Thousands of children have been engaging in some form of virtual learning or another after the government closed learning institutions over the Covid-19 pandemic.
The disruption of normal school learning, with the suspension of the traditional classroom, however, ensured that children are safer in a home environment.
The government and other stakeholders in education then embarked on delivering education to the learners at home through digital and broadcast media. Technology has thus, to some great extent, been used to approximate the four-walled classroom to keep learning going on.
DIGITAL LITERACY
Use of technology is in line with the Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BECF), which emphasises the need for digital literacy at all levels of education. Digital literacy has been described as knowledge, skills and behaviours for effective and safe use of technology.
But as the various digital lesson providers continue to improve on the effectiveness of this new mode of learning, it’s important to spare a thought for digital safety.
Learner safety on radio and television is carefully regulated, but regulation in the use of internet-based platforms is limited.
Aimless browsing of digital media is not only a waste of time and money, but also exposes learners to distractions that move them further away from useful resources.
There is a lot of information in the digital platforms that has no educational relevance or value at all to learners. There are also sites that have inappropriate material, some that can be disturbing, improper or just plain wrong for children. Others have addictive distractions that promise fickle psychological satisfaction like peer acceptance, popularity or even humour.
FOCUSED ATTENTION
The discipline required to effectively benefit from digital learning is, therefore, no different from that for ordinary classrooms. It is, therefore, important that parents create the necessary routine and discipline at home for the digital lessons. This helps learners to stay on the dedicated platforms and sustain focused attention to the lessons.
It helps when learners know that they will spend a specified time studying a certain subject. Psychologically, they will be ready for it and cannot get easily distracted. This is especially so for social media platforms.
As online presence of learners increase, there are possibilities of cyberbullying, whereby anonymous people, or even peers, harass or send threatening messages to internet users.
While adults can be resilient to cyberbullying, there is the potential of damaging the esteem of children through online bullying. This makes it even more important for parents to be vigilant.
Keeping children safe in a school environment is part and parcel of the duties of school authorities. This responsibility should be extended to the virtual classrooms.
Teachers and parents should tightly manage social media platforms that the schools have created for sharing of lessons, assignments and other instructional materials.
The safety of learners, both at school and online, ensures they’re protected from maltreatment and impairment of their psychological development. It is, therefore, important that parents and teachers talk to the learners about the dangers the internet poses to their safety and health.
INAPPROPRIATE IMAGES
They should identify sites of educational value to learners while advising them to avoid going to those that may lead to inappropriate images.
Perhaps what is most important for parents is to supervise their children’s attendance of online learning to ensure, among others, that they are accorded a favourable environment for learning, they are focused on the right virtual lessons and there is no distraction to the lessons they’re receiving.
Besides, parents could block the children’s access to inappropriate content. They should ensure membership to the social media group comprise of bona fide members — be they parents, teachers or students.
Ensure that the enrolled students are the only participants in an online class by restricting it to those taking that particular subject. Classes should be tightly controlled to ensure hackers do not penetrate and saturate the “class” with inappropriate content. A good strategy would be to require that students enrol with not just their names but also details of their school and admission numbers.
Virtual learning, though giving some continuity to learning, has its dangers, which, if addressed by teachers and parents, can ensure continued nurturing of children’s potential amid the government’s efforts to reopen school.
Ms Bonaya is the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for Education. [email protected]
