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By: Staff Reports

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday, May 5th, 2020, during his daily Coronavirus briefing that New York State and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will collaborate to develop a blueprint to reimagine education in the new normal that is life during the pandemic.

Cuomo left many puzzled by his comments. Specifically, many viewers were left with the impression that he was advocating for out-of-school learning.

“Let’s learn from this experience,” Cuomo said. “We did a lot of remote learning. Frankly we weren’t prepared to do it. We didn’t have advanced warning. But, we did what we had to do and the teachers and the education system did a great job, but there is more we can do.”

As New York begins to develop plans on how to eventually reopen K-12 schools and colleges, the state and the Gates Foundation will consider what education should look like in the future. The team effort will look into certain aspects of the education system, including:

• How can New York use technology to provide more opportunities to students no matter where they are?
• How can New York provide shared education among schools and colleges using technology?
• How can technology reduce educational inequality, including English as a new language students?
• How can New York use technology to meet educational needs of students with disabilities?
• How can New York provide educators more tools to use technology?
• How can technology break down barriers to K-12 and Colleges and Universities to provide greater access to high quality education no matter where the student lives?
• Given ongoing socially distancing rules, how can New York deploy classroom technology, like immersive cloud virtual classrooms learning, to recreate larger class or lecture hall environments in different locations?

The Niagara Reporter will keep you updated as this endeavor continues.