Editor’s note: This story is being highlighted in ASU Now’s year in review. Read more top stories from 2020.
Arizona State University has gathered a vast collection of its online resources onto a single platform called ASU for You, available now as people stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ASU for You offers a wide array of content, much of it at no cost, for all learners — from elementary school students to adults — as well as resources for teachers and parents who are navigating teaching and learning at home. The site, launched on Friday, has 16 areas of content, with more to come. It includes:
- Free online course materials for high school students from ASU Prep Digital, including art history, chemistry and economics.
- Free self-paced modules in areas such as entrepreneurship, healthy aging, caregiving and sustainability.
- All-ages articles and resources from ASU’s famous Ask a Biologist and Ask an Anthropologist sites. Both include experiments, puzzles, quizzes and videos, with ideas for teachers.
- A huge cache of free information from the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College for parents with kids at home and for teachers who are moving to online instruction. There are sample daily schedules for families with younger and older students with links to curriculum content.
- Professional development courses created by ASU experts in topics including human resources, marketing and organizational diversity, some free with many priced at $149.
One interesting resource is Infiniscope, created by ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to offer all-ages virtual space exploration with adaptive “mission” activities.
The site also includes links to courses in the NASA Psyche Mission Innovation Toolkit and the World War II Studies continuing education classes, a partnership between the National WWII Museum and ASU’s School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies.
“We’ve assembled learning resources for all ages, from K–12 to continuing education,” ASU President Michael Crow said.
“In uncertain times, where schools may be unable to convene and traditional learning may be disrupted, ASU is providing a way to continue learning.”
ASU is always using the expertise of its faculty to create resources for the community, and the ASU for You site has been in the works for several months. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the timeline, with schools closed and many employees working from home. ASU for You is designed to allow people to stay engaged with learning and life during this pandemic and beyond.
The landing page will be continuously updated as more ASU units add links to their content for the community.
ASU maintains a separate support site for its faculty and students, who converted to online classes for the rest of the spring semester. ASU for You is for the broader community, including people looking for enrichment as well as those interested in a pathway to earning a degree. Earned Admission, which allows potential college students to test the waters and make progress toward an undergraduate degree without committing financially or risking their GPA, is discounting its prices of credit conversion from $400 to $99, with the $25 credit eligibility fee waived, through Aug. 17. New courses will start March 31, April 7 and April 14 to help students take advantage of this.
“As precautions are taken to ensure safety, people are seeking new methods to leverage online and virtual communications to keep learning on track,” said Kim Merritt, managing director of learning enterprise.
“ASU is uniquely positioned to provide tools and partner as we navigate this together as a community."
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