College Students Create Wave Learning: A Free Educational Platform Providing Live Classes to Grade Schoolers During COVID-19 Summer, Reaching 46 States, 59 Countries
With 7,000+ registrations and counting, “Wave Learning Festival” has become the largest free educational platform dedicated to providing middle & high schoolers live, non-traditional summer courses taught by passionate college student leaders.
Boston, MA, July 31, 2020 --(PR.com)-- What: With 7,000+ registrations and counting, “Wave Learning Festival” has become the largest free educational platform dedicated to providing middle & high schoolers live, non-traditional summer courses taught by passionate college student leaders.
Why: To keep students engaged despite cancelled summer plans, address educational inequities magnified by the pandemic, and alleviate burdens on working parents. New research from Brown University & the University of Virginia suggests the average student could lose half the expected progress in math and two-thirds in reading this year.
Who: Founded by a team of undergraduates from Harvard, Stanford, and other peer institutions who saw the need for intellectual and emotional engagement for 6-12 grade students who had lost summer camps, jobs, or other social outlets because of COVID-19.
When: From August 1-12, open registration for the fifth “wave” of summer courses is open for all middle and high school students at www.wavelf.org. (Free programming will continue into the school year with non-academic life-skills/fun courses, academic support classes, tutoring, and a "college how-to" and career panel series.)
Unlike other online learning platforms, Wave Learning Festival is completely student run and provides free, live courses where course instructors interact directly with their students. During the COVID-19 summer, this unique “live” offering allows students to experience the classroom at home. The course selection includes many core subjects such as algebra II, coding, physics, and Spanish, but more importantly focuses on the joy of learning, offering many nontraditional courses such as “Exploring Dress History through 1920s Womenswear,” “A Cappella 101,” and “Satire Writing.”
The hope is these courses will help 6-12 grade students across the country and world cultivate an excitement for learning, be better prepared for the upcoming school year, and engage with a diverse group of students and teachers this stay-at-home summer.
How Wave works:
- Passionate college and upper high school students apply to teach a course. Past instructors have included students at Harvard, MIT, UPenn, Stanford, and more.
- Middle and high school students register with a simple form indicating what courses they would like to take.
- Students are placed into courses according to their preferences.
- Classes begin over Zoom. Courses range from 2-3 weeks.
Impact (since Wave’s inception in May):
- Offered 195 courses total across the first four waves of courses
- 7000+ student sign-ups, with exponential growth: Wave 1 - 445, Wave 2 - 530, Wave 3 - 2101, Wave 4 - 4086
- Students from 46 US states
- Enrolled students in 59 countries and regions around the world
- Run by 73 Wave team members (all college/high school students)
- Support from over 450+ principals and librarians across the United States
Why: To keep students engaged despite cancelled summer plans, address educational inequities magnified by the pandemic, and alleviate burdens on working parents. New research from Brown University & the University of Virginia suggests the average student could lose half the expected progress in math and two-thirds in reading this year.
Who: Founded by a team of undergraduates from Harvard, Stanford, and other peer institutions who saw the need for intellectual and emotional engagement for 6-12 grade students who had lost summer camps, jobs, or other social outlets because of COVID-19.
When: From August 1-12, open registration for the fifth “wave” of summer courses is open for all middle and high school students at www.wavelf.org. (Free programming will continue into the school year with non-academic life-skills/fun courses, academic support classes, tutoring, and a "college how-to" and career panel series.)
Unlike other online learning platforms, Wave Learning Festival is completely student run and provides free, live courses where course instructors interact directly with their students. During the COVID-19 summer, this unique “live” offering allows students to experience the classroom at home. The course selection includes many core subjects such as algebra II, coding, physics, and Spanish, but more importantly focuses on the joy of learning, offering many nontraditional courses such as “Exploring Dress History through 1920s Womenswear,” “A Cappella 101,” and “Satire Writing.”
The hope is these courses will help 6-12 grade students across the country and world cultivate an excitement for learning, be better prepared for the upcoming school year, and engage with a diverse group of students and teachers this stay-at-home summer.
How Wave works:
- Passionate college and upper high school students apply to teach a course. Past instructors have included students at Harvard, MIT, UPenn, Stanford, and more.
- Middle and high school students register with a simple form indicating what courses they would like to take.
- Students are placed into courses according to their preferences.
- Classes begin over Zoom. Courses range from 2-3 weeks.
Impact (since Wave’s inception in May):
- Offered 195 courses total across the first four waves of courses
- 7000+ student sign-ups, with exponential growth: Wave 1 - 445, Wave 2 - 530, Wave 3 - 2101, Wave 4 - 4086
- Students from 46 US states
- Enrolled students in 59 countries and regions around the world
- Run by 73 Wave team members (all college/high school students)
- Support from over 450+ principals and librarians across the United States
Contact
Wave Learning Festival
Joshua Chen
650-656-7910
wavelf.org
Alternatively, email chenjosh@seas.upenn.edu
Joshua Chen
650-656-7910
wavelf.org
Alternatively, email chenjosh@seas.upenn.edu
Contact
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