Back to school kit for online studying amid Coronavirus pandemic

Summary

• As ‘learn from home’ has become the new norm, it’s essential for parents to invest in the right teaching equipment
• Laptops are not just required for teacher and students to stay connected but help enhance the teaching experience.
• Keeping children safety in mind, encourage them to inform parents and school if facing any cyberbullying or threat.

Education institutions are closed in most of the countries because of Novel coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of this year. Though schools and colleges are not operating on-ground, virtual learning has taken over the standard process of learning. With learn from home, students, parents and teachers are struggling to cope up with the new systems.

In the US and the UK, most of the schools closed in March. Many of them kept their doors shut till fall and many still closed and will not open till next year, shifting entirely to study from the home method. For students, it’s about six months without going to school and not to forget many have no access to the electronic devices hence not been able to study from home. According to the United Nations, it is a global issue as 191 countries had to shut schools affecting about 1.5 billion students and 63 million teachers.

Also read: How Has COVID-19 Pandemic Altered the Education System? Lens on ICT and JAN

To cope with the changes caused by the COVID-19 providing accurate information, discussing facts without causing undue alarm, and re-establishing routines with the children and young people are turning out to be essential. Parents and schools are keeping the children and young people engaged in activities at home apart from their usual routines.

Parents are the primary role model for children and young people, and now that they are not going out and participating in social activities, parents are the complete source of their wellbeing and growth. But there is another crucial aspect to be considered – electronic study devices.

In this “new normal” where parents are asked to stay calm, enable their time and space to be together with children, choosing the right study device for your children is equally important.

Children and young people seek guidance from adults in many instances. Since schools have shifted online, for parents, their work has moved online as well. Even though the school is helping children continue their online learning, children are spending their half-day at home on their laptops.

Before the pandemic hit us and made social gatherings less possible, if not wholly impossible, parents argued whether or not homeschooling is the right choice for the kids. Now homeschooling, rather virtual schooling, is the only choice for the kids. Hence, it is crucial to invest in the right teaching equipment.

Gone are the days when essential school kit included pencils and textbooks, laptops have replaced not just the books, but also the blackboard. Hence finding the right kind of laptop is a major challenge.

Also read: Will Governments encourage WFH, e-learning in the future? What does it mean for IT infrastructure development?

Laptops instead of textbooks:

The right model with an affordable price is in high demand. Laptops are not just required for teacher and students to stay connected but to help enhance the teaching experience. Screen size, audio levels, graphics and battery threshold are few checkpoints to mull over while buying a laptop for the students

Virtual schooling does not need heavy specifications system and some basic features may include speedy processor performance, being lightweight, portable, long battery life along with affordable pricing. Apart from the basic features, the trending specs for online schooling laptops are touchscreen with the stylus, bigger storage capacity, and fingerprint scanner for privacy.

Chromebook and many windows laptops are available in affordable prices that come with the perfect specification for necessary use. In the price higher range, people may look at Apple MacBook. Mac users claim that one does end up paying more with windows as Apple products last longer on average than Windows products. Hence, it’s always better to understand the need and the budget before committing to the purchase.

Also read: Edtech Industry Expected to Gain Further Momentum in Australia - OLL, JAN, 3PL, RTE, RCL, SCL.

Larger the screen the better

For years parents tried to keep their children away from TV screens from having side effects on the eyes. Now when you know your child is going to be glued to the laptop screen for about half a day, five days a week, why not consider a bigger screen. The laptop comes in various sizes, ranging from 12” to 16” or more.

Since the child will be using the device at home and not taking it out, it is OK to go for a larger screen. Especially for online studying, the child will use the laptop for videos, presentations, and projects.

Keeping child safe online while stuck at home:

As of now, it is quite clear that the families are stuck at home and the children are spending more time online. Not just the school and extracurricular activities but social interactions with friends or relatives have also shifted online. Whether it’s celebrating birthday or gossiping with friends, or completing projects, kids are using internet a large part of their day. However, it also presents a set of challenges for the parents. In order to maximize all the internet has to offer, parents also have to control the potential harm that may stem from it.

Having an honest dialogue with the children one whom to communicate with and how, is a good starting point making children comfortable and feel secured regarding their privacy. But having said that, installing an anti-virus software in the system and having the kid mode on the laptop wouldn’t hurt. Many times while browsing on the internet in search of study material, children may end up clicking on inappropriate links. As a parent, working or not, it is not possible to keep track of your kids online movement all the time. Hence the anti-virus software and other hacks to keep the children safe on the laptop is a must. Few measures include

1. Keep the privacy setting on
2. Administration permission to download
3. Webcams covered when not in use
4. Be careful while providing children information like name, contact info, photo for online study websites.
5. Access only to age-appropriate content
6. Control access to online ads which promote unhealthy food, entertainment, social practices
7. And most importantly, encourage children to inform parents and school if facing any cyberbullying or threat.

More at Growing Role of Cybersecurity Firms as Work from Home becomes the New Normal-TNT, NET

Final verdict:

In the era of coronavirus pandemic, laptop and notebook have replaced school experience for the children. With the help of fast-growing technology, parents can enhance the learn from home for the kids with having a perfect study device and a healthy environment at home.

Do Read: How is Education Sector Placed With Online Learning Trend Amidst Virus Threat