Online Schools Are Here to Stay, Even After the Pandemic

Rory Levin, a sixth grader in Bloomington, Minnesota, used to hate going to school. He has a health condition that often makes him feel apprehensive ( ) around other students. Taking special-education classes did little to ease his anxiety.

So when his district created a stand-alone ( ) digital-only program, Bloomington Online School, last year for the pandemic, Rory opted ( ) to try it. Now the 11-year-old is enjoying school for the first time, said his mother, Lisa Levin. He loves the live video classes and has made friends with other online students, she said.

In December, Bloomington Public Schools decided to keep running the online school even after the pandemic subsides ( ). Lisa Levin plans to re-enroll Rory for this fall.

“It is such a good fit ( ) for him,” she said. “We’re really hoping they can continue it for the rest of his school career.”

A year after the coronavirus set off ( ) a seismic ( ) disruption ( ) in public education, some of the remote programs that districts intended to be temporary are poised ( ) to outlast ( ) the pandemic. Even as students flock ( ) back to classrooms, a subset ( ) of families who have come to prefer online learning are pushing to keep it going — and school systems are rushing to accommodate ( ) them.

The districts are racing to set up full-fledged ( ) online schools even as concerns mount ( ) that remote learning has taken a substantial toll on ( ) many children’s academic progress and emotional health. Parents and lawmakers, alarmed by the situation, have urged ( ) schools to reopen.

Even so, at least several hundred of the nation’s 13,000 school districts have established virtual schools this academic year, with an eye to ( ) operating them for years to come ( ), education researchers said. Unlike many makeshift ( ) pandemic school programs, these stand-alone virtual schools have their own teachers, who work only with remote students and use curricula ( ) designed for online learning.

Yet a surge ( ) of online schools comes with risks. It could normalize remote learning approaches ( ) that have had poor results for many students, education researchers said. It could also further divide a fragile ( ) national education system, especially when many Asian, Black and Latino families have been wary ( ) of sending their children back to school this year.

“My fear is that it will lead to further fracturing ( ) and fragmentation ( ),” said Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

即便疫情過去 線上教學會繼續

美國明尼蘇達州布魯明頓市的六年級學生Rory Levin曾經討厭上學，他有健康問題，常讓他和其他學生共處時感到焦慮，上特教課程對於紓解他的焦慮幫助不大。

因此，當他的學區去年因疫情而設置獨立的全數位學程「布魯明頓線上學校」時，羅利決定試試。他的母親Lisa Levin說，現在這個11歲的男孩首度能夠享受上學了，她說，他喜愛直播影音課程，也和其他線上學生成了朋友。

去年12月，布魯明頓公立學校決定，疫情趨緩後讓線上學校繼續營運。Lisa Levin計畫今年秋季再幫Rory註冊。

「這實在非常適合他。」她說，「我們真心希望能繼續辦下去，直到他的學校教育結束都不要停。」

在新型冠狀病毒開始大大顛覆公立教育的一年後，學區原本規畫為暫時性的一些遠距課程，如今似乎會比疫情更持久。儘管學生紛紛湧回教室，一小群本就偏好線上學習的家庭正推動讓它繼續，而學校系統也忙著配合。

雖然各界日益擔心遠距學習已使許多兒童的學業進步和情緒健康大受影響，各學區仍爭相設立完整的線上學校。對此狀況有所警覺的家長和議員，呼籲學校重新開放。

即使如此，教育研究人員說，全美1萬3000個學區中，至少數百個本學年已建立虛擬學校，並著眼於持續營運多年。不同於許多因應疫情的臨時性學校學程，這些獨立的虛擬學校有自己的教師，只教遠距學生，且使用專為線上學習設計的課程。

不過線上學校激增伴隨著風險，教育研究者說，它可能讓遠距學習方式常態化，而這種方式對許多學生而言效果極差。它也可能進一步分化脆弱的全國教育體系，尤其是在許多亞裔、非裔及拉美裔家庭對於今年把孩子送回學校感到遲疑的此際。

「我擔心的是，這將導致(教育體系) 進一步的斷裂與破碎。」洛厄爾麻州大學教育系助理教授Jack Schneider說。

#高雄人 #學習英文 請找 #多益達人林立英文
#高中英文 #成人英文
#多益家教班 #商用英文
#國立大學外國語文學系講師

Bloomberg報導中的評論，證實小英總統是一個有絕妙外交戰略的領袖！

U.S., Taiwan to Talk Chips, Vaccines as Long-Stalled Talks Begin
(Bloomberg https://ppt.cc/f5k0Kx)
美台重啟長期停滯的對談，討論晶片和疫苗

#DC, Taipei agree to working-level talks on range of topics
#U.S. cites meat imports, IP protection, labor as key issues
#美台同意就各主題範圍進行工作層級對談
#美方將肉類進口、智慧財產保護、勞工列為關鍵議題

雙邊貿易協議將是蔡英文總統的妙招。 雖然台灣出口美國的大部分貨物已免除關稅，但與華盛頓簽訂協議可能鼓勵其他害怕中國反對的國家加強對台關係，提供台灣政治掩護簽訂更多協定。

美國國務院台灣政策辦公室前主任Christian Castro表示，在拜登就任後這麼快就舉行此會談，表明美台和兩岸關係在過去五年中發生了劇烈變化。他說：「重啟TIFA表明拜登總統的團隊已經接受並延續前任政府的對台政策方針，持續強化美台關係的重要性，並儘可能賦予雙方強化關係並造成實質的影響。”

A bilateral trade deal would be a coup for President Tsai Ing-wen. While much of Taiwan’s exports to the U.S. are already tariff-free, an agreement with Washington might provide political cover for similar deals with nations that want to boost ties but are wary of a backlash from China, which claims the island as its territory.

That the talks happened so early in U.S. President Joe Biden’s term is a significant indication of how far U.S.-Taiwan and cross-Strait relations have shifted over the past five years, according to Christian Castro, a former director of the State Department’s Taiwan Policy Office.

“The TIFA relaunch makes clear that President Biden’s team has accepted the need to continue enhancing U.S.-Taiwan ties along the lines started under the previous administration and give the strengthened relationship as much substantive heft as possible.”

華爾街日報這兩天各出了一篇專文談中美關係跌到谷底，兩篇都有提到台灣。兩篇標題分別是：

Coronavirus Casts Deep Chill Over U.S.-China Relations（冠狀病毒讓中美關係進入寒峭）

U.S. Makes Diplomatic Push for Taiwan to Attend WHO Summit（美國為台灣出席世衛推一把）

看這個粉專的朋友們其實不乏外交特考的考生，其中有些會寫訊息來問我關於考試的事情。其實，外交特考有專門補習班，非本科系也可以報考，坦白說是不是唸外交系或政治系並不是那麼重要。

但是有兩樣東西是沒辦法靠去補習班一年半載速成的：一個是語文，另一個是對國際政治的敏感度。

這也是為何我答應幫華爾街日報的代言的原因。透過閱讀高質量的英文媒體，一方面增進英文的實力，另一方面也增加對外交時事議題的熟悉度。

以國際政治考題來說，「台美中三角關係」以及「台灣參與國際組織」幾乎是重點中的重點，也是未來在外交部工作的核心業務之一。

所以如果你真的想走這一行，就必須儘早開始準備。上述這兩篇華爾街日報的報導，其實就在談「台美中三角關係」以及「台灣參與國際組織」。

再過十天WHA即將開議，美國雖然大動作聲援台灣，但我以及周遭朋友多數都不樂觀。上述文章有一段這樣寫：

“The push stands little chance of success, and instead serves as a test of America’s leverage in its broader political struggle with China, waged in the midst of a pandemic, for influence within U.N. agencies. ”

這段意思是，美國的聲援本身成功可能性很低，這項聲援充其量只是作為美國測試它在聯合國體系內的地緣政治影響力。

當然你不一定要同意華爾街日報分析的角度，但這些分析起碼比許多網路酸民或粉專看得更深入。

文章也有談到美國將在WHO之外另起爐灶的可能性，但很少國家附和這項提議，此舉等於「美國從自己當初協助創建的聯合國體系中出走」，空出來的權力真空誰會填補？當然是中國。

“The U.S. has proposed creating an alternative global public health organization, more independent from Chinese leadership. But few allies have joined that push, and the EU remains wary of a separate U.S. call for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s handling of it. The net result has been America’s estrangement from a U.N. system it helped found.”

“But by the U.S. not being there, it creates an empty space for somebody else to fill.”

前陣子網路上有一股聲音認為，台灣乾脆不要加入WHO，跟著美國另外創立一個沒有中國參與的國際衛生機構。當時我就曾經數次在文章及節目上質疑這個提議。原因很簡單，國際政治並不是這樣看，好像家家酒一般我跟你好、你不跟我好。外交上有太多利益考量，當中有合作也有衝突，更多的是利益交換。

每個人的判斷當然都會錯，我也是。但重點是，在思考的過程中，你要有試著培養一套邏輯自我檢查防錯。透過閱讀諸如華爾街日報這類的菁英媒體，我認為對台灣考生或學子來說，是很好吸收外交時事及英文的管道。

誠心推薦，真心不騙。

華爾街日報3.4折訂購優惠：
https://reurl.cc/M7p8ev

追蹤胖犬Instagram:
old_dog_chasing_ball

上述文章連結：

https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-casts-deep-chill-over-u-s-china-relations-11588781420?fbclid=IwAR2uQnnX0GvDU1qsNrTVo8Hc64C4r-o0OOhPAHEEsZbZpQoBGXwVorSslBw

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-makes-diplomatic-push-for-taiwan-to-attend-who-summit-11588802601?reflink=line&fbclid=IwAR2TzhKKK7ahcTbb4hKtA368nRtwSoKOzCFr-VuAr2Zn_5NbIgcU13QCUzQ