Santhi Karamcheti, a special education advocate and award-winning educator in India, discusses how the pandemic has affected the Indian education system and reflects on how special education continues to adapt and respond to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Santhi was a finalist at the 2016 Global Teacher Prize and co-founder of Eka Educational and Charitable Trust as well as the President of Special Educators And Rehabilitation Professionals Association (SERPA).

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What kind of school leadership will help schools and education communities to move forward as we dance with the COVID-19 Pandemic? Alex Bell, Director for Global Education and Outreach at Portland Education (UK) offers his thoughts and expertise in understanding the call for authentic leadership to better face the challenges of the pandemic. 

Get to know more about the works of Alex Bell. Visit : https://linktr.ee/AlexBell 

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Dr. Ferdinand Pitagan, dean of the School of Teacher Education of the National Teachers College (Philippines) joins the Global Voices series of the empowerED Podcast to explain what open educational resources (OERs) are and how they can be curated and utilized for distance learning at this time of the pandemic.

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The Department of Education has recommended the use of blended learning as means to deliver learning at this time of school closures. 2016 MetroBank Outstanding Teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator, Winona Diola joins the show to talk about blended learning as an approach and modality of instruction. She also talks about using learning playlists in blended learning.

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How is Southeast Asia faring at this time of the pandemic? Dr. Ethel Agnes Pascua Valenzuela, Director of the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand, gives us a deep dive into how education systems and leaders in Southeast Asian countries are facing the challenges of the pandemic as well as harnessing opportunities to ensure equity in learning and empowerment of teachers. She further explains the role of SEAMEO to support educators and school leaders in this difficult time.

Pandemics are here to stay. So, how are we preparing for these? How is the COVID-19 pandemic reshaping school leadership right now? Bro. Dennis Magbanua discusses with Jim Tuscano how education systems or school communities can prepare for class disruptions and how school leaders can take action at this time of the pandemic. He also talks about the importance of technology tools in preparing the school for a long-term disruption.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/empowerEDTV

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Can flipped learning be an approach in distance learning? Dr. Peter Esperanza, Apple Distinguished Educator and creator of Number Bender YouTube Channel, joins us to discuss flipped learning and creating instructional videos to enable remote learning.  Watch the video interview at empowerED TV: https://www.youtube.com/empowerEDTV

Visit: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheNumbe...

Social inequality makes it more difficult to support and deliver learning to students. Marjorie Brown, History teacher, former human rights activists, and 2018 Top 10 Global Teacher Prize discusses how teachers and school leaders can help reduce the negative effects of social inequality at this time of the pandemic. She also talks about challenges in assessments, instruction, and access to learning resources in South Africa and the rest of the world.

How can children find hope at this time of the pandemic? Best-selling author and global educator, Elisa Guerra and young illustrator Ana RoGu, both from Mexico, shares how story-telling can help children make sense of the challenges that we are experiencing right now. They also talk about their children's book, "Hope, where are you?" (co-written with Armand Doucet) and how this has started a global movement of finding hope at this unfortunate time. Consider making a donation to the movement for UNICEF: http://hopewhereareyou.com 

Dr. Dina Ocampo, multi-awarded and highly-esteemed and beloved professor in the College of Education of the University of the Philippines and former Undersecretary of the Department of Education, joins the show and reflects on how schools leaders and teachers can face the demands of the new normal in education in this pandemic. Believing that this can be an opportunity to transform the education landscape, she discusses the importance of context, support for parents, and the need to rethink assessments and control in order to help school communities transition to the new normal in this unfortunate time of the pandemic.