Editorial: Educational Experiences for the Development of the SDG in the Time of COVID-19

Editorial on the Research Topic
Educational Experiences for the Development of the SDG in the Time of COVID-19

Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030) promoted by the United Nations and focusing the theme on objective 4: “guarantee inclusive education, equitable and of quality and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” and based on objective 3 that guarantees and promotes health and wellbeing, the crisis caused by Covid-19, which affects all dimensions of society, has been intensifying inequalities in the educational context and therefore in society. Educators must develop their creativity and effectiveness in the face of the scarcity of support and learning materials, and difficulties in accessing the Internet and computer programs that add barriers to the teaching-learning process of the most vulnerable citizens, in an attempt to develop initiatives that fight against these situations of educational exclusion. In this context, the Research Topic raises equality, inclusion and social sustainability at any stage of life.

The objectives are aimed at:

• Detecting the new threats and challenges of formal education.

• Investigate the possible advantages of using ICT in the teaching-learning process.

• Assess the impact on inequality and exclusion of families and students in times of Covid-19.

• Study the barriers that prevent achieving the SDGs in educational contexts.

• Develop educational intervention strategies and assess their implications.

• Evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the programs generated to address these challenges.

• Promote the adaptation of educational contexts to innovative forms of teaching that allow achieving total equality and inclusion of students.

The Research Topic encompasses a wide range of educational stages in which solutions are sought to achieve quality, fully inclusive and equitable education that contributes to emotional wellbeing in exceptional circumstances.

The Covid-19 pandemic led governments to temporarily suspend traditional school education and advocated for online or distance education. This fact was a handicap for teaching due to the change in teacher-student relationships, but especially at early ages and in relation to the most disadvantaged classes (rural areas-low socioeconomic level). In this context, the question was whether teachers would have or develop other types of skills and abilities, in a digital model of online resources, that favor motivation, inclusion and effectiveness in the teaching-learning process and, above all, could conduct an assessment in entirely new learning environments. For this reason, studies were carried out on instruments suitable for evaluating the results of this type of teaching based on experience, motivation and the connection between teacher and student (Huang and Lu).

On the other hand, the confinement situation has led educators to worry not only about the academic aspect of their students, but also about the impact it has had on their emotional wellbeing. To this end, they have implemented resources of a pedagogical nature, some based on the artistic area, which lead to both individual and collective recovery of the students, reaffirming their sense of belonging, improving communication, working on empathy, expanding knowledge of social problems in a and contributing to the day-to-day recovery of the educational community. The important thing was to reestablish relationships between students, the community, and society in general (O'Connor and Estellés).

No less important in this context of vulnerability is the issue of online education and therapy aimed at children with special needs. The creativity developed shows the level of commitment to the culture of inclusion. Some teachers get down to it and adapt tools and platforms aimed at working with students with visual disabilities to turn them into universal teaching materials. Totally new concepts appear: editor, software, browser, artificial intelligence, or QR code, all at the service of educational inclusion through adaptation and personalization (Patrascoiu et al.).

Another problem that arises is how to achieve digital literacy in older people who have not had access until now, due to their age or their place of residence (rural environments), to the resources offered by the new information technologies and communication, which has caused their exclusion from the global information circuit, and which in turn has been aggravated by the pandemic crisis. To respond to this challenge, a literacy workshop experience is offered that works on the digital skills necessary to put an end to said exclusion, since not only access to technology is required, but also training that adapts to the different levels of education experience (Martínez-Alcalá et al.).

Finally, responsible consumption is another aspect that is being worked on from the educational field and that is a challenge in times of Covid-19. The accent is placed on implementing methodologies that convert students into consumers who are aware of the impact that their decisions have on the environment. In this sense, with proposals for small changes in the daily routine, it is possible to achieve substantial changes in consumption patterns. Pedagogical strategies such as the creation of a virtual learning community bring the conceptualization closer and help to know and evaluate the knowledge and behaviors in the classroom (mind maps). Students expand their vision of the social and environmental dimension of sustainability, get involved and make decisions that will have repercussions in the future (Arias et al.).

The results of the Research Topic show the creativity in the search and implementation of strategies, methodologies, evaluations, and adaptations of instruments that are reflected in educational experiences carried out during the pandemic, and that comprise a wide educational spectrum in search of the development of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Frontiers Publishing Group and all the researchers involved for the opportunity to conduct this Editorial.