone or web-based services;
- offering (or compiling, researching, or brainstorming) strategies that provide indirect support from volunteers as a result of coronavirus
- conducting virtual or phone-based educational supports for youth and adults
Alternate ways to directly connecting your course to the community (from Portland State University)
There are many resources to continue exploring the concepts of community with your students. Here are a few:
- Discuss and reflect on the notion of community and the various forms it takes (recognized 501C3 Organizations, grassroots organizations, neighbor to neighbor connections, family and friends).
- Check with the campus library to see what streaming videos they might have available to enhance the course. For example, here's a collection of Global Environmental Justice videos.
- Explore the ideas around community engagement and social justice.
- National Issues Forums has a great collection of resources that explore a variety of issues. You could have students read the materials and engage in an online discussion. The website has resources for how to structure the experience.
- https://civicreflection.org/
- Everyday Democracy has a collection of downloadable resources focused on community change. This includes stories of change makers, tools, as well as a democracy and equity reading list.
- Teach students how laws are created, help them discover who their elected officials are, have a discussion about the importance of advocating for what you believe in. Here are some basic civic education resources.
- Think about what organizations and businesses are impacted by COVID-19. Perhaps some of them would benefit from positive Google or Yelp reviews if the students have interacted with them?
If work with an existing partner is not possible, you may be able to find suitable opportunities through these channels:
- How to Get Involved with Virtual Volunteering
- Volunteer Match
- All For Good
- 9 PLACES TO VOLUNTEER ONLINE (AND MAKE A REAL IMPACT)
- Penpal Schools (offering free services during COVID-19)
- Americorps Teleservice Guidelines
- Omprakash - Ideas for Instruction
Teaching Resource Links:
- CSUSB Teaching Resource Center
- CSUSB Academic Technologies & Innovation (ATI)
- Reflection questions from Loyola University Chicago Center for Experiential Learning
- Community Engaged Teaching during Suspension of Face-to-Face Classes
- Advance HE Webinar: “Utilizing Service-Learning Projects in an Online Class”
- Facing History and Ourselves Corona Virus Teachers Resource Page
- Vanderbilt's Teaching in a Time of Crisis
Updates from the Office of Community Engagement
Covid-19 Learning Communities
Solidarity & Storytelling across Differences' is a free online space open to thinkers, learners, teachers, and doers around the world who want to examine the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through an intersectional lens and share their own perspectives and experiences. The self-paced program revolves around shared dialogue and discovery, not lectures or powerpoints. Participants engage with interdisciplinary multimedia content within a curated classroom, and then create their own posts to document how this pandemic looks and feels in their own particular contexts.
The curated classroom content helps participants:
- Situate themselves within this pandemic and the broader structures of inequality it illuminates and exacerbates
- Consider and practice digital storytelling as a mode of consciousness-raising and transformation
- Tend to vital issues of self-care and community resilience
After completing the classroom, participants retain ongoing access to the platform to share stories, build relationships, and learn from peers.
Additional Information: