To the Editor,

Yes, distance learning in Rhode Island is challenging particularly as schools will not open this year. But let us not stop with teacher to student connections in Warwick. Let us go the full distance – around the world.

This week, educators from dozens of nations on the globe met on the internet in a 24 hour marathon session to discuss the role of project based learning (PBL), an instructional approach which raises critical questions and requires students to work together to find answers. Among the dozens of sessions were participants from Rhode Island and Morocco who met on Zoom to discuss the question, how can we help to prepare for the next pandemic can well as deal with the current one? This is truly distance learning and Warwick is well suited for this task as the high school there is being specifically designed with PBL in mind. Frank locker, PhD, an organizer of the PBL event, also led Visioning for the Warwick High Schools, and those values and goals align quite well with 24 Hours of PBL.

Students working on a PBL project could begin by researching the many aspects of this virus: its biology, the hunt for a vaccine, worthwhile health practices and the tension between economics and health. It could also include the history of 1918 pandemic.

Collaborating with students from other states, nations and the world, they could disseminate their findings through speeches, multimedia presentations, print, and artistic and theatrical productions.

Their efforts would not be limited to a specific school subject but would be interdisciplinary and cut through the silos that separate traditional school curricula.

Yes, we are facing an existential crisis, but it is also an opportunity to harness the energies and skills of students across the world and make a real difference. Let us go the distance.

William J. Oehlkers

Barrington