The following has been compiled by Global Geneva Group’s Youth Writes initiative with ideas and suggestions aimed mainly young people, but also teachers and parents. See our background article on Covid-19 in Switzerland plus Youth Nuse for updates. If you like what we are doing, please SUPPORT us.
Experiences
Gyms are still hot spots for spreading COVID-19
Keep your exercise to your living room or outdoors for the time being (LINK).
Call me intern
Curious about that intern who camped out at Lake Geneva while working in the UN? Means TV has broadcast the film he and a partner made: “Call Me Intern, follows young, unemployed and frustrated, Filmmakers David Leo Hyde and Nathalie Berger who set out to land an internship in an act of millennial gonzo-film making. After David accepts an internship at the United Nations, they move into a small blue tent on the Geneva lakefront and begin documenting the experience. Their action sparks a global press storm, challenging their roles as filmmakers” (LINK).
Young business owners find new strategies to deal with the pandemic, survey reveals
International Trade Centre survey shows how COVID-19 is forcing enterprises run by young people in developing countries to think on their feet (LINK)
Aaron Coleman, the 19-Year-Old U.S: Progressive Who Won His Kansas Primary, Speaks About His Troubled Past and Promising Present
He became the Democratic nominee in a heavily blue district with no Republican on the ballot. (LINK)
Psychology
Mainly for parents and educators
Six Ways to Help A Child Manage Anxiety During COVID-19
American Psychological Association (LINK).
Talking to Teens and Tweens About Coronavirus
Experts offer advice on how parents can help adolescents get the facts straight and be prepared (LINK).
How to encourage student self-care
Psychology graduate students do better when they prioritize caring for themselves, but too few do. Here’s how faculty can change that (LINK).
Others
The best apps for dealing with anxiety
These services do more than guide meditation (LINK).
Coping with COVID-19-related stress as a student
Look for tasks you can postpone or simply eliminate from your to-do list (LINK).
The Psychological Impact of COVID-19
“Although the impact of COVID-19 is individual-specific and based on a number of factors (e.g. the length of quarantine, risk factors, trauma history, mental health history, etc.), some trends in mental health consequences have begun to emerge among the general population” (LINK).
COVID-19: Stress and Anxiety
“The COVID-19 virus knows all about the human psyche. The virus is aware that we experience stress and become anxious when we keep a distance from other people and are forced to isolate ourselves from direct, physical contact with the people we love and cherish. Under conditions of stress and as we become more anxious, our vulnerability also increases — leaving us even more anxious” (LINK).
For Generations Y and Z, work, school, and life will never be the same
“Having already established a fully virtual practice prior, I was fortunate to not have to scramble to close my doors, make alternate arrangements and educate myself and my clients on online platforms. And yet, there is much that has fundamentally changed, perhaps forever” (LINK).
The fear of coronavirus is changing our psychology
“The threat of contagion can twist our psychological responses to ordinary interactions, leading us to behave in unexpected ways” (LINK).
COVID-19: Real Problems but No Pandemic of Mental Illness
In the general population, around one person in every five has clinically significant symptoms of anxiety or depression. This does not mean that one-fifth of the population is mentally ill. Most people cope by reaching out to family and friends, exercising more, changing their lifestyles, and doing the things they have always done in times of difficulty (LINK).
APA COVID-19 Information and Resources
Continually updated by the American Psychological Assocation for psychologists, health care workers and the public (LINK).
COVID-19 stress management tools
Five quick, action-oriented things you can do to help manage excessive stress during COVID-19 and the science behind them (LINK).
Managing attention and distractibility in online learning
Research-backed answers to some of the most commonly asked questions regarding attention and distractibility in the virtual classroom (LINK).
Lockdown life
Here’s the type and amount of exercise you need, WHO advises
The World Health Organization released new physical activity guidelines recommending that adults get at least 150 minutes — that’s 2.5 hours — of moderate to vigorous physical activity weekly (LINK).
Three Habits of Incredibly Healthy People
It is recommended that you perform a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise, paired with two days of strength training per week (LINK).
The Myth of “Loving What You Do” Has Ruined Modern Work for Everyone
“Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life,” or so the old adage goes. Except that’s not really true, is it? (LINK).
Parenting: ‘Hunt, Gather, Parent’ Offers Lessons Collected Around The World
There are many parenting books out there. But National Public Radio’s Michaeleen Doucleff says all the parenting books that she read after becoming a mom left a lot out. “I’m trained as a scientist. I spent seven years as a chemist and I really believed that the parenting advice we got today was backed by really stringent scientific research,” she says. “And when I started looking at the studies as a scientist, I was really, really let down” (LINK).
For Parents: How to Teach Your Teenager to Drive
Even in a pandemic, the roads are open and teens are on them (LINK).
The 10 best electric bikes in 2021
“In some areas, our sales have just quadrupled in the past few months. It’s growing faster than any other category. It’s inspiring to see how people are embracing them.” (LINK).
The Best Insoles for Running and Walking
“After researching and testing 32 types of insoles, we think that the Superfeet Green for men and the Superfeet Blueberry for women offer the best support and cushion for most people” (LINK).
Bored at home? Here’s 10 handy tools you can build with Python
Python can be suitable for programmers of varying skill levels, right from the students to intermediate developers, to experts and professionals (LINK).
Communication
How to use Zoom like a pro: 15 video chat tips and tricks to try now
Mute your audio and turn off your camera by default (LINK).
Turning off your camera in video calls could cut carbon emissions by 96%
An hour of videoconferencing or streaming emits between 150 and 1000 grams of carbon dioxide. It also uses up to 12 litres of water and an area of land around the size of an iPad mini. (LINK).
Microsoft Teams or Zoom? A salesman offers his verdict
“Zoom is a lot better than Teams. “It looks better. It’s got more options for how the participants are arranged on the screen. Everything about it is more intuitive” (LINK).
These Video Lengths Perform Best on Social Media
Part of the reason we love being on our phones is because short-form videos are becoming irresistible (LINK).
Pick the right platform for remote podcasting
The issue with Skype is that sound quality is poor, even if all parties have great Internet connections. The good news is that there are excellent alternatives to Skype that let you record remote podcast interviews. (LINK)
Nine Free Alternatives to Zoom for Getting your Classroom Online
The one you choose may well depend on your students’ access to technology, the model of delivery you want to use and whether you see this as a short or longer term situation (LINK).
How to give better PowerPoint presentations and improve your slides to keep an audience engaged
Few things look as unprofessional as fumbling around trying to start your presentation in the PowerPoint app. But you can skip all that by setting your presentation to start instantly (LINK)
How To Improve Your Video Shots: A Comparison of Beginner and Professional B-Roll
B-roll typically refers to supplementary or transitional footage that accompanies your main shots for variance, style, or storytelling (LINK).
15 Best Virtual Art Museum Tours You Can Enjoy Online
More and more museums are making their collections accessible to all online. Quite a few of the museums featured here have special kid friendly tours too (LINK).
Entertainment
Netflix is releasing 69 new original movies and shows in July – here’s the full list
“After starting out slow in 2021 — and by that, we do mean dreadfully, awfully, painfully slow — things really started to pick up a few months ago. Take one look at all the incredible Netflix original movies and series from June 2021 and you’ll see so much more top-tier content than we were seeing in prior months. (LINK)
38 of the best movies to watch on Netflix
Netflix occasionally brings in big directors to serve up originals that make it all the way to the Oscars. But it’s also got an abundance of smaller stories perfect for a modestly sized screen (LINK).
Best cult movies on Netflix: classic cult films revealed
Films that might not have raked in millions or filled column inches over the years, but which still have something special going for them (LINK).
Five Gaming Reviews You Need to See
(LINK)
Opportunities
NEXSTEP Virtual Internship Programme
Advanced Experiential Learning (LINK).
Help Us Build Resilient Communities & Prevent Violent Extremism
Global Community Engagement & Resilience Fund: “We are looking for a Communications Intern who will support GCERF’s Communications Specialist to increase GCERF’s visibility and enhance its public reputation” (LINK).
How to report solutions journalism from your house — five tips from two veteran journalists
Tip 1: Plan your trip — then don’t go (LINK).
Jobseekers take a pay cut to work for sustainable companies, study shows
A paper co-authored by researchers at the University of Geneva, Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Stockholm School of Economics found that workers earn about 10 per cent lower wages in firms that operate in more sustainable sectors. (LINK).
Studies
1,500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities
From universities like Stanford, Yale, MIT, Harvard, Oxford and more, you can learn everything you want – from history, philosophy and literature, to physics, biology, psychology, and computer science (LINK).
All the best MIT courses that you can take online for free
As of Feb. 25, a wide range of online courses from MIT are available for free on edX. You can take comprehensive courses on everything from machine learning with Python to creating policies for science, technology, and innovation, without spending a penny (LINK).
BecomingX: “It has never been tougher to be a young person,”Bear Grylls says
Through short films on its website, the global leaders in their field — including sports champion Roger Federer and Hollywood superstars Julia Roberts, Channing Tatum and Courteney Cox — share their own stories and what it has taken for them to succeed. The initiative offers over 100 digital lessons through “BecomingX Education”, as an option to help schools teach personal development and life skills. It also aims to take the initiative to lower income countries and underserved communities (LINK).
Approaching Songwriting As a Beginner: 9 Things You Should Know Before Writing Original Music
No matter what you’re aiming for, there are some ground rules that should be covered first (LINK).
Distance Learning Resources for Covid19 from World Ocean Observatory
Includes WORLD OCEAN EXPLORER 2020: a game capable of reaching a global audience, [it] can expand interest in ocean issues and habitats, and excite students about the infinite possibilities associated with ocean exploration (LINK).
50 Best Colleges for Nursing in America
The world needs 9 million more nurses and midwives to achieve universal health care within the next 10 years (LINK).
12 Online Embroidery Classes That Make It Easy to Learn Creative Stitching of All Kinds
It includes a comprehensive three-hour introductory course (LINK)
A note on finishing 12 years of teaching undergraduate behavioural economics
Ethical aspects of practice evolved as an increasing part of the course over the years (LINK).
Study Less, Study Smart: A Longtime Psych Professor Explains How to Study (or Do Any Intellectual Work) Effectively
Not many of us can get much out of a textbook after a few hours with it, or indeed, after more than about thirty minutes. It’s thus at such an interval that Marty Lobdell suggests taking a regular five-minute break to listen to music, play a game, talk to a friend, meditate — to do anything but study — in order to recharge your ability to focus and head off these diminishing returns of absorption (LINK).
Aids
Linguix Grammar and Spell Checker: free on Google browsers
Good for Gmail, Facebook and Medium postings. Particularly helpful for non-English speakers (LINK). We’ve reviewed it against other grammar and spell checkers (LINK)
The 10 best news apps to stay informed without all the doomscrolling
Not everything comes from the New York Times or a local news station (LINK).
Media literacy sources
Can Students Tell the Difference Between Fact and Fiction? (LINK).
News bias tracker for Google Chrome browsers offered by Ground News
“We used advisory from journalists to inform the design and functionality of the extension but made it user-friendly enough that the average newsreader can use it. Whether your routine is to check in on Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit, Ground News can uncover the hidden bias in your newsfeed” (LINK).
Smithsonian Science Education Center With Support of the World Health Organization Launches New COVID-19 Guide for Youth
The guide, which is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, aims to help young people understand the science and social science of COVID-19 as well as help them take actions to keep themselves, their families and communities safe (LINK).
CFR Presents World101, a Free Online Course That Explains the Forces Shaping Our World
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has released World101, a free online course that explains the fundamentals of international relations and foreign policy. Using multimedia storytelling, World101 invites those who are new to international relations to investigate what lies at the core of the most important global topics. The program is intended for people of any age, both inside and outside of formal academic settings (LINK).
The future
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) holds Global Youth Summit 5-16 April 2021
“The virtual IUCN One Nature, One Future Global Youth Summit will strengthen connections between young leaders and their existing global networks, encourage interdisciplinary learning, provide a space for broader storytelling on conservation, and add momentum to growing youth movements for nature and climate.
During this unique time of history, virtual spaces open the opportunity for greater inclusivity. Youth from around the world are invited to participate in youth-led capacity-building workshops, networking events, and contribute to an outcome document to be delivered to IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in 2021” (LINK).
These are the 10 traits recruiters look for
In a recent study, recruiters ranked what they consider to be the most important traits for job applicants (LINK).
Where My Postgrad Took Me: International Strategy & Diplomacy
“I learned from my peers just as much as I did from the professors, which in my opinion, is the mark of a successfully designed programme” (LINK).
Microsoft launches Viva, a bet on the future of remote work
It’s designed to act as a portal for both employees and businesses to navigate the complexities of working from home. (LINK).
How do we get to net-zero emissions? 6 experts share their views
About 1.5% of global GDP (gross domestic product) would fund a clean energy transition (LINK).
French association teaches sports clubs to be more environmentally friendly
The Match for Green association kicked off its brand new green training programme for sports clubs on 22 February. The association was born as an extension of the Paris Volley Club, which made environmental commitments several years ago (LINK).
14 Most beautiful places in Switzerland to visit in 2021
Sure, it will cost you a pretty penny to satiate your Switzerland wanderlust, but it’s totally worth it to experience all this breathtaking country has to offer. So bring a camera and an appetite, and let’s explore. Read the story to find out whether Geneva’s included (LINK).
The 10 best cities to live in the world as an expat
Valencia, Alicante and Lisbon are the best cities in the world for expats to live in, according to the annual Expat Insider 2020 report by InterNations (LINK).
Top 25 beaches in the world, with 10 in the U.S., according to Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor’s updated “Top 25 Beaches” list ranked some of the most popular seaside destinations around the world . Does not include Cancún: they should have asked Ted Cruz’s daughters (LINK).
Curated by The Editors
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