Topic 4 Productive ways of using Internet
Collaboration between parents and teachers
Teachers
- By having more contact with parents, teachers learn more about students’ needs and home environment, which is information they can apply toward better meeting those needs.
Parents
- The same process works for parents, as the frequent communication with teachers can help them develop a holistic view of their kid (child/adolescent) and better realise their thoughts and needs.
- Also, by communicating with teachers, parents can share with their kids the knowledge gained during school time and navigate deeper in several fields of science and art by using Internet. This process can be even more helpful in challenging times, such as the forced lockdowns by COVID-19 pandemic.
Applying the results of the creative ways of using Internet and of the ways of using Internet for playing/having fun in aspects of everyday life
Parents can use the process that happens during the creative ways of using Internet to
- Discuss further things and situations
- Interact productively with their kids (children/adolescent)
- Help them systematise the benefits gained from this process.
New skills development/ Already existing skills growth
- Parents and children/adolescents can develop new skills or help their already existing skills grow by taking courses online and/or watching targeted online content.
- Apps that can e.g., solve mathematical problems and show solutions, which can help greatly in learning.
Parents and teachers collaboration
Norman N. (2020) Parent and Teacher collaboration in the virtual classroom
is an award-winning non-profit organization from the US that “offers quizzes, questions, instructional videos, and articles on a range of academic subjects, including math, biology, chemistry, physics, history, economics, finance, grammar, preschool learning, and more”, completely free of charge. Here is an example of a video about a topic in high-school biology from their Youtube channel: Video
Link to their main page: https://www.khanacademy.org/
is a Youtube channel that explains many mathematical concepts in a clear, interesting and visually attractive way.
Video
The channel “Minutephysics” features short videos explaining concepts from physics and other sciences in an intuitive and engaging way.
Video
The youtuber Nathaniel Drew tells his story about how to learn more effectively online. Video
A word of caution: do talk with your child about things they are learning and watching online. They should learn how to filter out the clutter and/or assess critically the content they are using. There are for example, reddittors and youtubers who are known for spreading false facts, “fake news” and even hate speech, so do watch out for that!
How to make smartphone use more productive. Video
A word of caution: do talk with your child about things they are learning and watching online. They should learn how to filter out the clutter and/or assess critically the content they are using. There are for example, reddittors and youtubers who are known for spreading false facts, “fake news” and even hate speech, so do watch out for that!
Video games and studying can go hand in hand! The youtuber Thomas Frank explains his view on how to balance video game playing and studying. Video
A word of caution: do talk with your child about things they are learning and watching online. They should learn how to filter out the clutter and/or assess critically the content they are using. There are for example, reddittors and youtubers who are known for spreading false facts, “fake news” and even hate speech, so do watch out for that!
Activity
Write down some productive ways to use Internet with your child/children.
Describe why you think they are productive.
Activity
Activities suggested for parents, based on “Applying the results of the creative ways of using Internet and of the ways of using Internet for playing/having fun in aspects of everyday life” as a productive way of using Internet.
Reflect further on:
- Aspects that have to do with art (creating, watching, learning new forms)
- Aspects that have to do with other cultures (this will also help children/adolescents to be more acceptable with people and cultures that feel different to them)
- What new they discovered on social media
- The processes that go on when children/adolescents play videogames (what do they do within the game, what strategies they try to use and why, if they met other gamers online and how they interacted etc.).
The “Hour of code” is a non-profit initiative that encourages parents to motivate their children to start learning computer programming by solving simple tasks. They offer various tutorials and activities. The initiative is good because it involves both parents and their children and it offers a great way for children to be introduced to computer science.
In their own words: “Together, we can inspire kids to learn, break stereotypes, and help children discover a newfound interest. The Hour of Code is simple to run – even for beginners. You don’t need experience in computer science or teaching in order to facilitate a fun activity for your children that will get them both learning and laughing.”