Using Cognitive ToyBox At Home during Covid-19 School Closures

By Nikki Navta

Published July 2020

Background

In response to school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) established a hotline to address urgent needs related to food, shelter, and mental health. Once health and safety concerns were addressed, the focus shifted to supporting students' educational development. However, remote learning presented challenges such as technology inequity and balancing parental responsibilities. Cognitive ToyBox developed CTB At Home to provide high-quality resources for families and children, as well as assessment and learning data for teachers.

Study Goals

  1. To bridge the gap between at-home and in-class instruction in early childhood education.

  2. To provide easy-to-use resources for families and children

  3. To offer assessment data to inform instructional support and interventions

Challenges

The challenges included addressing technology and internet access issues, mitigating increased screen time, and supporting teachers in remote learning environments. Additionally, caregivers had to take on the role of their child's in-person instructor with limited time and training resulting in inaccurate assessments.

Outcomes

Cognitive ToyBox, in collaboration with early education partners, successfully adapted to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. CTB At Home addressed the challenges by being accessible on mobile devices, allowing offline gameplay, and providing informative assessment data even with minimal screen time. The tool facilitated teacher communication, tracking of student progress, and monitoring family engagement. Parents could communicate with teachers, access personalized activities, and receive recommendations based on their child's assessment data. The Family Engagement Portal fostered ongoing collaboration between teachers and families, enabling personalized support at home.

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