title: Brahmic scripts

text: Vowels are presented in their independent form on the left of each column, and in their corresponding dependent form (vowel sign) combined with the consonant "k" on the right. A glyph for "ka" is an independent consonant letter itself without any vowel sign, where the vowel "a" is inherent.


title: Brahmic scripts

text: The Brahmi script was already divided into regional variants at the time of the earliest surviving epigraphy around the 3rd century BC. Cursives of the Brahmi script began to diversify further from around the 5th century AD and continued to give rise to new scripts throughout the Middle Ages. The main division in antiquity was between northern and southern Brahmi. In the northern group, the Gupta script was very influential, and in the southern group the Vatteluttu and Kadamba/Pallava scripts with the spread of Buddhism sent Brahmic scripts throughout Southeast Asia.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In statistics, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of values in the final calculation of a statistic that are free to vary.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Estimates of statistical parameters can be based upon different amounts of information or data. The number of independent pieces of information that go into the estimate of a parameter is called the degrees of freedom. In general, the degrees of freedom of an estimate of a parameter are equal to the number of independent scores that go into the estimate minus the number of parameters used as intermediate steps in the estimation of the parameter itself. For example, if the variance is to be estimated from a random sample of "N" independent scores, then the degrees of freedom is equal to the number of independent scores ("N") minus the number of parameters estimated as intermediate steps (one, namely, the sample mean) and is therefore equal to "N" − 1.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Mathematically, degrees of freedom is the number of dimensions of the domain of a random vector, or essentially the number of "free" components (how many components need to be known before the vector is fully determined).


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The term is most often used in the context of linear models (linear regression, analysis of variance), where certain random vectors are constrained to lie in linear subspaces, and the number of degrees of freedom is the dimension of the subspace. The degrees of freedom are also commonly associated with the squared lengths (or "sum of squares" of the coordinates) of such vectors, and the parameters of chi-squared and other distributions that arise in associated statistical testing problems.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: While introductory textbooks may introduce degrees of freedom as distribution parameters or through hypothesis testing, it is the underlying geometry that defines degrees of freedom, and is critical to a proper understanding of the concept.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Although the basic concept of degrees of freedom was recognized as early as 1821 in the work of German astronomer and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, its modern definition and usage was first elaborated by English statistician William Sealy Gosset in his 1908 "Biometrika" article "The Probable Error of a Mean", published under the pen name "Student". While Gosset did not actually use the term 'degrees of freedom', he explained the concept in the course of developing what became known as Student's t-distribution. The term itself was popularized by English statistician and biologist Ronald Fisher, beginning with his 1922 work on chi squares.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In equations, the typical symbol for degrees of freedom is "ν" (lowercase Greek letter nu). In text and tables, the abbreviation "d.f." is commonly used. R. A. Fisher used "n" to symbolize degrees of freedom but modern usage typically reserves "n" for sample size.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Geometrically, the degrees of freedom can be interpreted as the dimension of certain vector subspaces. As a starting point, suppose that we have a sample of independent normally distributed observations,


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Now, let formula_3 be the sample mean. The random vector can be decomposed as the sum of the sample mean plus a vector of residuals:


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The first vector on the right-hand side is constrained to be a multiple of the vector of 1's, and the only free quantity is formula_3. It therefore has 1 degree of freedom.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The second vector is constrained by the relation formula_6. The first "n" − 1 components of this vector can be anything. However, once you know the first "n" − 1 components, the constraint tells you the value of the "n"th component. Therefore, this vector has "n" − 1 degrees of freedom.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Mathematically, the first vector is the Oblique projection of the data vector onto the subspace spanned by the vector of 1's. The 1 degree of freedom is the dimension of this subspace. The second residual vector is the least-squares projection onto the ("n" − 1)-dimensional orthogonal complement of this subspace, and has "n" − 1 degrees of freedom.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In statistical testing applications, often one is not directly interested in the component vectors, but rather in their squared lengths. In the example above, the residual sum-of-squares is


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: If the data points formula_8 are normally distributed with mean 0 and variance formula_9, then the residual sum of squares has a scaled chi-squared distribution (scaled by the factor formula_9), with "n" − 1 degrees of freedom. The degrees-of-freedom, here a parameter of the distribution, can still be interpreted as the dimension of an underlying vector subspace.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: follows a Student's t distribution with "n" − 1 degrees of freedom when the hypothesized mean formula_12 is correct. Again, the degrees-of-freedom arises from the residual vector in the denominator.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: When the results of structural equation models (SEM) are presented, they generally include one or more indices of overall model fit, the most common of which is a "χ" statistic. This forms the basis for other indices that are commonly reported. Although it is these other statistics that are most commonly interpreted, the "degrees of freedom" of the "χ" are essential to understanding model fit as well as the nature of the model itself.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Degrees of freedom in SEM are computed as a difference between the number of unique pieces of information that are used as input into the analysis, sometimes called knowns, and the number of parameters that are uniquely estimated, sometimes called unknowns. For example, in a one-factor confirmatory factor analysis with 4 items, there are 10 knowns (the six unique covariances among the four items and the four item variances) and 8 unknowns (4 factor loadings and 4 error variances) for 2 degrees of freedom. Degrees of freedom are important to the understanding of model fit if for no other reason than that, all else being equal, the fewer degrees of freedom, the better indices such as "χ" will be.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: It has been shown that degrees of freedom can be used by readers of papers that contain SEMs to determine if the authors of those papers are in fact reporting the correct model fit statistics. In the organizational sciences, for example, nearly half of papers published in top journals report degrees of freedom that are inconsistent with the models described in those papers, leaving the reader to wonder which models were actually tested.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: A common way to think of degrees of freedom is as the number of independent pieces of information available to estimate another piece of information. More concretely, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of independent observations in a sample of data that are available to estimate a parameter of the population from which that sample is drawn. For example, if we have two observations, when calculating the mean we have two independent observations; however, when calculating the variance, we have only one independent observation, since the two observations are equally distant from the sample mean.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In fitting statistical models to data, the vectors of residuals are constrained to lie in a space of smaller dimension than the number of components in the vector. That smaller dimension is the number of "degrees of freedom for error", also called "residual degrees of freedom".


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: are residuals that may be considered estimates of the errors "X" − "μ". The sum of the residuals (unlike the sum of the errors) is necessarily 0. If one knows the values of any "n" − 1 of the residuals, one can thus find the last one. That means they are constrained to lie in a space of dimension "n" − 1. One says that there are "n" − 1 degrees of freedom for errors.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: An example which is only slightly less simple is that of least squares estimation of "a" and "b" in the model


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: where "x" is given, but e and hence "Y" are random. Let formula_17 and formula_18 be the least-squares estimates of "a" and "b". Then the residuals


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Notationally, the capital letter "Y" is used in specifying the model, while lower-case "y" in the definition of the residuals; that is because the former are hypothesized random variables and the latter are actual data.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: We can generalise this to multiple regression involving "p" parameters and covariates (e.g. "p" − 1 predictors and one mean (=intercept in the regression)), in which case the cost in "degrees of freedom of the fit" is "p", leaving "n - p" degrees of freedom for errors


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The demonstration of the "t" and chi-squared distributions for one-sample problems above is the simplest example where degrees-of-freedom arise. However, similar geometry and vector decompositions underlie much of the theory of linear models, including linear regression and analysis of variance. An explicit example based on comparison of three means is presented here; the geometry of linear models is discussed in more complete detail by Christensen (2002).


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Suppose independent observations are made for three populations, formula_22, formula_23 and formula_24. The restriction to three groups and equal sample sizes simplifies notation, but the ideas are easily generalized.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: formula_27 is the mean of all 3"n" observations. In vector notation this decomposition can be written as


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The observation vector, on the left-hand side, has 3"n" degrees of freedom. On the right-hand side, the first vector has one degree of freedom (or dimension) for the overall mean. The second vector depends on three random variables, formula_29, formula_30 and formula_31. However, these must sum to 0 and so are constrained; the vector therefore must lie in a 2-dimensional subspace, and has 2 degrees of freedom. The remaining 3"n" − 3 degrees of freedom are in the residual vector (made up of "n" − 1 degrees of freedom within each of the populations).


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In statistical testing problems, one usually is not interested in the component vectors themselves, but rather in their squared lengths, or Sum of Squares. The degrees of freedom associated with a sum-of-squares is the degrees-of-freedom of the corresponding component vectors.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The three-population example above is an example of one-way Analysis of Variance. The model, or treatment, sum-of-squares is the squared length of the second vector,


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: with 3("n"−1) degrees of freedom. Of course, introductory books on ANOVA usually state formulae without showing the vectors, but it is this underlying geometry that gives rise to SS formulae, and shows how to unambiguously determine the degrees of freedom in any given situation.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Under the null hypothesis of no difference between population means (and assuming that standard ANOVA regularity assumptions are satisfied) the sums of squares have scaled chi-squared distributions, with the corresponding degrees of freedom. The F-test statistic is the ratio, after scaling by the degrees of freedom. If there is no difference between population means this ratio follows an "F"-distribution with 2 and 3"n" − 3 degrees of freedom.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In some complicated settings, such as unbalanced split-plot designs, the sums-of-squares no longer have scaled chi-squared distributions. Comparison of sum-of-squares with degrees-of-freedom is no longer meaningful, and software may report certain fractional 'degrees of freedom' in these cases. Such numbers have no genuine degrees-of-freedom interpretation, but are simply providing an "approximate" chi-squared distribution for the corresponding sum-of-squares. The details of such approximations are beyond the scope of this page.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Several commonly encountered statistical distributions (Student's "t", chi-squared, "F") have parameters that are commonly referred to as "degrees of freedom". This terminology simply reflects that in many applications where these distributions occur, the parameter corresponds to the degrees of freedom of an underlying random vector, as in the preceding ANOVA example. Another simple example is: if formula_34 are independent normal formula_35 random variables, the statistic


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: follows a chi-squared distribution with "n" − 1 degrees of freedom. Here, the degrees of freedom arises from the residual sum-of-squares in the numerator, and in turn the "n" − 1 degrees of freedom of the underlying residual vector formula_37.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In the application of these distributions to linear models, the degrees of freedom parameters can take only integer values. The underlying families of distributions allow fractional values for the degrees-of-freedom parameters, which can arise in more sophisticated uses. One set of examples is problems where chi-squared approximations based on effective degrees of freedom are used. In other applications, such as modelling heavy-tailed data, a t or "F"-distribution may be used as an empirical model. In these cases, there is no particular "degrees of freedom" interpretation to the distribution parameters, even though the terminology may continue to be used.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Many non-standard regression methods, including regularized least squares (e.g., ridge regression), linear smoothers, smoothing splines, and semiparametric regression are not based on ordinary least squares projections, but rather on regularized (generalized and/or penalized) least-squares, and so degrees of freedom defined in terms of dimensionality is generally not useful for these procedures. However, these procedures are still linear in the observations, and the fitted values of the regression can be expressed in the form


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: where formula_39 is the vector of fitted values at each of the original covariate values from the fitted model, "y" is the original vector of responses, and "H" is the hat matrix or, more generally, smoother matrix.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: For statistical inference, sums-of-squares can still be formed: the model sum-of-squares is formula_40; the residual sum-of-squares is formula_41. However, because "H" does not correspond to an ordinary least-squares fit (i.e. is not an orthogonal projection), these sums-of-squares no longer have (scaled, non-central) chi-squared distributions, and dimensionally defined degrees-of-freedom are not useful.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The "effective degrees of freedom" of the fit can be defined in various ways to implement goodness-of-fit tests, cross-validation, and other statistical inference procedures. Here one can distinguish between "regression effective degrees of freedom" and "residual effective degrees of freedom".


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: For the regression effective degrees of freedom, appropriate definitions can include the trace of the hat matrix, tr("H"), the trace of the quadratic form of the hat matrix, tr("H'H"), the form tr(2"H" – "H" "H"'), or the Satterthwaite approximation, .


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: In the case of linear regression, the hat matrix "H" is "X"("X"<nowiki> '</nowiki>"X")"X<nowiki> '</nowiki>", and all these definitions reduce to the usual degrees of freedom. Notice that


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: the regression (not residual) degrees of freedom in linear models are "the sum of the sensitivities of the fitted values with respect to the observed response values", i.e. the sum of leverage scores.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: One way to help to conceptualize this is to consider a simple smoothing matrix like a Gaussian blur, used to mitigate data noise. In contrast to a simple linear or polynomial fit, computing the effective degrees of freedom of the smoothing function is not straight-forward. In these cases, it is important to estimate the Degrees of Freedom permitted by the formula_43 matrix so that the residual degrees of freedom can then be used to estimate statistical tests such as formula_44.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: There are corresponding definitions of residual effective degrees-of-freedom (redf), with "H" replaced by "I" − "H". For example, if the goal is to estimate error variance, the redf would be defined as tr(("I" − "H")'("I" − "H")), and the unbiased estimate is (with formula_45),


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The last approximation above reduces the computational cost from "O"("n") to only "O"("n"). In general the numerator would be the objective function being minimized; e.g., if the hat matrix includes an observation covariance matrix, Σ, then formula_49 becomes formula_50.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Note that unlike in the original case, non-integer degrees of freedom are allowed, though the value must usually still be constrained between 0 and "n".


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Consider, as an example, the "k"-nearest neighbour smoother, which is the average of the "k" nearest measured values to the given point. Then, at each of the "n" measured points, the weight of the original value on the linear combination that makes up the predicted value is just 1/"k". Thus, the trace of the hat matrix is "n/k". Thus the smooth costs "n/k" effective degrees of freedom.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: As another example, consider the existence of nearly duplicated observations. Naive application of classical formula, "n" − "p", would lead to over-estimation of the residuals degree of freedom, as if each observation were independent. More realistically, though, the hat matrix would involve an observation covariance matrix Σ indicating the non-zero correlation among observations.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The more general formulation of effective degree of freedom would result in a more realistic estimate for, e.g., the error variance σ, which in its turn scales the unknown parameters' "a posteriori" standard deviation; the degree of freedom will also affect the expansion factor necessary to produce an error ellipse for a given confidence level.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: Similar concepts are the "equivalent degrees of freedom" in non-parametric regression, the "degree of freedom of signal" in atmospheric studies, and the "non-integer degree of freedom" in geodesy.


title: Degrees of freedom (statistics)

text: The residual sum-of-squares formula_41 has a generalized chi-squared distribution, and the theory associated with this distribution provides an alternative route to the answers provided above.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: In 1979, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, graduates of Duke University, created an early predecessor to dial-up Internet access called the USENET. The USENET was a UNIX based system that used a dial-up connection to transfer data through telephone modems. Dial-up Internet has been around since the 1980s via public providers such as NSFNET-linked universities. The BBC established Internet access via Brunel University in the United Kingdom in 1989. Dial-up was first offered commercially in 1992 by Pipex in the United Kingdom and Sprint in the United States. After the introduction of commercial broadband in the late 1990s, dial-up Internet access became less popular in the mid-2000s. It is still used where other forms are not available or where the cost is too high, as in some rural or remote areas.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Because there was no technology to allow different carrier signals on a telephone line at the time, dial-up internet access relied on using audio communication. In exactly the same way that one might pick up the phone and talk to someone, a modem would take the digital data from a computer, modulate it into an audio signal and send it to a receiving modem. This receiving modem would demodulate the signal from analogue noise, back into digital data for the computer to process.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: The simplicity of this arrangement meant that people would be unable to use their phone line for verbal communication until the call was finished.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: The Internet speed using this technology can drop to 21.6 kbit/s or less. Poor condition of the telephone line, high noise level and other factors all affect dial-up speed. For this reason, it is popularly called the 21600 Syndrome.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Dial-up connections to the Internet require no additional infrastructure other than the telephone network and the modems and servers needed to make and answer the calls. Because telephone access is widely available, dial-up is often the only choice available for rural or remote areas, where broadband installations are not prevalent due to low population density and high infrastructure cost. Dial-up access may also be an alternative for users on limited budgets, as it is offered free by some ISPs, though broadband is increasingly available at lower prices in many countries due to market competition.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Dial-up requires time to establish a telephone connection (up to several seconds, depending on the location) and perform configuration for protocol synchronization before data transfers can take place. In locales with telephone connection charges, each connection incurs an incremental cost. If calls are time-metered, the duration of the connection incurs costs.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Dial-up access is a transient connection, because either the user, ISP or phone company terminates the connection. Internet service providers will often set a limit on connection durations to allow sharing of resources, and will disconnect the user—requiring reconnection and the costs and delays associated with it. Technically inclined users often find a way to disable the auto-disconnect program such that they can remain connected for more days than one.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: A 2008 Pew Research Center study stated that only 10% of US adults still used dial-up Internet access. The study found that the most common reason for retaining dial-up access was high broadband prices. Users cited lack of infrastructure as a reason less often than stating that they would never upgrade to broadband. That number had fallen to 6% by 2010, and to 3% by 2013.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Broadband Internet access via cable, digital subscriber line, wireless broadband, mobile broadband, satellite and FTTx has replaced dial-up access in many parts of the world. Broadband connections typically offer speeds of 700 kbit/s or higher for two-thirds more than the price of dial-up on average. In addition, broadband connections are always on, thus avoiding the need to connect and disconnect at the start and end of each session. Broadband does not require the exclusive use of a phone line, and thus one can access the Internet and at the same time make and receive voice phone calls without having a second phone line.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: However, many rural areas remain without high speed Internet despite the eagerness of potential customers. This can be attributed to population, location, or sometimes ISPs' lack of interest due to little chance of profitability and high costs to build the required infrastructure. Some dial-up ISPs have responded to the increased competition by lowering their rates and making dial-up an attractive option for those who merely want email access or basic Web browsing.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Dial-up has seen a significant fall in usage, with the potential to cease to exist in future as more users switch to broadband. In 2000, about 34% of the U.S. population used dial-up, compared to 3% in 2013. One contributing factor is the bandwidth requirements of newer computer programs, like operating systems and antivirus software, which automatically download sizeable updates in the background when a connection to the Internet is first made. These background downloads can take several minutes or longer and, until all updates are completed, they can severely impact the amount of bandwidth available to other applications like Web browsers.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Since an "always on" broadband is the norm expected by most newer applications being developed, this automatic background downloading trend is expected to continue to eat away at dial-up's available bandwidth to the detriment of dial-up users' applications. Many newer websites also now assume broadband speeds as the norm, and when connected to with slower dial-up speeds may drop (timeout) these slower connections to free up communication resources. On websites that are designed to be more dial-up friendly, use of a reverse proxy prevents dial-ups from being dropped as often but can introduce long wait periods for dial-up users caused by the buffering used by a reverse proxy to bridge the different data rates.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Despite the rapid decline, dial-up Internet still exists in some rural areas, and many areas of developing and underdeveloped nations, although wireless and satellite broadband are providing faster connections in many rural areas where fibre or copper may be uneconomical.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: In 2010, it was estimated that there were 800,000 dial-up users in the UK. BT turned off its dial-up service in 2013.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Modern dial-up modems typically have a maximum theoretical transfer speed of 56 kbit/s (using the V.90 or V.92 protocol), although in most cases, 40–50 kbit/s is the norm. Factors such as phone line noise as well as the quality of the modem itself play a large part in determining connection speeds.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Some connections may be as low as 20 kbit/s in extremely noisy environments, such as in a hotel room where the phone line is shared with many extensions, or in a rural area, many miles from the phone exchange. Other factors such as long loops, loading coils, pair gain, electric fences (usually in rural locations), and digital loop carriers can also slow connections to 20 kbit/s or lower.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Analog telephone lines are digitally switched and transported inside a Digital Signal 0 once reaching the telephone company's equipment. Digital Signal 0 is 64 kbit/s and reserves 8 kbit/s for signaling information; therefore a 56 kbit/s connection is the highest that will ever be possible with analog phone lines.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Dial-up connections usually have latency as high as 150 ms or even more, higher than many forms of broadband, such as cable or DSL, but typically less than satellite connections. Longer latency can make video conferencing and online gaming difficult, if not impossible. An increasing amount of Internet content such as streaming media will not work at dial-up speeds.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Video games released from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s that utilized Internet access such as "EverQuest", "Red Faction", "Warcraft 3", "Final Fantasy XI", "Phantasy Star Online", "Guild Wars", "Unreal Tournament", "", "Audition", "", "" and "Ragnarok Online", etc., accommodated for 56k dial-up with limited data transfer between the game servers and user's personal computer. The first consoles to provide Internet connectivity, the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, supported dial-up as well as broadband. The GameCube could use dial-up and broadband connections, but this was used in very few games and required a separate adapter. The original Xbox exclusively required a broadband connection. Many computer and video games released since the mid-2000s do not even include the option to use dial-up. However, there are exceptions to this, such as "Vendetta Online", which can still run on a dial-up modem.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: The V.42, V.42bis and V.44 standards allow modems to accept compressed data at a rate faster than the line rate. These algorithms use data compression to achieve higher throughput.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: For instance, a 53.3 kbit/s connection with V.44 can transmit up to 53.3 × 6 = 320 kbit/s if the offered data stream can be compressed that much. However, the compression ratio varies considerably. ZIP archives, JPEG images, MP3, video, etc. are already compressed. A modem might be sending compressed files at approximately 50 kbit/s, uncompressed files at 160 kbit/s, and pure text at 320 kbit/s, or any rate in this range.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: As telephone-based Internet lost popularity in the mid-2000s, some Internet service providers such as TurboUSA, Netscape, CdotFree, and NetZero started using data compression to increase the perceived speed. As an example, EarthLink advertises "surf the Web up to 7x faster" using a compression program on images, text/html, and SWF flash animations prior to transmission across the phone line.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: The pre-compression operates much more efficiently than the on-the-fly compression of V.44 modems. Typically, website text is compacted to 5%, thus increasing effective throughput to approximately 1000 kbit/s, and JPEG/GIF/PNG images are lossy-compressed to 15–20%, increasing effective throughput up to 300 kbit/s.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: The drawback of this approach is a loss in quality, where the graphics acquire compression artifacts taking on a blurry or colorless appearance. However, the transfer speed is dramatically improved. If desired, the user may choose to view uncompressed images instead, but at a much slower load rate. Since streaming music and video are already compressed at the source, they are typically passed by the ISP unaltered.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Other devices, such as satellite receivers and digital video recorders (such as TiVo), have also used dial-up connection using a household phone socket. This connection allowed to download data at request and to report usage (e.g. ordering pay-per-view) to the service provider. This feature did not require an Internet service provider account – instead, the device's internal modem dialed the server of the service provider directly. These devices may experience difficulties when operating on a VoIP line because the compression could alter the modem signal. Later, these devices moved to using an Ethernet connection to the user's Internet router, which became a more convenient approach due to the growth in popularity of broadband.


title: Dial-up Internet access

text: Note that the values given are maximum values, and actual values may be slower under certain conditions (for example, noisy phone lines).


title: New Found Glory

text: New Found Glory (formerly A New Found Glory) is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of Jordan Pundik (lead vocals), Ian Grushka (bass guitar), Chad Gilbert (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Cyrus Bolooki (drums). Longtime rhythm guitarist and lyricist Steve Klein left the band in late 2013. During their lengthy recording career, the band have released ten studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and four cover albums.


title: New Found Glory

text: After forming in 1997, New Found Glory released their debut studio album "Nothing Gold Can Stay" in 1999. The band then released their self-titled major label debut in 2000, with the album's song "Hit or Miss" peaking at number 15 the Alternative Songs chart. In 2002, the band became mainstream with their album "Sticks and Stones" and the album's hit "My Friends Over You". The group's popularity continued with their 2004 album "Catalyst", of which the video for "All Downhill From Here" was nominated for a VMA for Breakthrough Video of the Year. Lead by single "It's Not Your Fault", the mid-tempo and critically acclaimed "Coming Home" followed in 2006. The release showcased a temporary move to an alternative rock style instead of their usual pop punk sound. The quintet returned to their energetic roots with the release of "Not Without a Fight" in 2009. They have since released four more albums; "Radiosurgery" in 2011, "Resurrection" in 2014, "Makes Me Sick" in 2017, and their tenth studio album "Forever + Ever x Infinity" in 2020.


title: New Found Glory

text: Emerging as part of the second wave of pop punk in the late 1990s, music critics consider them a key pioneer of the genre. Often labelled the "godfathers of pop punk", AllMusic notes how their "raucous, fast-paced anthems carried them through the decades", whilst crediting them for "practically serving alongside the work of Blink-182 as the blueprint to the entire genre for the early 2000s." "Rock Sound" have championed their "classic sugar sweet sound", which combines "pop-punk and hardcore in one neat package." "Alternative Press" have praised the group for their "innovative and entirely irresistible fusion of punk melodies and hardcore breakdowns." As such, the band are considered highly influential in the development of the subgenre easycore.


title: New Found Glory

text: The origins of New Found Glory date back to 1997 when Jordan Pundik (vocals) and Ian Grushka (bass) played together in the bands Inner City Kids and Flip 60. After disbanding Flip 60, they recruited Stephen Klein (guitar), who Pundik met at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and had previously played with him in the band Fallview. The three began to jam together. Practicing in Grushka's garage, they later invited Joe "Taco Joe" Marino to play drums. Shortly thereafter, Chad Gilbert (lead guitar), former vocalist of Shai Hulud, joined to complete the quintet.


title: New Found Glory

text: Pundik later stated the band name was created while he and Klein were working at Red Lobster together; "We came up with A New Found Glory, we wrote it on a napkin. I think we pulled some of it from "A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts" by the Get Up Kids".


title: New Found Glory

text: The band recorded their debut EP, "It's All About the Girls" (1997) in a friend's apartment, and the EP was distributed by local independent label Fiddler Records. Soon after, Marino was replaced by current drummer Cyrus Bolooki after two rehearsal sessions. The band went on to tour up and down the East Coast and quickly sold out the entire pressing of the EP. The band's underground success soon caught the attention of Eulogy Recordings and the quintet subsequently signed shortly afterwards in order to increase distribution of their music.


title: New Found Glory

text: Following the success of their EP, the band recorded their debut full-length album, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" (1999), initially selling one-page insert copies at their shows supporting MxPx. Richard Reines, co-founder of Drive-Thru Records had also noted their devout following and held talks with the band. Drive-Thru subsequently signed the five-piece and paid Eulogy $5,000 to license "Nothing Gold Can Stay", which went on to sell more than 300,000 copies.


title: New Found Glory

text: The five-piece signed their first proper record deal with Drive-Thru Records, and released an EP of cover songs from film soundtracks entitled "From the Screen to Your Stereo" in 2000. Drive-Thru's relationship with MCA Records ensured that the smaller label's more popular bands would be picked up by the major. Later that year, debut single "Hit or Miss" peaked at No. 15 on the US Modern Rock Chart, which helped propel the band to a mainstream audience. Subsequently, their self-titled second album and major label debut "New Found Glory" (2000) reached number one on the "Billboard" Heatseekers chart, and spent 21 weeks on the "Billboard" 200 chart. In a "Kerrang!" magazine article years later, they referred to the album as the band's "Essential Purchase". They wrote, "marking one of the biggest and quickest improvements in alternative music, the major label debut hurled them to the forefront of the punk scene barely 12 months after its predecessor. Packed with infectious melodies and sing-along anthems, it would see them jostling with the likes of Blink-182 for the genre's crown." The album also marked the official debut of the band's new moniker, which dropped the indefinite article "A" from their original name due to some fans struggling to find the band's records in stores. The album was certified gold by the RIAA. In 2001 the band performed at EdgeFest Calgary.


title: New Found Glory

text: Between 2002 and 2004, the band experienced the height of their popularity with headline slots on the Warped Tour with Blink-182 and a supporting tour with Green Day. Third album "Sticks and Stones" was released on June 11, 2002, and peaked at number four on the "Billboard" 200 chart. The record spawned two popular singles; "My Friends Over You" and "Head on Collision". Following the success of the album, the band headlined the 2002 Warped Tour and later saw the album certified gold by the RIAA.


title: New Found Glory

text: The lead single for their fourth album, "All Downhill from Here" reached number eleven in the Rock Chart before "Catalyst" (2004) was released. The album peaked at a career-high number three on the "Billboard" 200, selling 146,000 copies in its first week. The heavier style of the record, which included some metal and new wave influences, was due to the comparisons that magazines and other media outlets would make between New Found Glory and other popular bands. Chad Gilbert stated: "Well, when "Sticks and Stones" came out and we were doing that Honda Civic Tour, we were getting compared to bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan we were angry with that. At that point, we were getting compared to more pop bands and we aren't a pop band." The band promoted the album with a supporting tour with Green Day during the fall of 2004 on the American Idiot Tour. The song, "This Disaster", was featured in EA Sports' "Madden NFL 2005", and "At Least I'm Known for Something" was featured in EA's "". This became the band's third record to be certified gold by the RIAA.


title: New Found Glory

text: Demos for the next album were tracked with long-term friend and studio engineer Paul Miner, before the band worked with Thom Panunzio (Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne) having moved into a house together in Malibu, California called the Morning View Mansion to write and record. Gilbert took into the studio a book containing over 40 riff ideas that were written during the previous tour. Unlike their previous releases, Gilbert and Pundik also worked on lyrics alongside primary lyricist Steve Klein for the first time. The band had decided against working with Neal Avron, who had produced the band's three previous albums, as they wanted to try something different. Their fifth album titled "Coming Home" was released on September 19, 2006, with first single, "It's Not Your Fault" in July 2006. The release proved popular with many critics giving the album positive reviews. It was acclaimed for its "matured and nuanced songwriting", and was generally recognised as being the band's most mature work.


title: New Found Glory

text: "From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II", the band's follow-up to "From the Screen to Your Stereo" – a full-length album, containing 11 songs plus one bonus track for the Japanese edition and iTunes – was released on September 18, 2007, via Drive-Thru Records. The first and only single from the album was "Kiss Me", which would become the band's last charting single. The music video can be viewed on MySpace. In March 2008, a compilation named "Hits" was released. Two previously unreleased songs, "Situations" and "Constant Static," are also featured on the album. This was their last release on Drive-Thru/Geffen before signing with independent labels, Bridge Nine Records and Epitaph Records. In April 2008, the band released a new EP "Tip of the Iceberg" on CD, 7" and through digital music outlets on Bridge 9 Records containing both new material that paid homage to their melodic hardcore influences. The CD also included an extra disc from The International Superheroes of Hardcore, named "Takin' It Ova!".


title: New Found Glory

text: Their sixth studio album, "Not Without a Fight", was released on March 10, 2009, and was produced by Mark Hoppus. It was released through the band's new label, Epitaph Records. Hoppus has said that during recording, they had felt like a different band altogether. The lead single from the album was called "Listen to Your Friends". The music video for the song was filmed in Los Angeles. The single was released December 23, 2008 in the US & a day earlier in the UK, both via iTunes & AmazonMP3. Following the album's release, the quintet set out on the "Not Without a Fight Tour" with support from Set Your Goals, Bayside and Shai Hulud.


title: New Found Glory

text: The video for second single "Don't Let Her Pull You Down" premiered on October 15, and was released on October 20 via limited orange and sky blue vinyl prints. On October 17 the band played a free show for around 120 fans packed into the studio where the band played a setlist made up of fan requests.


title: New Found Glory

text: A special edition re-release to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their self-titled album was released on January 26, 2010, through Geffen Records. The additional material included new liner notes, demos, b-sides, "The Story So Far" DVD and a remix of debut single "Hit or Miss" by the late Jerry Finn. A full tour was also confirmed where the band would play the record in its entirety, with support from Saves the Day, Hellogoodbye and Fireworks. On the 29th and 30 May, the band headlined the Pop-Punk festival "SlamDunk Festival" held in Hatfield and Leeds. Shortly before the start of the band's commemorative tour, Gilbert visited his doctor for pneumonia. After suspicious cells were discovered in his thyroid, he underwent surgery which caused him to miss the first three dates of the new tour. Anthony Raneri of Bayside replaced him for this period. The surgery was a success. Later that year, the band headlined the Slam Dunk Festival along with Alkaline Trio and Capdown.


title: New Found Glory

text: New Found Glory began the new year by participating in the 2011 Soundwave Festival, and were later confirmed for the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August. The band also played a full tribute set to The Ramones with Marky Ramone on drums at The Bamboozle 2011 Festival.


title: New Found Glory

text: They returned to the studio in April to record their seventh album, titled "Radiosurgery" with Neal Avron the producer having also produced their second, third and fourth albums. Chad Gilbert has said that "Radiosurgery" "is the most upbeat, fun record we've ever recorded. Catchy but not in a fake pop sounding way. I wanted to go back to more of the roots of punk rock and pop punk and put a whole new NFG spin on it. The record goes from song to song never letting up the energy." The lead single and title track, "Radiosurgery" was released on August 2. In March 2012, New Found Glory had announced via their website that they would be a part of the Vans Warped Tour lineup. New Found Glory will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sticks And Stones by going on a small club tour in the fall, all around the country.


title: New Found Glory

text: In November Pundik said that the band will take a break and won't release a new album until 2014. AbsolutePunk confirmed that the band would be releasing "A Very New Found Glory Christmas" via cassette tape on December 1, as well as a live album some time in 2013. The band recorded three new songs which are on their upcoming live album "Kill It Live" released on October 7. Also announced in this period was the departure of founding member and rhythm guitarist Steve Klein, due to him being charged with multiple counts of inappropriate contact with a minor. On their Facebook page the band noted that there had been some disparity in the intended direction progressing forward, and that Steve and the remaining members had experienced insurmountable differences "over the years."


title: New Found Glory

text: On February 25, 2014, the band announced an 11 date UK tour with main support by The Story So Far, stopping in cities around the country including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff and Leeds. On May 18, the band announced on their Facebook page that they would release a new album in the fall of 2014. They also mentioned that it would be released by Hopeless Records. On May 27, the band announced that they had left Epitaph Records and would be signing to Hopeless Records, where their new album will be released in the fall of 2014. On August 5, they released a new single "Selfless" from the upcoming album "Resurrection". The band also filmed a music video to release with the single. On September 9, they released a new single "Ready and Willing" from the upcoming album "Resurrection". The band also filmed a music video to release with the single. On October 7, 2014, they released "Resurrection". On July 22, 2015, the band announced they would reissue the album on October 8, retitled "Resurrection: Ascension". It features two brand new studio tracks, two reworked songs and three acoustic tracks. On the day of announcement, they also rereleased "Vicious Love" featuring Hayley Williams on vocals.


title: New Found Glory

text: On September 28, 2016, New Found Glory announced via Facebook that pre-production had officially began for a new album and have since been posting pictures showing the progress of the writing process. On January 25, 2017, the band's next album, "Makes Me Sick" was announced for release on April 28. The first single "Happy Being Miserable", along with its music video, was released on February 15, 2017. The influence for the music video came from the pie eating scene from the movie "Stand By Me".


title: New Found Glory

text: In January 2019, New Found Glory announced the third instalment of their cover series, the "From the Screen to Your Stereo 3" EP, for release in May.


title: New Found Glory

text: On February 20, 2019, the band released the first song/video off their new cover series EP "From The Screen To Your Stereo 3". They covered "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News, which comes from the "Back To The Future" movies. It was also revealed they'll be covering songs from "Frozen", "Rocky" and "" on the new release.


title: New Found Glory

text: On February 10, 2020, the band announced their tenth studio album "Forever + Ever x Infinity", slated for release for May 29, 2020. The album features 15 songs, as the band did not want to cut any of the recorded material for the album. The first single, "Greatest of All Time," released the same day.


title: New Found Glory

text: On April 16, 2020, the band confirmed that they had delayed the release of "Forever + Ever x Infinity" to June 19, 2020, because it would initially be sold exclusively at Target and the band didn't want fans to have to go to the store during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: New Found Glory

text: In December of 2021, the band released December's Here, a collection of 10 original Christmas songs through Hopeless Records. Shortly after this, guitarist Chad Gilbert shared that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called pheochromocytoma. After two weeks in the hospital, surgeons were able to remove the cancer. In January of 2022, he was officially cancer free.


title: New Found Glory

text: In 2022, the band embarked on a full US tour with Four Year Strong and Be Well, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sticks and Stones. Stickers were distributed at the merch table announcing their next album: "New Found Glory - "Make the Most of It". A new 14 song acoustic LP by New Found Glory. Featuring 7 brand new songs and 7 classics reimagined. Mixed by Mark Trombino. Coming Soon on Revelation Records."


title: New Found Glory

text: The International Superheroes of Hardcore is a side project of all members of the band and features Gilbert on vocals and Pundik on guitar, with the remaining members playing the same instruments they play in New Found Glory. All the members use pseudonyms for their "characters" in the band (e.g. Gilbert is known as "Captain Straightedge"). The band also recorded an internet-only music video for "Dig My Own Grave" with director Joseph Pattisall.


title: New Found Glory

text: In April 2008 a compilation from the "Punk Goes..." series, called "Punk Goes Crunk", was released, and features New Found Glory covering "Tennessee", originally by Arrested Development. New Found Glory had previously released another cover song, "Heaven", on "Punk Goes Metal".


title: New Found Glory

text: During "Not Without a Fight" tour, a split EP with Shai Hulud titled "Not Without a Heart Once Nourished by Sticks and Stones Within Blood Ill-Tempered Misanthropy Pure Gold Can Stay" was exclusively released. There were two colors limited to a total of only 500 copies and only for sale from either Shai Hulud or New Found Glory at these shows.


title: New Found Glory

text: Dashboard Confessional were to be main support for New Found Glory's headline American tour in 2010. However, shortly before the tour was due to commence, Dashboard withdrew due to personal reasons and the tour was subsequently cancelled. A split EP, titled "Swiss Army Bro-Mance" had initially been due for sale on the previously cancelled tour, but was later made available online on a limited pressing of 2,500 copies. The two bands played several acoustic dates in December 2010.


title: New Found Glory

text: On December 10, 2011, New Found Glory performed a live set for "Guitar Center Sessions" on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with program host, Nic Harcourt.


title: New Found Glory

text: New Found Glory are widely recognized for their fast and energetic pop punk music. The band temporarily moved to an alternative rock style with their album "Coming Home" in 2006, and is sometimes described as such in general. The aforementioned "Coming Home" was viewed as a change in direction for the band with its more layered and mid-tempo sound and has been described as a "somber, honest, polished and alternative record." They have also been described as melodic hardcore. The band's traditional sound has been described as "chunky and melodic", with "Rolling Stone" noting their penchant for "catchy, riffy punk-rock." "Consequence of Sound" writer Megan Ritt called the band "paragons" of the pop punk genre and noted how "the seasoned Floridian rockers are renowned for their heartfelt guitar anthems." The band's music typically builds upon verse-chorus song structures, combining pop-influenced melodies with fast punk rock tempos, hardcore-tinged breakdowns, and often gang vocals. Their fusion of pop punk with hardcore breakdowns has been labeled as easycore, a genre they are considered to have helped pioneer and named with one of their tours.


title: New Found Glory

text: Critics have praised the band for their ability to write infectious hooks and the sincerity of their lyrics, often about growing up and relationships. Chad Gilbert has noted that, "if the delivery is honest and real, that's what keeps it from being the corniest thing you've ever heard before. New Found Glory is a band that people enjoy listening to not because we give off this harsh message. We write about who we are and what affects us in life and those are our relationships". Bassist Ian Grushka has stated that "all of the lyrics are based on real life experiences. A song can be created from something one of us is going through or a conversation we've had." While also adding, "We only really talk about personal things that have affected us first-hand, our songs are about emotions rather than some political agenda." Rhythm guitarist Steve Klein was the band's primary lyricist, while lead guitarist Chad Gilbert is the main composer of the songs. Although since the recording of "Coming Home", Klein, Pundik and Gilbert all worked on lyrics together. They have recorded covers of The Ramones, Shelter, Lifetime, Gorilla Biscuits, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, The Wonders, Limahl, Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, Peter Cetera, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Sixpence None The Richer, Bob Dylan, When In Rome, Go West, Lisa Loeb, The Cardigans, Goo Goo Dolls, Simple Minds, Yann Tiersen, Madonna, Tears For Fears and Survivor. New Found Glory's influences include Green Day, Texas Is the Reason, Björk, Silverchair, They Might Be Giants, The Get Up Kids, Earth Crisis, Discount, The Promise Ring, Blink-182, Unwritten Law, Britney Spears, The Beatles, Pennywise, NOFX, Bad Religion, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Sparklehorse, Rocket from the Crypt, Descendents, My Bloody Valentine, and Sugar.


title: New Found Glory

text: In recent years, the band have been cited for their long lasting influence on contemporary pop punk music. Josh Martin, bassist for band The Wonder Years, has claimed that "Influentially, when you think about the top three pop-punk bands of all time...it’s Blink-182, New Found Glory and Green Day. At least in my brain, they’re on that level eternally." In 2009, "Alternative Press" included "Nothing Gold Can Stay" in their "Classic Albums of '99" feature. Brendan Manley wrote, "Like its title implies, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is the sonic transcript of a glorious, fleeting time for NFG - and for pop-punk. But just as gold never loses its luster, it's only fitting that 10 years later, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" still shines". Likewise, Jason Heller of "The A.V. Club" reflected how their debut "snuck beneath the radar to become a massive influence on the new millennium’s eruption of pop-punk."


title: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education

text: The pandemic affected educational systems worldwide. Most governments decided to temporarily close educational institutions in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As of , approximately learners were affected due to school closures in response to the pandemic. The number of cases of COVID-19 started to rise in March 2020 and educational institutions and universities remained closed. Globally, the education of almost 75 million children and young people was interrupted. According to UNICEF monitoring, countries at one time implemented nationwide closures and had local closures, impacting about percent of the world's student population. countries' schools were open.


text: Scarcer education options impacted people with few financial resources, while those with more found education. New online programs shifted the labor of education from schools to families and individuals, and consequently, people everywhere who relied on schools rather than computers and homeschooling had more difficulty. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) as well as school closures impacted students, teachers, and families, and far-reaching economic and societal consequences are expected. School closures shed light on various social and economic issues, including student debt, digital learning, food security, and homelessness, as well as access to childcare, health care, housing, internet, and disability services. The impact was more severe for disadvantaged children and their families, causing interrupted learning, compromised nutrition, childcare problems, and consequent economic cost to families who could not work.


text: In response to school closures, UNESCO recommended the use of distance learning programmes and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education.</onlyinclude>


text: Efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 through non-pharmaceutical interventions and preventive measures such as social-distancing and self-isolation have prompted the widespread closure of primary, secondary, and tertiary schooling in over 100 countries.


text: Previous outbreaks of infectious diseases have prompted widespread school closings around the world, with varying levels of effectiveness. Mathematical models have shown that transmission may be delayed by closing schools. However, effectiveness depends on the contacts children maintain outside of school. School closures appear effective in decreasing cases and deaths, particularly when enacted promptly. If school closures occur late relative to an outbreak, they are less effective and may not have any impact at all. Additionally, in some cases, the reopening of schools after a period of closure has resulted in increased infection rates. As closures tend to occur concurrently with other interventions such as public gathering bans, it can be difficult to measure the specific impact of school closures.


text: During the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic in the United States, school closures and public gathering bans were associated with lower total mortality rates. Cities that implemented such interventions earlier had greater delays in reaching peak mortality rates. Schools closed for a median duration of 4 weeks according to a study of 43 US cities' response to the Spanish Flu. School closures were shown to reduce morbidity from the Asian flu by 90% during the 1957–58 outbreak, and up to 50% in controlling influenza in the US, 2004–2008.


text: Multiple countries successfully slowed the spread of infection through school closures during the 2009 H1N1 Flu pandemic. School closures in the city of Oita, Japan, were found to have successfully decreased the number of infected students at the peak of infection; however closing schools was not found to have significantly decreased the total number of infected students. Mandatory school closures and other social distancing measures were associated with a 29% to 37% reduction in influenza transmission rates. Early school closures in the United States delayed the peak of the 2009 H1N1 Flu pandemic. Despite the overall success of closing schools, a study of school closures in Michigan found that "district level reactive school closures were ineffective."


text: During the swine flu outbreak in 2009 in the UK, in an article titled "Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic" published in the "Lancet Infectious Diseases", a group of epidemiologists endorsed the closure of schools in order to interrupt the course of the infection, slow further spread and buy time to research and produce a vaccine. Having studied previous influenza pandemics including the 1918 flu pandemic, the influenza pandemic of 1957 and the 1968 flu pandemic, they reported on the economic and workforce effect school closure would have, particularly with a large percentage of doctors and nurses being women, of whom half had children under the age of 16. They also looked at the dynamics of the spread of influenza in France during French school holidays and noted that cases of flu dropped when schools closed and re-emerged when they re-opened. They noted that when teachers in Israel went on strike during the flu season of 1999–2000, visits to doctors and the number of respiratory infections dropped by more than a fifth and more than two fifths respectively.


text: For schools and childcare facilities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends short-term closure to clean or disinfect if an infected person has been in a school building regardless of community spread. When there is minimal to moderate community transmission, social distancing strategies can be implemented such as postponing or cancelling field trips, assemblies, and other large gatherings such as physical education or choir classes or meals in a cafeteria, increasing the space between desks, staggering arrival and dismissal times, limiting nonessential visitors, and using a separate health office location for children with flu-like symptoms. When there is substantial transmission in the local community, in addition to social distancing strategies, extended school dismissals may be considered.


text: As the pandemic progresses, schools may continue with remote learning or decide to reopen. Strategies such as cohorting, rotating schedules, eating lunch in the classroom, and utilizing outdoor spaces are some ways to minimize close contact. Additional precautions include face masks, hand sanitizer stations, rearranging classrooms to enable physical distancing, and frequent cleaning. The CDC made a School Decision Tree to aid administrators in the planning process for reopening. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges re-entry policies need to be flexible and responsive as new information about the virus emerges.


text: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states that in-person instruction for grades K-5 and students with special needs should be prioritized to prevent children from falling behind. Younger children are at higher risk of suffering from long-term academic consequences and developmental deficits without in-person learning.


text: The impact on academic integrity has been observed around the world. A rise in contract cheating, academic file-sharing, and exam cheating were identified as particularly problematic. With remote learning, cheating has become far easier for students. There is no remorse from students who would rather succeed in class than learn. Online education has also exposed various as yet unresolved legal issues, including copyright and unapproved misuse of lectures.


text: Many institutions turned to commercial services to take over exam proctoring, but almost immediately concerns were raised about student privacy, surveillance, and the impact on student mental health.


text: The lack of student to teacher interaction also led students to feel less passionate about the integrity of their work. Students turned in half-completed assignments, got the answers from friends in class, or turned in nothing at all simply because education became less important due to COVID-19.


text: The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gender gap in education between females and males. The rapid spread of COVID-19 forced many females into the traditional roles as caretakers. Common gender disparities that impact a female's education during the pandemic are finances enabling higher dropout rates, domestic violence, child marriage, early pregnancy, and exploitation of child labor. Female caretakers drop out of schools to provide care for sick family members and/or become a source of income for their families. In settings with gender disparities in rates of school completion, girls are at increased risk of not returning to school after lockdown if tasked with income-generating activities or caretaking or they become pregnant. There is a correlation between increased unemployment rates with higher female school dropout rates. Malala Fund research estimates that as a result of the pandemic, 20 million girls in developing countries may never return to the classroom. Consequently, there is a decreased level of women returning to school, particularly in nations with poverty. Out of the total population of students enrolled in education globally, UNESCO estimates that over 89% are currently out of school because of COVID-19 closures. This represents 1.54 billion children, and youth enrolled in school or university, including nearly 743 million girls. During the pandemic, females attending school reported encountering technical challenges with remote learning. Using data from the National Study STEM faculty and students (NSSFS) collected 2020, the report describes gender disparities in experiences of transitioning to remote teaching/learning among US STEM faculty and students. According to the survey, females reported higher technical challenges in remote learning against their male counterparts. The two main areas that females found challenging in remote learning were adaptability to the course design and transitioning from face-to-face school to remote online learning curriculums. Countries with poverty reported increased gender disparities as families could not afford internet usage in low-income households to pay for female education. Additionally, there was a preference in male over female education as they were seen as sole providers. Over 111 million of these girls are living in the world's least developed countries where getting an education is already a struggle. These are contexts of extreme poverty, economic vulnerability, and crisis where gender disparities in education are highest. In Mali, Niger, and South Sudan — 3 countries with some of the lowest enrolment and completion rates for girls — closures have forced over 4 million girls out of school. The broadened gap in gender disparities impacts female education that will exceed beyond the pandemic and seep into their futures. There have been several efforts by UNESCO and other organizations to raise funds for female education, but due to the financial hardships of the pandemic, those efforts have fallen short. Lack of government involvement in the issue and inability to address the increasing concerns of gender disparities in education during the pandemic has limited educational opportunities for females globally.


text: The impact of COVID-19 on racial disparities in online learning during the pandemic has received research attention. A recent study from the Urban Institute covers some of these findings. Urban's study points to issues in access to a computer and internet. A 2018 survey of households showed that 48% of surveyed households of Alaskan Natives did not have access to computers compared to 35% of Black households, 35% Latino, and 19% White. Minimal access to computers and the internet was found in 1.3 to 1.4 times as many Black and Hispanic households with school-aged children as it was in white households, with more than two out of five low-income households having just limited access.


text: A 2021 report from the Black Education Research Collective analyzes the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Black education. It evaluates how Black students, parents, educators and community members experience systemic racism during COVID. The study seeks to show how the pandemic has interrupted education across the country, highlighting existing racial and economic inequities. The study also argues that even before the outbreak, students in vulnerable neighborhoods, primarily Black, Indigenous, and other majority-minority areas, faced disparities in everything from resources (ranging from books to counselors) to student-teacher ratios and extracurricular activities.


text: As of , countries have localised school closures. UNESCO estimates 473,933,356 learners are potentially at risk (pre-primary to upper-secondary education) and 77,938,904 learners are potentially at risk in tertiary education.


text: School closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have shed a light on numerous issues affecting access to education, as well as broader socio-economic issues. As of 12 March, more than 370 million children and youth are not attending school because of temporary or indefinite country wide school closures mandated by governments in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. As of 29 March, nearly 90% of the world's learners were impacted by closures.


text: According to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), the COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 91% of students worldwide, with approximately 1.6 billion children and youngsters unable to attend physical schools due to temporary closures and lockdowns.


text: Even when school closures are temporary, it carries high social and economic costs. The disruptions they cause affect people across communities, but their impact is more severe for disadvantaged children and their families including interrupted learning, compromised nutrition, childcare problems and consequent economic cost to families who cannot work. According to Studi Economici Dell'Ocse (OECD) studies, school performance hinges critically on maintaining close relationships with teachers. This is particularly true for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who may not have the parental support needed to learn on their own. Working parents are more likely to miss work when schools close in order to take care of their children, incurring wage loss in many instances and negatively impacting productivity. Localised school closures place burdens on schools as parents and officials redirect children to schools that are open.


text: It is also highly likely that the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures will further exacerbate the learning crisis occurring across the globe.


text: Women make up almost 70% of the healthcare workforce, exposing them to a greater risk of infection. They often cannot attend work because of childcare obligations that result from school closures. In fact, in the U.S., the healthcare sector has one of the highest rates of childcare obligations in the broader economy, with approximately 28.8% of the workforce responsible for providing care to children aged 3–12. At best, this means that school closures put pressure on health workers in systems already strained by COVID-19 caseloads. At worst, this means that some medical professionals may miss work at health facilities altogether.


text: Online learning has become a critical lifeline for education, as institutions seek to minimize the potential for community transmission. Technology can enable teachers and students to access specialized materials well beyond textbooks, in multiple formats and in ways that can bridge time and space. Digital media in education can take many forms, including high-tech solutions such as tablet-based adaptive learning software or low-tech solutions such as radio, sms, and instructional television. Teachers may operate in dual mode, teaching local and remote learners simultaneously.


text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools across the world began conducting classes via videotelephony software such as Zoom, Google Classroom and/or Google Meet. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has created a framework to guide an education response to the COVID-19 pandemic for distance learning. Whenever this was possible, the ability to teach in real time significantly helped educators handle the transition, in comparison with their colleagues who had to rely on asynchronous instruction.


text: Some online learning solutions like Coursera expanded their accessibility by offering more free online courses during the pandemic.


text: Lack of access to technology or fast, reliable internet access can prevent students in rural areas and from disadvantaged families. Lack of access to technology or good internet connectivity is an obstacle to continued learning, especially for students from disadvantaged families. Teachers have reported that students are more likely to complete assignments if they have access to internet at home. In response to school closures caused by COVID-19, UNESCO recommends the use of distance learning programmes and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education. However, in regions where online learning is not feasible, due to a lack of access to distance learning tools such as smart phones and internet connectivity, some parents have resorted to child labor or early marriage as a means to cope with the financial stress placed on them by the pandemic.


text: To aid in slowing the transmission of COVID-19, hundreds of libraries have temporarily closed. In the United States, numerous major cities announced public library closures, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City, affecting 221 libraries. For students without internet at home, this increases the difficulty of keeping up with distance learning.


text: Yale economist Fabrizio Zilibotti co-authored a January 2022 study with professors from the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and the University of Amsterdam, showing that unequal access to technology during "the pandemic is widening educational inequality and that the learning gaps created by the crisis will persist."


text: Lack of limitations and exceptions to copyright can also have an impact on the ability of students to access the textbooks and materials they need to study. Several initiatives were taken to grant that students and teachers can have access to open educational resources, or understand copyright limitations. The International Council for Open and Distance Education issued a special website to provide webinars, tips for online teaching and resources for teachers.


text: In New Zealand, a group of publishers agreed to allow for virtual public readings of their materials from libraries and classrooms. A similar agreement took place in Australia, where the Australian Publishers Association, the Australian Library and Information Association and the Australian Society of Authors agreed on a set of exceptional measures to allow libraries to provide educational content. The Australian organization AMCOS agreed to give a gratis license for all their music sheets to all schools across Australia.


text: An advocacy organization in Netherlands launched a website to allow teachers use free-licensed music and video for their classes.


text: A coalition of over 500 civil society organizations and individuals issued a letter to Francis Gurry, Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization, asking, among other things, a special set of limitations and exceptions to copyright for the duration of the pandemic.


text: Several organizations are also working to explain to teachers how to navigate complex copyright scenarios. The National Copyright Unit of Australia, a specialist copyright team responsible for copyright policy and administration for Australian schools and TAFE, issued a set of recommendations to follow on copyright issues while doing remote learning and a set of recommendations for using openly licensed content, specially aimed to parents supporting students. Centrum Cyfrowe in Poland is holding open calls to support the work of teachers and educators leading in the open education sector. The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at the American University is holding a set of webinars for different educators to guide them through copyright issues when delivering online teaching and how to address best practices for fair use.


text: Closures of early childhood education and care (ECEC) as well as schools increases work-family conflicts particularly for parents with younger children who are in more need of care and supervision of distance learning. School closures puts a strain on parents and guardians to provide childcare and manage distance learning while children are out of school. In the absence of alternative options, working parents often leave children alone when schools close and this can lead to risky behaviours, including increased influence of peer pressure and substance abuse. Alternatively, in some emerging economies, parents may resort to bringing their children to work and engaging them in menial labor, as has been the case in Maharashtra, India, where some out-of-school teenagers have been working in sugar cane fields alongside their day laborer parents.


text: In the United States, as of early April, more than half of existing childcare programs had shut down at least temporarily and were not serving any children.


text: Many working mothers dropped out of the labor force to take care of their children during school closures and online learning. In places where part-time school attendance or fully virtual learning is implemented, working parents are typically left with a choice of either arranging childcare or to stop working during days when their children are not at school. However, childcare is often difficult to find or unaffordable, due to its increased demand and closures of daycare centers during the pandemic, making it not a viable option for many parents.


text: Due to the difficulty of securing accommodations and flexibility from their employers to allow them to take care of their children, women in the United States, particularly Black and Latina women, have lost a disproportionate share of jobs since the beginning of the pandemic. These include forced attritions from women being unable to meet their productivity goals, and voluntary resignations from women who face too much pressure from managing both their paid and unpaid responsibilities. In many cases, women in the workforce were unable to afford private childcare, hence necessitating them to take a leave of absence from work or resigning from their job. A spring 2021 academic study suggested that a much larger proportion of mothers left the workforce in US states where schools offered primarily remote education. Between February 2020 and 2021, more than 2.3 million women in the US have left the labor force. In January 2021, only 57% of American women participated in the labor force, the lowest rate in 33 years.


text: A study from Washington University in St. Louis found that mothers have reduced their paid working hours four to five times more than fathers from February to April 2020, which widened the gender gap in working hours by a maximum of 50%. According to authors of the study, the disparity may lead to droves of women leaving the workforce and massive layoffs for women. Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the University of Michigan, warned that the exodus of women from the workforce during the pandemic may lead to long-term impacts in women's labor market outcomes. Because working hours are a major cause of the gender pay gap, and periods of non-employment has adverse impacts on future earnings and job mobility, experts warn that the pandemic-induced reduction can set women's advancement back for decades.


text: Nutrition plays a critical role in cognitive development and academic performance for children. Many children worldwide rely on free or discounted meals at schools. When schools close, nutrition is especially compromised for children in schools where food is provided.


text: In the United States, school lunch programmes are the second-biggest anti-hunger initiative after food stamps. Every year, nearly 30 million children rely on schools to provide free or low-cost meals including breakfast, lunch, snacks, and even dinner. In Washington State, around 45% of the states 1.1 million students enrolled in traditional public and charter schools qualify for subsidised school meals. At least 520,000 students and their families may be affected by food insecurity as a result of school closures. In Alabama, where state-wide school closures as of 18 March have affected over 720,000 students, the state Superintendent announced that staff in schools disproportionately affected by poverty would create meal distribution networks to provide food for students who rely on school lunches.


text: Many families with low income qualify for school lunch programs funded by the federal government and subsidized at the state level. Due to this need in our society, schools are required to stay open amid the COVID-19 crisis to provide meals to children who qualify for free or reduced rate meals. School have become creative and they send out a weekly survey to reach every student who will need a free or reduced lunch.


text: In the UK, footballer Marcus Rashford pushed the government to extend free school meals over the summer holidays in August. It was voted out at first, by 61 votes. However, in a U-turn, Boris Johnson's government changed it and agreed to carry on paying. Rashford was given an MBE for his efforts.


text: School closures negatively impact student learning outcomes. Schooling provides essential learning and when schools close, children and youth are deprived opportunities for growth and development. The disadvantages are disproportionate for under-privileged learners who tend to have fewer educational opportunities beyond school. When schools close, parents are often asked to facilitate the learning of children at home and can struggle to perform this task. This is especially true for parents with limited education and resources.


text: Students gain literacy slower during school closures than in a business-as-usual academic year. It has been estimated that the rate of reading ability gain in kindergarten children in the U.S. slows down by 66% during school closures compared to active schooling. A recent study of the effect of the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake found that school closures of an average of 14 weeks has resulted in affected children being 1.5 to 2 years behind their peers who were unaffected by the disaster and its resulting school closures. In practical terms, this learning loss could result in affected children earning 15% less in every adult year of their lives.


text: Student drop-out rates tend to increase as an effect of school closures due to the challenge of ensuring all students return to school once school closures ends. This is especially true of protracted closures. Disadvantaged, at-risk, or homeless children are more likely not to return to school after the closures are ended, and the effect will often be a life-long disadvantage from lost opportunities.


text: Schools are also hubs of social activity and human interaction. When schools are closed, many children and youth miss out on social contact that is essential to learning and development. Accordingly, teachers' perception of student coping significantly decreased with each education level handled, with university instructors finding their students to handle the situation much better than elementary school teachers did.


text: The effect of school closure on academic achievement has been studied in the summer months. Many of the strategies used to prevent academic slump, such as attending summer school, visiting libraries, and/or participating in literacy-rich summer-based activities are not available during the pandemic. Reading every day to a child, an option available while staying at home, reduced the rate of loss by 42%.


text: Potential impacts of school closures and reliance on distance learning are not addressed in US federal acts of legislation in the early months of the pandemic. Special education students are potentially one of the most impacted groups of COVID-19. Educators continue to focus on implementing strategies to deliver services and accommodations in virtual, hybrid, and in person settings. However, information of how severe they have been affected, and how and if their grades will be affected due to their status and how this would affect their future are currently not specified.


text: In a study that looked specifically at school closure in the United States, closure of schools was associated with 1.37 million fewer cases and 40,600 fewer deaths from COVID-19 in a six-week study period. However, two international studies examining the impact of reopening schools from kindergarten to grade 12 found no consistent relationship between the reopening of these schools and the spread of COVID-19, with another study from the United States showing no increased risk to childcare workers who continued to work. Other studies that looked at multiple policy changes have shown more modest changes associated with school closure.


text: Formal education — as opposed to "informal education" or "non-formal education" — tends to refer to schools, colleges, universities and training institutions. A 1974 report by the World Bank defined formal education as the following:"Formal education": the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded "education system", running from primary school through the university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a variety of specialised programmes and institutions for full-time technical and professional training.The majority of data collected on the number of students and learners impacted by COVID-19 has been calculated based on the closure of formal education systems. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics provides figures on students impacted by COVID-19 corresponding to the number of learners enrolled at pre-primary, primary, lower-secondary, and upper-secondary levels of education (ISCED levels 0 to 3), as well as at tertiary education levels (ISCED levels 5 to 8). On average, teachers in K-primary schools were coping worse with the transition than high school educators and university instructors.


text: Early childhood educational programmes are usually designed for children below the age of 3 and may refer to preschools, nursery schools, kindergartens, and some day care programmes. While many primary and secondary schools have closed around the world due to COVID-19, measures impacting early childhood educational programmes have varied. In some countries and territories for instance in Australia preschools and day cares are considered necessary services and have not closed in tandem with broader school closure measures.


text: In the United States, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families encouraged child care and early learning centres to stay open. Some school districts may offer alternative child care options, prioritising the children of first responders and healthcare workers. The governor of Maryland mandated that specific child care services remain open for the children of emergency personnel while Washington State and California have left it to the discretion of care providers. California Governor Gavin Newsom explained his state's position, saying "We need our child care facilities, our daycare centers, to operate to absorb the impact of these school closures." Colorado has encouraged the development of "tool kits" for parents to use at home to emulate the lessons children would have received in their early learning programmes. Over a million eligible American children were not enrolled in kindergarten for the 2021–2022 school year. The 2022 annual "Report on the Condition of Education" conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the U.S. Department of Education indicates that, during 2019 to 2020, there was a 13% decrease in enrollment for eligible students aged three and four, from 54% to 40%.


text: In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe closed all schools throughout the country until 8 April, however, children's daycare facilities were excluded. In early March, five adults associated with a nursing facility for preschool children in Kobe tested positive for coronavirus. After testing over one hundred children at the facility, a preschool student was found to be carrying the virus.


text: Primary or elementary education typically consists of the first four to seven years of formal education. Kindergarten is the first time children participate in formal education. Based on a comparison of longitudinal literacy data in kindergarten-aged students during a spring semester of schooling versus during summer vacation, one study predicted that COVID-19 school closures would slow the rate of literacy ability gain by 66% in kindergarten children in the absence of mitigating alternative educational strategies. The study estimates that over an 8-month period from 1 January to 1 September 2020, assuming school closures from 16 March to 1 September 2020 (and taking into account the summer vacation that would have still normally taken place during that time), that these kindergarten children would have gained 31% less literacy ability on average than if school closures had not occurred. In the United States, there was a 6% decrease in kindergarten enrollment rates for the 2019 - 2020 school year for those aged five, dropping from 91% to 84%.


text: Secondary education is in most countries the phase in the education continuum responsible for the development of the young during their adolescence, the most rapid phase of their physical, mental and emotional growth. However, according to many researchers, secondary education students have lost the structure they need in order to thrive in the secondary environment. Instead, students struggle with self-sufficiency and are at risk of falling behind due to distractors in their home and online. The social-emotional wellbeing of secondary students is also of concern with a recent survey citing that 80% of students have experienced some negative impact to their mental health due to the pandemic. 20% say their mental health has significantly worsened. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that students should get plenty of rest, exercise regularly, and eat well-balanced meals in order to assist in coping with the mental stressors of the pandemic.


text: In the United States, standardized tests for college admissions that are taken near the end of secondary education, such as the SAT and ACT, have adapted to administer in person exams at lower capacity and obeying precautionary measures. Online proctoring has also been explored as a method of making the test more accessible. An online edition of the TOEFL exam is now available for students to take at home. Additionally, many colleges and universities have moved away from requiring standardized tests for admissions, or making the requirement optional.


text: The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) cancelled the examinations for its Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme candidates scheduled between 30 April and 22 May 2020, reportedly affecting more than 200,000 students worldwide. The IBO stated that it would award candidates their diplomas or certificates based on "their coursework" and "the established assessment expertise, rigor, and quality control already built into the programme." College Board has begun offering both in person and online testing for Advanced Placement exams in the 2020–2021 school year.


text: One effect of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has come in the form of increases in private school enrollment. Many parents seeking out private school instruction need a place to send their child due to the parents need to work outside of the home. Despite the high cost of private schools, parents find that the tuition cost to be worth it.


text: An unintended consequence of this migration to private schooling is the widening inequality gap between families that can afford private school tuition and those who cannot. These families often have their children at home in virtual learning environments. Issues like poor broadband connection and the inability for parents to properly support their children's learning due to lack of English language skills or work conflicts will see certain students fall behind academically.


text: A study on "teachers' and parents' preparedness to support virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya" shows that most parents and teachers were not prepared to support virtual learning. This issue affected all schools: public 8-4-4 schools, private 8-4-4 schools, international schools, and private schools in the country. This points to a weak support system for virtual education in Kenyan schools during COVID-19 outbreak affecting virtual learning delivery.


text: However, the IBO came under heavy criticism worldwide for their methods in calculating the students' final grades and their "Enquiry upon results" (EUR) strategy after results were released on 6 July 2020. Consequently, many students not only received much lower grades than what they were predicted to by their teachers but also missed the entrance requirements to every university they applied to, affecting approximately 170,000 students in 153 countries. As a result, petitions that garnered dozens of thousands of signatures were created online with the hashtag "IBSCANDAL" becoming viral, schools and people have lost confidence with the education company and are considering other alternatives for secondary education, and educational reforms are being suggested where students will deviate away from taking significant examinations in the future.


text: Tertiary education, also known as higher education, refers to the non-compulsory educational levels that follow completion of secondary school or high school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Individuals who complete tertiary education generally receive certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.


text: For higher education, the preparation of the future workforce is a key priority. Many occupations rely on education that has been supported through campus-focused activities such as face-to-face interactions with other students, work-integrated learning, and further hands-on exercises. For example, the healthcare workforce of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals have been trained by in-person observations - similar to the apprenticeship model. In-person education has been shown to create stronger student-tutor and student-student interactions and relationships, which can promote better engagement. With COVID-19 and the pivot to distance learning, a similar level of depth is highly difficult to achieve. More evidence on feasibility, benefits, and obstacles is needed to analyze the drivers of economic impact for the various types of initiatives introduced in online education.


text: Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and prior to post-graduate education, for which the learner is typically awarded a bachelor's degree.


text: The closure of colleges and universities has widespread individual, organizational, and learning and teaching implications for students, faculty, administrators, and the institutions themselves. The initial period of rapid adaption during 2020 contained three primary responses to COVID-19: minimal legal response, delayed commencement of study periods, and rapid digitalization of curriculum. Thoughts about what to make of this situation resulted in optional learning online or in person depending on what the university declared as being mandatory.


text: Millions of students are expected to defer the start of their studies for their undergraduate degree to a later year due to the pandemic. This not only will negatively affect the future university intake process due to shortages in places available but universities worldwide are expected to lose billions of USD in equivalent due to the number of students expected to study at university in the 2020–2021 academic year.


text: Colleges and universities across the United States have been called upon to issue refunds to students for the cost of tuition and room and board.


text: While $6 billion in emergency relief is to be made available to students during the pandemic, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos decided on 21 April 2020 that it will only be made available to those students who are also already eligible for federal financial aid. This rule will exclude tens of thousands of undocumented students who participate in the government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA, or "Dreamers") program from being able to receive emergency relief funds.


text: Apart from colleges losing vast amounts of income undergraduate students themselves have lost vast amounts of imperative education due to COVID-19. With the lack of regular education amongst all students, learning seems harder to manage. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, college students would have in-person classes, in-person office hours, and in-person extracurricular activities. However, the pandemic has created an atmosphere where students who have an idea about their future occupation, are learning essential information behind a screen. These changes have made focusing on classes built around a students selected major very difficult, as they are not experiencing what they are passionate about to the fullest extent. The result of this is lost passion for specific subjects, the inability to focus on crucial information, and tainted academic integrity all over.


text: In the United States of America, colleges and universities operate as "mini-cities" which generate significant revenue for cities, states, and regions. For example, Princeton University estimated in 2017 that it contributed $1.58 billion USD per year to the New Jersey economy, and that students spent about $60 million in off-campus spending. College and university closures have a domino effect on economies with far-reaching implications.