Coronavirus – Page 7

Analysis, Coronavirus, Education, Science & Technology News, Trending

New global data reveal education technology’s impact on learning

August 3, 2020

The use of technology in education has become a lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic. As students return to the classroom, school systems must carefully consider the longer-term role of technology.

The promise of technology in the classroom is great: enabling personalized, mastery-based learning; saving teacher time; and equipping students with the digital skills they will need for 21st-century careers. Indeed, controlled pilot studies have shown meaningful improvements in student outcomes through personalized blended learning.1 During this time of school shutdowns and remote learning, education technology has become a lifeline for the continuation of learning.

As school systems begin to prepare for a return to the classroom, many are asking whether education technology should play a greater role in student learning beyond the immediate crisis and what that might look like. To help inform the answer to that question, this article analyzes one important data set: the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), published in December 2019 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Continue reading… “New global data reveal education technology’s impact on learning”

2020 Predictions, Coronavirus, Higher Education, Science & Technology News, Trending

Why College is never coming back

August 1, 2020

Here’s some great news: one of America’s most broken industries is finally being exposed as a sham. And make no mistake, the end of college as we know it is a great thing.

It’s great for families, who’ll save money and take on less debt putting kids through school. It’s great for kids, who’ll no longer be lured into the socialist indoctrination centers that many American campuses have become. And as I’ll show you, it’s great for investors, who stand to make a killing on the companies that’ll disrupt college for good.

But Stephen, how can you be against education?! I love learning, but I hate what college has become. As recently as 1980, you could get a four-year bachelor’s degree at a public school for less than $10,000. These days, it’ll cost you $40,000 at a minimum, $140,000 for a private school, or well over $250,000 for a top school.

College costs have ballooned beyond all reason. They’ve risen even faster than healthcare costs, which is really saying something. Kids are burying themselves in debt—$1.6 trillion at last count—in order to attend college.

When I wrote about this last year, I had little hope things would change anytime soon. Why? It’s a tough sell to convince an 18-year-old kid not to attend the four-year party all his friends are going to, especially when the US government is financing it through student loans.

But a Lightning Bolt of Disruption Just Fried the Business Model of College.

Continue reading… “Why College is never coming back”

2020 Predictions, Coronavirus, Higher Education, Science & Technology News

This chart predicts which colleges will survive the Coronavirus

August 1, 2020

Universities are an expensive operation with a relatively inflexible cost structure, and it’s forcing many schools to make poor choices

Our fumbling, incompetent response to the pandemic continues. In six weeks, a key component of our society is in line to become the next vector of contagion: higher education. Right now, half of colleges and universities plan to offer in-person classes, something resembling a normal college experience, this fall. This cannot happen. In-person classes should be minimal, ideally none.

The economic circumstances for many of these schools are dire, and administrators will need imagination — and taxpayer dollars — to avoid burning the village to save it. Per current plans, hundreds of colleges will perish.

There is a dangerous conflation of the discussion about K-12 and university reopenings. The two are starkly different. There are strong reasons to reopen K-12, and there are stronger reasons to keep universities shuttered. University leadership needs to evolve from denial (“It’s business as usual”) and past bargaining (“We’ll have a hybrid model with some classes in person”) to citizenship (“We are the warriors against this virus, not its enablers”).

Continue reading… “This chart predicts which colleges will survive the Coronavirus”

Aviation, Business, Coronavirus, Science & Technology News, Transportation, Travel

U.S. airlines face end of business travel as they knew it

July 31, 2020

Impact of virus threatens industry’s engine of sales, profit

Road warriors turn to video conferences while CEOs eye budgets.

U.S. passenger totals plummeted more than 95% at the peak of the pandemic-related travel collapse.

U.S. airlines hammered by the catastrophic loss of passengers during the pandemic are confronting a once-unthinkable scenario: that this crisis will obliterate much of the corporate flying they’ve relied on for decades to prop up profits.

“It is likely that business travel will never return to pre-Covid levels,” said Adam Pilarski, senior vice president at Avitas, an aviation consultant. “It is one of those unfortunate cases where the industry will be permanently impaired and what we lost now is gone, never to come back.”

Continue reading… “U.S. airlines face end of business travel as they knew it”

Coronavirus, Economy, government, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Op-ed: Let’s double down on PPP and save America’s endangered small businesses

July 29, 2020

KEY POINTS

We’re working to pass legislation that does two things: First, make Paycheck Protection Program funds available to eligible businesses through at least the end of this year, and second, authorize a second round of forgivable loans to the businesses most severely impacted by the pandemic.

We want to double down on PPP because, despite its bumpy beginning, it has clearly worked and staved off millions of business closures and job losses.

Continue reading… “Op-ed: Let’s double down on PPP and save America’s endangered small businesses”

Analysis, Coronavirus, Science & Technology News, Shopping, Trending

Touchless transit payments increased 187% since April: Visa

July 29, 2020

Visa released new data on Thursday that found contactless transactions for transit fares increased 187% through the end of June, up from an all-time global low in April. The company now works with more than 500 cities globally to implement or expand contactless payment solutions.

To further engage in this trend, Visa announced a new global partnership agreement with Cubic Transportation Systems to “enable the delivery of next generation fare payments and new mobility solutions to Cubic’s customers based on Visa’s global payment standards and frameworks,” according to a company press release.

Visa also announced a milestone of 150 total partners in its Visa Ready for Transit certification program, up from 100 partners in October 2019. The Visa Ready for Transit program fosters collaboration with fare system solutions providers and consultancies to simplify transit agencies’ implementation of contactless fare systems.

Continue reading… “Touchless transit payments increased 187% since April: Visa”

Analysis, Business, Coronavirus, Hot Issues, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

This is what chief economists think about the global economy right now

July 29, 2020

Successfully rebuilding the economy will be about far more than growth.

The World Economic Forum’s latest Chief Economists Outlook asks 40 chief economists for their views on the post-pandemic recovery.

It identifies three key emerging challenges facing governments and business leaders.

The crisis has made inequality worse – but it also provides unique opportunities to address it.

We need to broaden the set of targets we use to define success as we rebuild the global economy after the pandemic.

That view is among the insights from the World Economic Forum’s latest Chief Economists Outlook – Emerging Pathways Towards a Post-COVID-19 Reset and Recovery. For the report, the Forum asked its community of nearly 40 leading chief economists to assess the current economic outlook and consider how business leaders and policymakers need to respond.

Continue reading… “This is what chief economists think about the global economy right now”

communication, Coronavirus, Science & Technology News, Trending

How COVID-19 ended the Information Era and ushered in the Age of Insight

July 29, 2020

Tech companies will play a crucial role in making the next wave of progress a reality.

The COVID-19 crisis was the catalyst for rapid change and brought with it the opportunity to accelerate towards a brighter future;

A new era that is defined by insights and discoveries that benefit all of society has arrived;

Technology companies will play a crucial role in ensuring this transformation is sustainable, inclusive, and trustworthy.

COVID-19 introduced challenges that we as a society were not ready to address. We are converting to a digital-first world overnight. Becoming fully connected. Ensuring all of our personal data is protected. And taking steps to not leave anyone behind in this new digital economy.

Continue reading… “How COVID-19 ended the Information Era and ushered in the Age of Insight”

Analysis, Children, Coronavirus, Education, Science & Technology News

If COVID Fatalities Were 90.2% Lower, How Would You Feel About Schools Reopening?

July 27, 2020

According to the CDC, 101 children age 0 to 14 have died from influenza, while 31 children have died from COVID-19.

No evidence exists to support the theory that children pose a threat to educational professionals in a school or classroom setting, but there is a great deal of evidence to support the safety of in-person education.

According to the CDC, 131,332 Americans have died from pneumonia and 121,374 from COVID-19 as of July 11th, 2020.

Had the CDC used its industry standard, Medical Examiners’ and Coroners’ Handbook on Death Registration and Fetal Death Reporting Revision 2003, as it has for all other causes of death for the last 17 years, the COVID-19 fatality count would be approximately 90.2% lower than it currently is.

Continue reading… “If COVID Fatalities Were 90.2% Lower, How Would You Feel About Schools Reopening?”

Coronavirus, Economy, Elon Musk, government, Money Talk, Science & Technology News, Twitter

Elon Musk advocates for universal basic income instead of second stimulus check

July 26, 2020

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants his followers to know he still supports universal basic income, even though he thinks another coronavirus stimulus package from the U.S. government is a bad idea.

In a Twitter thread published early Friday morning, Musk tweeted that any additional stimulus package from Congress is “not in the best interests of the people,” and emphasized the point by pinning the tweet at the top of his Twitter profile.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk advocates for universal basic income instead of second stimulus check”

Coronavirus, government, Science & Technology News, security

NSA says Russian hackers are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research

July 25, 2020

Russian hackers are trying to steal research on COVID-19 vaccines, according to intelligence services in the US, UK and Canada, The National Security Agency (NSA) said a group that has been linked to Russian intelligence has targeted health care organizations in the three countries.

The group — which is known as APT29, Cozy Bear or The Dukes — is using malware and spear-phishing attacks, according to a joint advisory from the NSA, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) and Canada’s Communications Security Establishment. The latter two also published guidance to help health care organizations beef up their systems’ defenses.

“It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic,” Dominic Raab, the UK’s foreign secretary, said in a statement. “While others pursue their selfish interests with reckless behavior, the UK and its allies are getting on with the hard work of finding a vaccine and protecting global health.”

Continue reading… “NSA says Russian hackers are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research”

Analysis, Coronavirus, government, Housing, Science & Technology News

What should we do with 45,000 half-empty public buildings?

July 22, 2020

Could underutilized government offices, empty parking lots, or shuttered public schools help solve your community’s shortage of affordable housing or senior care facilities? Research suggests that it’s entirely possible. The U.S. government alone owns an estimated 45,000 underused or underutilized buildings, plus abundant surplus land. And, as a result of the current pandemic, organizations across the public and private sectors are now recognizing that many of us don’t really need to be in the office every day to get our work done. This underutilized space and property represents enormous untapped value which could be leveraged to finance investments in other areas.

Take the challenge of affordable housing. Today, nearly 40 million Americans cannot afford their current homes – spending as much as half of their incomes on housing. It’s estimated that as many as 7.2 million new affordable housing units are needed to meet demand. What if the public sector could leverage assets they already have to help bridge that gap?

In Canada, various governments have already done just that. By selling more than 240 surplus properties valued at some $120 million, the province of Ontario was able to save almost $10 million in annual operating costs. Some of those properties are now being repurposed for low-income and senior housing. Similarly, the city of Toronto launched an initiative to repurpose 18 city-owned properties into almost 13,000 affordable housing units.

What can we learn from these successes? There are several steps that policymakers and public sector officials — along with multidisciplinary teams of finance, human resources, technology, and corporate real estate stakeholders — should take in order to begin leveraging the untapped potential of unused buildings and property.

Continue reading… “What should we do with 45,000 half-empty public buildings?”