Mindful Minutes

Abstract

The pandemic took a toll on everyone in the world. People's stress and anxiety levels rose, new fears emerged, and the isolation of quarantine impacted many individuals' mental health. The education field was particularly affected when students, staff, teachers, administrators, and families moved to remote instruction. Students were disrupted from their normal routines and getting them engaged in their learning was sent to the backburner in order for educators to meet the immediate needs of transitioning learning online. For adult learners, that stress was amplified and included managing families, job uncertainties and unemployment, and fear of getting sick or spreading the virus. This chapter will discuss how Mindful Minutes, a weekly modular activity designed to support subjective well-being, helped adult learners in an instructional design and technology program acquire and develop attitudes/beliefs related to content while dealing with the stress of remote instruction and the pandemic through active learning.