Experts advise learners on digital wellness

Experts in education technology have called on parents, educators and learners to prioritise actions that would help to maintain digital wellness and build a resilient digital community.

They spoke at the just concluded June edition of Edtech, an initiative of the Co-Creation Hub (CCHUB) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation’s Centre for Innovative Teaching & Learning in ICT.

The engagement session themed “Digital Wellness and Resilience for Educators and Learners” was moderated by Chinyelu Akpa, Practice Lead, Education, CcHUB.

One of the panelists, founder, Coachfrika, Afeez Iyiola, stated that priority must be given to understanding the educators, their readiness, availability, and self-motivation, provision of digital literacy to achieve wellness.

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“When we bring digital innovations and solutions to the teachers, most of the time, we don’t do our background survey to understand who these teachers are. Digital literacy, proficiencies in the use of digital tools, self-motivation, customisation that suits teachers’ individual needs, and developing the right structure are critical to delivering digital wellness,” Iyiola said.

Another panelist, founder, Internet Safe Kids Africa, Confidence Osein explained that parents have a big role to play in ensuring that students maintain digital wellness in their daily online activities.

According to Osein, parents and teachers should lead by example by allowing for structured screen time in classroom and home settings. She advised that stakeholders must take advantage of technology by deploying digital wellness apps to monitor and regulate screen time for the students.

An award-winning teacher/educator, Atilade Oluwafunmilola emphasised the significance of balancing screen time for both educators and learners to ensure their digital wellness.

She advised edtech product designers to incorporate strategic design principles that would help many learners to subconsciously disconnect from the use of digital devices in the course of learning.