The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting the lives of people all around the world. For Hawai’i, this viral outbreak is exposing shortcomings in our reliance on tourism as the main driver of economic wellbeing. While events like the 9/11 attacks and Great Recession have shaken economies before, COVID-19 will almost certainly have unprecedented and unique impacts.
Oceanit has called Hawai’i home for 35 years, and has weathered ups and downs before. We firmly believes in economic diversification and growth by evolving our education mindset, training in future-proof skills, and embracing lifelong learning. We must take risks, experiment, adapt, and change to keep up with our world.
We believe education and enrichment of the mind should not be viewed as an activity that ceases after 13 or more years in traditional school environments, but as something that we do throughout our lives. The people of Hawaii have always adapted and innovated to make life on our precious islands possible and we are glad to have the ability to share some of the services below that our Ohana use to keep learning.
Resources that have become available due to COVID-19 include the following:
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks
https://;jstor.org/open
and others: Many colleges and universities, including Cambridge, are opening up their digital textbook archives for everyone to use. However, at the time of this writing, several have been taken temporarily offline due to misuse and server issues- please search for “free textbook online” to see what is currently available- but NEVER enter in personal information or download a file (use a web reader exclusively), only read from reputable sites (.edu is generally a good sign) and take other precautions with your digital footprint.
https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/ While this is not your standard educational resource, visiting National Parks is an eye opening experience that people have done for generations. While that’s physically impossible at the moment, now people around the world can experience some of America’s finest natural environments.
https://www.varsitytutors.com/ Has created the “virtual school day” for K-12, free for all since schools have been closed down for the foreseeable future. Includes live lessons, flashcards, quizzes, and more for a classroom experience.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/covid19-novel-coronavirus One of the best ways to control fear is to learn more about a situation. This free course is for “Those working in or around health, or anyone interested in how we should respond to the outbreak”, but no pre-existing knowledge is required to take and benefit from this course.
https://www.classcentral.com ClassCentral is a resource generally used to compare college course content, teachers, and more in order for students to make informed choices on what they take- but they have responded to COVID-19 by featuring a large selection of online classes offered by Ivy League schools for free.
In addition, there are various resources the Oceanit Ohana are fond of that have been available before the shelter in place orders went into effect:
Learn:
www.coursera.com online learning from accredited colleges, free/audit or pay for cert/credit
www.khanacademy.org/ more student and math based
http://www.duolingo.com language learning, app and web based
http://www.Benelab.org search engine with proceeds to charity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random a random wikipedia article to learn about something new
Mental Breaks:
www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/too-cute/ looking at cute things is scientifically proven to release endorphins in your brain
https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-desk-exercises simple ways to move at your desk
Focus and Productivity:
https://tomato-timer.com/ pomodoro timer for task management and working from home focusing
https://getcoldturkey.com/ extension that blocks time-sucking websites for predetermined amounts of time
Two highly rated and popular youtube videos of non-vocal, calm music that can help some people focus at work and block out distractions
If you are facing financial hardship due to the effects of COVID-19 on the economy, please see here for resources that may help: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/financial-assistance-coronavirus-crisis/story?id=69689211
Please remember that your mental health is also important during this time:
